Modern Christian Music and Steel Guitar's Role

Barry Blackwood · Post by **Barry Blackwood** » 16 May 2014 8:41 am

What is this Praise & Worship contemporary Christian music you all speaketh of?
Aside from the material, is the style of playing steel any different in this setting?

They were going to use the LeeAnn Rhymes song, "The House That Built Me".

Bill, "The House That Built Me" is a Miranda Lambert song.

Gary Preston · Post by **Gary Preston** » 16 May 2014 9:21 am

Barry if you have ever played both you would know the difference . Anyone that has played country or country gospel would know that you don't play the same way
when doing the contemporary music .

Gary Preston · Post by **Gary Preston** » 16 May 2014 9:27 am

Rick,, understand this ,,Peter didn't have a steel guitar to sing to .. The bible tells me that God doesn't change and i would rather believe him than man any day . Music is always a matter of taste to all of us . So if you like it go ahead and play it but i don't and wont .

Bill L. Wilson · Post by **Bill L. Wilson** » 16 May 2014 9:33 am

I call it Clanging Music, cause the kids playing it at my church, just beat the tar out of their guitars, with as many fast down strokes as they can cram into 4bars. On the other hand, where my Daughter goes to church in Tulsa, they pay their players, and they are Top Notch, and a Joy to listen to.

Bill Cunningham · Post by **Bill Cunningham** » 16 May 2014 9:57 am

Barry Blackwood wrote:What is this Praise & Worship contemporary Christian music you all speaketh of?
Aside from the material, is the style of playing steel any different in this setting?

They were going to use the LeeAnn Rhymes song, "The House That Built Me".
Bill, "The House That Built Me" is a Miranda Lambert song.

Noted and corrected on the reference to the young artist. They all sound the same anyway

Barry, I didn't play a lot differently than I would any other time on E9. It's all I know. There was no room for the back neck in my head.

Zane King · Post by **Zane King** » 16 May 2014 12:13 pm

Glad ya'll are enjoying this thread. I can never predict what is going to be the hot topics around this place. LOL. That all said, this is a more relevant subject than I expected and I'm so glad!!!

Dale Tiemessen · Post by **Dale Tiemessen** » 16 May 2014 12:14 pm

I have been playing in the worship band in our church seven years. When we first started, I wanted to play southern gospel but our pastor wanted Praise & Worship.I have learned a lot.
We only have steel, bass & guitar so we use BiaB. There are no files that I have found for Praise & Worship so I write all the songs.
There is no steel in Praise &Worship either so it is a challange to play something that is tastefull but then I am playing for the Lord,and he is the only one who matters.

Erv Niehaus · Post by **Erv Niehaus** » 16 May 2014 12:25 pm

I liken the new contemporary Christian music to the new contemporary Country music.

Zane King · Post by **Zane King** » 16 May 2014 12:39 pm

Well, Erv. I understand what you are saying and from a steel player's perspective that makes sense. However, I like most every kind of music just as long as it is GOOD. Candidly, there's not that much wrong with modern Country music other than they just should allow steel pickers to take a shot at doing more. My big complaint is that they have cornered our instrument too long into just a being a part of the Classic Country ensemble. Now, don't get me wrong I am a HUGE fan of traditional Country music and clearly we could use a bit more of that in the mainstream today. Yet, we are not going to change where the genre is going overall but I do believe we can in time continue to appeal to those music makers of these various styles that steelers can play a vital role in making a contribution to these musical styles. That can indeed be accomplished. Clearly, it's happening already. And why not, we steel guitarist have been breaking rules since day one. I mean after all, we were not even supposed to put knee levers and pedals on the beautiful Hawaiian guitars.

Rick Campbell · Post by **Rick Campbell** » 16 May 2014 1:38 pm

Gary Preston wrote:Rick,, understand this ,,Peter didn't have a steel guitar to sing to .. The bible tells me that God doesn't change and i would rather believe him than man any day . Music is always a matter of taste to all of us . So if you like it go ahead and play it but i don't and wont .

Gary, Understand this. You must have me confused with someone else. I'm the only Rick in this thread and I made no mention of what I believe or don't believe, or what kind of music I want to play.

RC

Ken Mullett · Post by **Ken Mullett** » 16 May 2014 6:13 pm

Gary and Erv,I completely agree with you.

Darvin Willhoite · Post by **Darvin Willhoite** » 16 May 2014 7:27 pm

I played steel in a contemporary praise & worship band for about 15 years. I didn't just do background stuff, I did a lot of intro's and breaks, alternating with the lead players, and loved it. I used several effects to better fit into the mood of the song. I'm not much of a Country music fan, and play mostly Pop stuff when I practice, so I didn't have to break the Country lick habit. I even played C6th on a few songs we did. We had pretty much the same band for about 10 or 12 years, then the personel started changing including the worship pastor, and it got to where I played mostly guitar and bass, and it wasn't fun anymore, so I quit. I've played a couple of times at the new church I'm going to, and everyone seemed to really like it, especially the pastor. I don't think I'm ready to play all the time in a P&W band again, but we'll see how it goes.

