How To Write Worship Songs

In the Bible it says to sing a new song to the Lord in several of the Psalms and in Isaiah 42:10. Have you tried writing a 'new song'? In this article I'll share with you some ideas for writing worship songs. One of the best sources for song writing ideas is found in the Bible.

The psalms were originally songs sung by writers like King David. Using music to convey the truths in the Bible is a great place to get ideas for the lyrics. If you look at our most popular worship songs, they are based on God's truths. 'How Great Thou Art' is a beautiful illustration of this. Although the song was written in an earlier century, the song is still sung today and loved in many cultures.

You can put whole sections of the Bible to music or get take some ideas and create a song around specific concepts. A while back I wrote a little song on Jeremiah 9:23-24. That verse talks about not boasting about ourselves, but boasting about our relationship with our God who exhibits lovingkindness, justice and righteousness on earth.

There are simple chord patterns that work well with most songs called the I, IV and V chords. You can see these in the 'Common Chord Charts' that are free with our newsletters and it's also taught in Volume Two of the Worship Guitar Class lessons. Here's the little song I wrote:

If you would like the music... just request it from the form below.

 

Walking Bass Notes

Walking Bass NotesWalking Bass Notes

A common technique used to write songs is with using walking bass notes. It's a style of writing music for literally hundreds of years. I think of the very famous Pachelbel's Canon in D that dates back to the Baroque period in the 1700's. Pachelbel uses a repeating descending bass line throughout the piece.

'As A Deer' is a well known worship song that uses a descending bass line in much of the song. There are several ways to write and make song arrangements. In the video below you can learn the walking bass notes for a number of different keys. I've filmed a 6 minute lesson for you. This is also in one of the Video Newsletters but I thought it might be easier to find on the website to have the lesson stand on it's own, too. The video shows some walking bass notes in major keys, but it also works for minor keys.

If you would like to learn and apply many ways to write songs, you might enjoy our Guitar Music Theory course. I hope you enjoy the lesson.

The Walking Bass Note Video

 

Guitar Practice Tips

Guitar Practice TipsGuitar Practice Tips

With a new year people often make new goals or New Year's resolutions. Maybe you have made one around becoming a better musician this year. Here are a few guitar practice tips to help.

1. Pray First
In Scripture it says to pray without ceasing. We can, and should pray about all the details of our lives. Why not ask Him for help in playing music and in keeping focused on Him.

2. Have A Goal

It's a good idea to have a goal. Do you want to learn a specific song, learn more chords, or play with quicker chord changes? It's easier to accomplish a goal if you have one. Do you want to become a more skilled worship leader?  [Read more...]

Christmas Newsletter 2011

Ornament for Easy Christmas Songs For GuitarGiving the gift of music is a wonderful gift that has a lifetime of value to individuals. Especially for children... it helps with their brain development! Here is our latest Christmas Newsletter. It also includes inexpensive gift ideas that are either free or cost very little.

We have a good Christian Guitar Lessons program that can be an excellent Christmas gift. And for easy song this Christmas, we are still adding to the Easy Christmas Songs For Guitar program.

In the video above a couple of the items, like the quilted place-mats, were gifts I received this year. What are some fun gift giving ideas that you have?

 

New Christmas Songs Lessons

Christmas CatChristmas is around the corner and I've always wanted to make easy to play Christmas Songs. We have the Christmas Songs and Solos program which has lots of instrumental arrangements of Christmas songs, but it doesn't include video lessons on how to accompany this songs to singing.

Would you like to learn easy to play Christmas songs for the guitar? I've asked on my Facebook page and learned that Terry, Christy, and Chris love 'O Holy Night'. Tammy and Ryan liked 'Do you hear what I hear' and 'Little drummer boy'. Chalmers suggested 'Angels We Have Heard' and I know that Christy also loves 'Mary Did You Know'. Am planning on including all of these songs plus 'It Came Upon A Midnight Clear'.

Here is the first song and excerpts of the songs already posted at the website.

Five of the songs are finished and more are coming. Since it is so close I've already posted them at the streaming video website. If you would like to get the lessons, the page is here Easy Christmas Songs For Guitar.

For the music of 'Silent Night' free, just request it from the form below.

[Read more...]

Changing Chords Quickly

Changing Chords Quickly PictureChanging Chords Quickly

I remember well how difficult it was to originally change to any guitar chord. In particular the 'C' chord tends to be a little tricky for new guitarists. With a bit of practice, the chords do get easier to play.

