Every musician is presented with the challenge of how to improve their capacity for creative expression. That is the goal. To be able to use your instrument, be it your voice, your guitar to articulate the melodies and rhythms that you want to hear.
The key to improving is recognising your weaknesses on your instrument, and not shying away from them. Rather, face them head on. This may require a great teacher, and is certainly something that any musician should be considering, regardless of ability or experience. A good teacher will point you towards areas for improvement, and give you strategies and practice techniques to move forward.
Here are just three areas to consider:
1) Ear/Reading
Often a musician will be more proficient at one of these and the other will lack somewhat. Listening to a song and working out the parts on your instrument is a great way to learn to play what you hear. This is a really helpful skill for playing within our team, but also writing parts for songs. I would encourage any musician to work on reading music also, both chords and notation. You may be surprised at how this can take your playing forward, if nothing else, in the form of discipline.
2) Timing
Every musician, dare I say vocalist, should own and practice to a metronome. Start by singing, playing a song you already know. Break it down into small pieces ie an intro riff or verse melody, and practice one of these with the click repetitively for at least 2 minutes. Work on articulation, precision and rhythmic accuracy. Change the tempo and try the same line again.
3) Creativity
Practice being creative. Improvisation and writing parts, making melodies on the spot is one of the great aspects of music. Like any other aspect, practice improves your ability to create what you want to create. I recommend doing this with other musicians. One of you might play chords under a singer/other instrumentalist and then switch it around. Practice coming up with parts over different chords. Buy a recording device, and you can do this anytime.
Enjoy the process of honing your skills and opening new possibilities for creative expression on your instruments.
this is gold.
Everyone needs ….. pasion
Hello, I’m not on your team at Hillsong, but have been affected by one of your own. I actually go to Wave Church in Virginia Beach. A few years back, the lengendary Nigel Hendroff (of course you know him) came to Virginia Beach and crashed at my house (almost crashing my jeep, but that’s a different story). Anyways, he really challenged who I was as a guitar player. One thing he did as we would sit around and chat, or watch movies, or whatever we were doing, he ALWAYS had his guitar in hand. He constantly ran his scales, arpeggios, riffs, etc. It was at that point I realized something, I needed to practice my guitar much more than I did in order to become better and improve overall as a musician. I realized then that the only difference between me and the guitar player I wanted to be was the hours I was willing to put into practicing my craft. There was no “secret sauce”, it was just how disciplined I was to practice. With this said, thank you Nigel for your influence (whether you realized it or not) and if you are a musician wanting to be better, have that instrument in your hands at all times during mindless drone sesssions (watching tv, friends playing video games, other pointless stuff, etc.). Anyways, enough rambling, thanks again Nigel……..
Joshua Bogart
droff… did you post this yourself?
i wish i could claim it as my own work…
it’s amazing… blessings from Honduras!
What really helped me was video tapeing me playing certian riff or leadlines, it really showed me all the mistakes i did and which i didn´t noticed while i was playing.
this is good for all worship teams
Droff! you are my hero. I am a lead guitarist at a church, and I still can’t find that clean and boosty sound that you have with you gretsch. The main pedals that I use is Ibanez Tubescreamer and some MXR Microamp.
Help me out! I also use an Ibanez guitar
you are the best,
God bless
Danny
If you can tell me the pedals that you use (like the main overdrives or other clean boost pedals to get the tone), it will be awesome. Just to let you know.. it’s all up to you I will still love hillsong no matter if you tell me or not.
I really want to get this tone :
http://hillsong.com/blogs/creative/2008/12/12/with-everything-parts-3/
Please HELP!~
Thanks
You are the best
i feel you guys on that certain guitar sound. i think part of it comes from having a semi-hollow? anyways, yeah i’m looking for a similar sound, since i feel that if i turn the big distortions i’m gonna make some of the congregation hate me, but droff has a certain sound that sounds overdriven/distorted yet sounds clean and not too overpowering, yet piercing.
to start, is that something you accomplish with a clean tone or is that some sort of distortion/overdrive?
wow.. Thanks so much whoever you are.