Here's an example of the type of stuff we did, if the link will work.

https://app.box.com/s/l9833qsq36j5svbg2okh

Darvin Willhoite · Post by **Darvin Willhoite** » 16 May 2014 7:38 pm

I can't agree that modern Praise & Worship music is "vain repetition". The modern music we did had a message the same as the older stuff does. A lot of the modern songs are taken directly from the Bible, and I don't think there are "vain repetitions" in the Bible. I know several people who write P&W songs and they definitely write under the anointing. Remember, the older stuff was new at some point and older people probably felt the same way about it then.

Jerry Horch · Post by **Jerry Horch** » 17 May 2014 5:17 am

I think steel is a lot of times steriotyped as a 'country' instrument probably due to its conception into that arena of music style . My early roots were rock n roll so playing steel on Doors,Stones,Beatles,blues comes easy to me. I think jazz is the ultimate.And my mom being from 4 mile Ky. gives me the country .Im looking for a praise band now, but of course that goes with the church you feel fits your spiritual needs. We play a very unique guitar, challenge yourself to explore it.

Jerry Horch · Post by **Jerry Horch** » 17 May 2014 5:18 am

I think steel is a lot of times steriotyped as a 'country' instrument probably due to its conception into that arena of music style . My early roots were rock n roll so playing steel on Doors,Stones,Beatles,blues comes easy to me. I think jazz is the ultimate.And my mom being from 4 mile Ky. gives me the country .Im looking for a praise band now, but of course that goes with the church you feel fits your spiritual needs. We play a very unique guitar, challenge yourself to explore it.

John Peay · Post by **John Peay** » 17 May 2014 6:56 am

Bill Cunningham wrote:Barry, I didn't play a lot differently than I would any other time on E9. It's all I know. There was no room for the back neck in my head.

This was how I approached it as wellâ€¦and as a fairly new player, â€œall I knowâ€ isnâ€™t much, and I donâ€™t even have a C6 neck! I will add that I did find myself playing more lap steel-like slides, and using the heck out of the BC pedal combo and the E-lower position.

Darvin Willhoite wrote:I'm not much of a Country music fan, and play mostly Pop stuff when I practice, so I didn't have to break the Country lick habit...Here's an example of the type of stuff we did, if the link will work.
https://app.box.com/s/l9833qsq36j5svbg2okh

Darvin that is good stuff there, wish Iâ€™d had that a few months ago when I was searching around for some examples of pedal steel in this genre. On the other hand, I was forced to come up with my own ideas, which hopefully has progressed my playing.

Dale Rottacker · Post by **Dale Rottacker** » 17 May 2014 7:04 am

Darvin Willhoite wrote:I played steel in a contemporary praise & worship band for about 15 years. I didn't just do background stuff, I did a lot of intro's and breaks, alternating with the lead players, and loved it. I used several effects to better fit into the mood of the song. I'm not much of a Country music fan, and play mostly Pop stuff when I practice, so I didn't have to break the Country lick habit. I even played C6th on a few songs we did. We had pretty much the same band for about 10 or 12 years, then the personel started changing including the worship pastor, and it got to where I played mostly guitar and bass, and it wasn't fun anymore, so I quit. I've played a couple of times at the new church I'm going to, and everyone seemed to really like it, especially the pastor. I don't think I'm ready to play all the time in a P&W band again, but we'll see how it goes.

Here's an example of the type of stuff we did, if the link will work.

https://app.box.com/s/l9833qsq36j5svbg2okh

Similar to my experience...they didn't know what a steel guitar was till I started playing there and we used it quite a bit...then we got a new Pastor who I don't think is much of a fan of that "Type" of music...so I've been mainly playing bass since then...with our roll seemingly dimminishing here it has been augmenting in neighboring churches.

Wally Moyers · Post by **Wally Moyers** » 18 May 2014 5:06 am

This pic is from this past Easter, we did three services.. I really enjoy playing the new praise music. You do have to think more like a keyboard player and play less "steel licks". It's fun playing with the 20-30 something musicians and them digging having steelâ€¦ I find that these musicians are serious about what they are doing and work really hard at doing it right.. There is also a lot of cowboy churches in our area that are cool to play . I play at a lot of different churches, I know I'm in trouble when I show up at the big Baptist Church and the pastor is wearing a cowboy hat and a bandana. On these services there is also a bail of hay or twoâ€¦ Lol These are mostly unrehearsed and I'm the token country guy:(

Dustin Rigsby · Post by **Dustin Rigsby** » 18 May 2014 12:43 pm

Don't know if this is relevant,but,when I was a teenager I went to church services geared for young people that used christian heavy metal as praise music. That's right...we were head bangin for Jesus !

chris ivey · Post by **chris ivey** » 18 May 2014 2:37 pm

it's kind of sad that, even in the house of the lord, there is bickering over musical styles.

seems hypocritical to me, somehow.

or maybe it just reminds us that 'religious' and 'spiritual' don't necessarily go hand in hand.