Daniel's question included help in how to transition quickly between chords. He took the recent Worship Guitar Class Newsletter Survey. Here are some tips that should help any guitar player in changing chords quickly.

Changing Chords Quickly Tips

  1. Put down the bass finger first. For example, for a 'C' chord the root note is 'C'. It's better to work on placing the 3rd finger down first so you can play the bass of the chord and still have a second to get the rest of the chord down. Eventually try to place all of your fingers down at the same time.
  2. Think ahead to the next chord. Think about where your fingers are moving before they actually move. This is especially true for shifts in position on the guitar. Look to the frets you are moving too before you actually shift your fingers. If there is a shift from the first position to the 7th position, your eyes should be on the 7th fret before beginning to move your fingers from the first fret. [Read more...]

Guitar Wrist Pain? Video Newsletter

guitar wrist painHelp for guitar wrist pain is one of the question that was asked ina recent brief survey. Below is a video with answers to a few question like what can you do to help with guitar wrist pain?

Basically, it's how you are holding the guitar. when your wrist is too bend it causes wrist pain. If you change how you are holding the guitar, it can make a significant difference regarding any pain in your hands.

Besides the wrist pain, a few people also asked for help in improving their singing voices. You can find some tips for improving your singing in the video,in addition to help for the guitar wrist pain.

For the record, you should not be experiencing any unusual pain when playing the guitar. It is common for the tips of your fingers to be a bit sore when first starting to play the guitar, but you should not have wrist or hand pain while playing. That means there is something wrong with your technique.

Guitar Wrist Pain And Other Questions - Video Newsletter

Watch the 6 minute video below to get ideas of how to eliminate guitar wrist pain. If you have not taken the survey yet, you can find it here. If one person has a question there are pretty good odds that others may have the same questions, too

These days I've been using an ErgoPlay Guitar Support.

If you would like to see the vocal mask blog post mentioned in the video, the Vocal Mask blog video is here.

This is where you can find the Vocal Warmup CD mentioned in the video. As mentioned in the video above, it's a great idea to warm up your voice before singing. This is especially true for Sunday Morning worship leaders. It takes a while for your voice to 'wake up' in the morning and vocalizing on the way to church is a great way to start the morning.

The exercises in the CD are excellent material for choirs to use too. In fact, the creator of the vocal warmup CD is a choir director and is quite accustomed to helping people get their voices in shape to sing.

And here is where to find the 'How Great Thou Art' arrangements.   [Read more...]

Sore Fingers Guitar?

Sore Fingers GuitarSore Fingers Guitar? Here are a dozen solutions and tips.

1. The first tip for sore fingers guitar is to get an easy to play guitar. Nylon string guitars and electric guitars are much easier on your hands. It's much easier to hold down the strings.

2. With a classical or acoustic guitar, lower the action. It's the distance from the string to the actual neck.  Aim for around 1.5mm at the 1st fret and 5mm at the 12th fret of your guitar. Your fingers will not hurt as much when the action is lower.

3. If you are using a steel string acoustic, start with strings that have a lighter gauge. Lighter gauge strings can help your fingers from getting too sore.

4. Try soaking your fingers in vinegar for half a minute. Let them dry and then start practicing.

5. After you wash your hands, use rubbing alcohol on the tips of your fingers then play after they are dry.

 

More Sore Fingers Guitar Solutions

Click the 'Read More' for more tips... [Read more...]

6 Fingerpicking Patterns You Can Learn To Play

6 Finger Picking Pattens on the Guitar

This video is one of the most popular and most viewed videos I've made. You may not have seen it and I thought is would be good to post it here for more people to enjoy. In the video, you learn how to play 6 different finger picking patterns with an easy song.

If you would also like to see the music, it's available underneath the free video guitar lesson.

 

Video Newsletter 3

Worship Guitar Class Family News - Guitar Walking Basses, Facebook Fan Page and more...

Topics for this 8 minute Video Newsletter are:

  1. Reading Music on Your Guitar - See the first 3 lessons free
  2. Guitar Lesson On Walking Basses
  3. Get fit in 10 Minutes a Day?
  4. Survey With Free Gift
  5. From You

The link to the survey, which is running, is here with details about the free product - The survey

To read the rest of this article click on the 'more' link [Read more...]

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Jesus is LORD!