I love this website!
so Helpful!
God bless!
As a guitar player, a mediocre one at best, this site is very helpful in my growth as a worshipper of our God, I hope this site grows into an international music/worship discussion site, taking ideas and thoughts from everyone. Thank you Hillsong guys and gals for taking the time to share your passions and musical wisdom with us. In His Name, Josh
Hey Droff, I would really want to know what guitar strings would you preffer and why.
THANKS
Droff,
I have noticed that when you play your Gretsch, the clean sound sort of has a filtered effect to it, almost like a wah kicked back a little (e.g. intro to mighty to save & maybe the version of Hosanna the big church recorded). Is this sound produced by the G-force in your rack or what? Thanks…
Hey wh1t33rick…and everyone out there!
There’s alot of questions about my gear and setup, and the lists that are floating around are quite out of date. Here’s what i’m currently using at church, studio, live albums etc…
Amps:
Matchless Spitfire 15
Vox Ac-15
Guitars:
Duesenberg Starplayer TV Blue Pearl with Tremolo
Gretsch Duo Jet G6128T Black
Fender Stratocaster 57 reissue (1982 made) Tobacco Burst
Gibson Les Paul Supreme Maple Cherry Burst
Larivee C-05 Acoustic Guitar
Godin Multiac Nylon
Fender Stratocaster (Japan)
Main Pedalboard:
Timon Klein Industries Custom True Bypass Looper
Boss TU-2 Tuner
Ernie Ball Volume
Fulltone Clyde Wah
Voodoo Lab Sparkle Drive
Maxon OD-820 Overdrive
Jekyll & Hyde Overdrive/Distortion
Expandora
Line 6 MM-4 Modulation
Fulltone Choral Flange
Boss DM-2 Analog Delay
Boss DD-5 Digital Delay
TC Electronic Nova Delay
Diago Power Supply
Cusom Made Junction Box
All wired with George L’s .155 & .225 cable and plugs.
Practice Pedal Board:
Boss TU-2 Tuner
Pro Analog Dual Drive
Hao Rumble Mod
Ernie Ball Jr. Volume Pedal
Boss DD-5 Delay
Line 6 DL-4 Delay
1 Spot Power Supply
All George L’s Cables and plugs.
There’s some rack gear that’s not being used…TC G Force and Line 6 Echo Pro…both sweet units, and some switching racks…
Hope this helps everyone. I’ll do a video post soon to run through the rig and show how I pull my sounds…stay tuned!
that true!!!! but most of the time I as a musician can’t recognize my mistakes when I play the keyboard, someone else told me my mistakes and I think that is kind of difficult to recognize that, do you do that in an special way? how did you recognize your mistakes and even better how did you fix them????’
wow…this really helps!!! a lot..!! =)=)
I want to say High to the Hillsong/UNITED guitar guys(Nigel, Michael Guy, Jad, Timon, Marcus, Tenni) You guys are a great blessing.
I’ve wanted to ask what practicing tips you can give.
Like what main scales to practice, the way you go about playing inversion chords and all. Show us some of the stuff you guys practice, and how.
thanks again for all the help!!
droff, do you believe that you need all of those effects and pedals to create the type of sounds hillsong worship does?
Words of wisdom…It sounds like “The Word For Today”…thank you for your encouregement…
Be Blessed
Bye
Im sorry if this is irrelevant buy can someone clarify Ear/Reading part
This is so true! One thing that we are fortunate enough to be able to do at my church is to watch or listen to ourselves. I know everyone dreads it a lot of the time, but it is truly helpful!
@ DiscipleMoses,
Playing by “Ear” - the ability to play certain musical parts on a given instrument (ei, piano, guitar, etc, including vocal) just by hearing it, so kind of mimicking the original part/song.
