{"id":3728,"date":"2010-05-28T15:14:14","date_gmt":"2010-05-28T15:14:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.musicademy.com\/?p=3728"},"modified":"2019-07-31T12:17:08","modified_gmt":"2019-07-31T12:17:08","slug":"introduction-to-worship-keyboards-understanding-contemporary-rhythms","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.musicademy.com\/blog\/introduction-to-worship-keyboards-understanding-contemporary-rhythms\/","title":{"rendered":"Introduction to Worship Keyboards – Understanding Contemporary Rhythms"},"content":{"rendered":"

Understanding contemporary rhythms<\/strong><\/p>\n

Last time we looked at keyboard chords and their voicings.<\/a>\u00a0In this post we consider contemporary rhythms. Its a timely post and partly\u00a0in response to an Ask the Expert question we had recently about mastering syncopated rhythms<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Once you can use different chords and inversions properly it\u2019s time to tackle the Achilles heel of most keyboard players\u2014rhythm. While guitarists naturally add rhythm to a piece of music it\u2019s much harder work for a keyboardist. It\u2019s often easy to play very \u2018straight\u2019 rhythms (like crotchets on each beat of the bar) which can be effective but are not enough in contemporary music. The kind of music we listen too and sing in church is quite syncopated. This means that the notes we play and sing often come in between the beats of the bar. Although most people quite naturally sing this way it can often be hard to play syncopated rhythms.<\/p>\n

There is one rhythm which dominates much contemporary worship music. If we are to be effective keyboard players we must get to grips with it and use it well. Here it is:<\/p>\n

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The rhythm we need to play is written on the \u2018G\u2019 at the top whilst the semiquavers underneath can help us to work out how it is constructed. You can work out any complicated written rhythm by finding the longest note that will subdivide into the whole rhythm (in this case a semiquaver) and laying that underneath the original rhythm. Once you\u2019ve done that add accents wherever you should play a note and call that number one each time. Here you get the rhythm 1<\/strong>, 2, 3, 1<\/strong>, 2, 3, 1<\/strong>, 2.<\/p>\n

A good variation on this rhythm is to double the notes in length and forget the minim at the end of the bar:<\/p>\n

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This rhythm is also used widely in contemporary music. Try to play songs you know using both of these rhythms. You may need to slow things down to get them exactly right before speeding up again. Do try to be very precise about playing this kind of rhythm as it can make a real difference in driving a song forward.<\/p>\n

We\u2019ve written plenty of articles before in the newsletter about playing keyboards in worship. This is the start of a new mini series for people that have played keyboard using the traditional music score but want to move into more contemporary chords-based playing. To help you on your way, we\u2019re making available online three lessons from the start of our Intermediate Worship Keyboards DVDs<\/a> which explain the concept of chords-based playing and then go onto demonstrate it using the song How Great is Our God.<\/p>\n

Click through to buy and download the lessons<\/p>\n