Gary Cooper · Post by **Gary Cooper** » 18 May 2014 8:12 pm

Hope everyone has had the opportunity to hear Zane play Amaing Grace. Truly a Hall of Fame performance!

Steve Gorman · Post by **Steve Gorman** » 18 May 2014 10:32 pm

Some years back I was playing guitar every Sunday in church with the BOGS (Bearded Old Guys). Didn't seem to be much room for a steel guitar. I finally got my chance to play my steel for the Christmas Eve service. As you might expect, lots of folks are unavailable that night, so I saw my chance and I took it. I worked up a rendition of "Oh Holy Night," practiced it A LOT and made charts for the musicians who would be there. I was ready. When it came time to play it, I was on my game, played it well and with expression, thinking ahead, etc. I know I did a good job, and the band played it well.

I received a few nice comments, but the one I remember the most was from one lady who told me, "You're making it sound like a saloon in here."

That stereotype is awfully hard to escape...

Gary Cooper · Post by **Gary Cooper** » 19 May 2014 3:38 am

Steve, perhaps the lady was a saloon regular.

Wally Moyers · Post by **Wally Moyers** » 19 May 2014 5:15 am

Steve,
The first time I ever played in a church I was told by the pastor to get that thing out of his church... He said it makes people want to drink and do other things I won't mention here. I'v also been told to setup behind the piano so no one would be offended... Thankfully, most churches have evolved passed that now.. My wife and I founded a ministry 8 years ago and we even have country dances among lots of other thing to reach everyday people.. In my business www.Moyersgroup.com we have done AV systems in hundreds of churches over the last 27 years. We just completed a 5 million dollar project at a mega church that understands how to use music and demands high quality.. I see this format as a great opportunity for steel players that are willing to play what is needed to fit in.. I am giving lessons to a 26 year old music leader that I play with often. He loves steel and in all my experience over the last few years haven't heard any negative comments.. This is not country music in any way. I see no reason to think that because I play steel that it must be country.. We must start thinking of it as a musical instrument not a country instrument if it's ever going to grow! To do this we have to do our home work so we play what fits the music...

Zane, you guys are doing a lot of the same things my wife and I are. I was very moved by what I heard in the Jackson room in a Dallas...

Dale Rottacker · Post by **Dale Rottacker** » 19 May 2014 6:01 am

Wally Moyers wrote:Steve,
The first time I ever played in a church I was told by the pastor to get that thing out of his church... He said it makes people want to drink and do other things I won't mention here. I'v also been told to setup behind the piano so no one would be offended... Thankfully, most churches have evolved passed that now.. My wife and I founded a ministry 8 years ago and we even have country dances among lots of other thing to reach everyday people.. In my business www.Moyersgroup.com we have done AV systems in hundreds of churches over the last 27 years. We just completed a 5 million dollar project at a mega church that understands how to use music and demands high quality.. I see this format as a great opportunity for steel players that are willing to play what is needed to fit in.. I am giving lessons to a 26 year old music leader that I play with often. He loves steel and in all my experience over the last few years haven't heard any negative comments.. This is not country music in any way. I see no reason to think that because I play steel that it must be country.. We must start thinking of it as a musical instrument not a country instrument if it's ever going to grow! To do this we have to do our home work so we play what fits the music...

Zane, you guys are doing a lot of the same things my wife and I are. I was very moved by what I heard in the Jackson room in a Dallas...

Wally, your scenario sounds familier...back in the late 70 we provided the music for an Evangelistic series in Eastern Washington at our home church with 1500-2000 members...we, my brother on Bass, my best friend on Piano and vocals, his wife on vocals and a rhythm guitar, with me on steel and vocals...we were just a few years out of high school and doing a Country Gospel music...we weren't full on Southern Gospel, but for our area at that time, the type of music we were doing was considered a little "Out there" although we were always well received...we had a fairly large University there with a very well respected music program, but that music leaned heavily to the classical side of things...anyhow when we were all set up, while I was tuning before the series was to start, this older well established Evangelist came up on stage to get a feel for the place and walked past my steel...I was playing a Pro lll at the time, with that fancy dust catching fret board with, Clubs, Hearts, Diamonds and Spades all over the place...well you could see him sigh and roll his eyes a little and you knew he was thinking, "What have I gotten myself into, or this will be interesting" or thoughts to that effect...He was very gracious and didn't say anything negative, but body language had us feeling a little pressure...fortunately we played pretty well thoughout the series and the Evangelist told us after that we could play for him anytime...I would hope that music done well would always get this kind of response.

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Modern Christian Music and Steel Guitar's Role

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