Playing by “Reading” - there are a few different methods such as (chords, notation) that i’m familiar with.
Chords - gives the artist freedom to interpret the song using their style of playing by giving them the foundation of the song, just chords (the musician, will add the rhythm and improv to the melody, often times).
Notation - is actual sheet music that has been written, and the song is an exact replica of the original composition.
allen, you really don’t need ALL that gear. I think the basics are a good sounding amp, a well set up guitar, and some basic pedals.
For hillsong style music, the pedals you really need is a delay with tap tempo and a .8th setting (such as a Boss DD-20/DD-5/DD-7/TC Nova Delay/Line 6 echo park), a good overdrive and a tuner pedal. Another nice thing to have is a boost for lead stuff.
hi, mr. droff!
just wonderin’…
what scales do you use in your guitar playing? i do hear (and sometimes see) in your songs that you use the Major Scale (right?) and on those song that are more rock-ish(?), you use the Minor Pentatonic (and some Blues, too)…
i just want to know what scales you use… thanks!!!
God bless!
Ps. 150.4
Hello, Mr. Droff!
What scales do you use in your guitar playing?
I just want to know what scales you use…
thank you very much !!!
God bless, from Mexico.
¿QUIERES MEJORAR?
A todo músico se le presenta el reto de mejorar su capacidad de expresión creativa. Esa es la meta, tener la posibilidad de usar tu instrumento, tu voz o tu guitarra para articular las melodías y ritmos que quieres oír.
La clave para mejorar es reconocer tus debilidades al tocar tu instrumento, y no huir de ellas. Más bien, enfréntalas. Esto puede significar buscar un buen profesor, y ciertamente algo que todo músico debería considerar, sin importar la habilidad o la experiencia. Un buen profesor señalará las áreas a mejorar, y te dará estrategias y técnicas de práctica para avanzar.
Aquí tienes tres áreas a considerar:
1) Escuchar/leer
A menudo un músico va a destacarse más en uno u otro de estos aspectos. Escuchar una canción y sacar las partes en tu instrumento es una muy buena manera de aprender a tocar lo que escuchas. Esta habilidad es realmente una gran ayuda en nuestro equipo, pero también las partes escritas. Yo animo a cualquier músico a trabajar en la lectura musical también, tanto acordes como notación. Puedes quedar sorprendido de cómo esto puede llevar tu manera de tocar a otro nivel, sobre todo en forma de disciplina.
2) Tiempo
Todo músico, me atrevo a incluir los vocalistas, debería tener un metrónomo para practicar. Comienza cantando/tocando una canción que ya sabes. Divídela en partes pequeñas, por ejemplo, una frase del intro o una frase de la estrofa, y practícala con el click repetidamente por al menos 2 minutos. Trabaja en la articulación, la exactitud y la precisión rítmica. Cambia el tiempo y trabaja la misma línea otra vez.
3) Creatividad
Practica ser creativo. La improvisación, escribir partes o inventar melodías en el momento es uno de los grandes aspectos de la música. Como cualquier otro aspecto, la práctica mejora tu habilidad de crear lo que quieres crear. Yo recomiendo hacer esto con otros músicos: uno de ustedes podría tocar acordes mientras el otro hace melodías, y luego se intercambian. Practica inventar partes sobre diferentes acordes. Compra una grabadora, y lo puedes hacer en cualquier momento.
Disfruta el proceso de pulir tus habilidades y abrir nuevas posibilidades para la expresión creativa en tu instrumento.
as a guitarist in praise and worship in our local church here in the philippines..it is really important to listen what you play during practice or service..
based on my experience..i saw my teammates how they improved in listening..in the 1st few months of their playing in church they don’t know what they’re playing..they don’t know if they had a mistakes..
but now they realized their mistakes..notice their faults..
hey! you guys should put a post on running sound and recording!!! that would really help a bunch of the tech guys in churches!! just saying=]