The Right Approach To Worship Guitar: A Beginner’s Guide
Worship has always gone hand in hand with music. Since the beginning of time, beats and rhythmic chants were used as a form of prayer. Samuel spoke of David dancing in the presence of the Lord. In the chapter of Exodus, Miriam played her tambourine and danced to celebrate the freedom of the Israelites as the Egyptians that pursued them drowned.
As Christianity evolved and was taken up in many different countries, so did its music and rituals. Hymns were sung, and songs took on different styles from Gregorian to Gospel, and then modern worship music took on widely loved tunes of pop and rock. From the Jesus Movement of the latter years of the Sixties, spiritual music has gone on to influence popular music. Rock and roll was no longer considered the music of bad behavior and rebellion, but was made the tune of worship.
The guitar is one of the most widely-used instruments of this kind of music, because of its uniquely personal, quiet sound. The guitar uses more chords than single notes, similar to the singing of a Christian choir — not one note is ever alone. The instrument can be carried around or brought in a case, making it easier to play in any place of worship. Because of the ease of its use and its wide accessibility, the guitar is ideal for worship music.
Most worship guitar lessons begin the same way learning guitar for any kind of music. First, one has to learn how to position the fingers for chords and notes. As a lot of Christian music is based on chords and chord patterns, learning those chords will go a long way for the worship guitar beginner.
In the early part of your worship guitar lessons, you’ll be learning the basics of reading guitar chord notation, strumming, tuning your guitar properly, and chord switching. If you kep at it, you’ll eventually learn more advanced techniques, like chord substitution, sliding, plucking with the use of a pick, and reading tablature (notation that tells you how to move your fingers to play more complex songs). And once you’ve assembled a repertoire, you’ll be able to fully experience the joy of prayer through worship songs.
Learning to play the guitar can be difficult at times. Taking worship guitar lessons entails a commitment on your part, which will require you to spends hours and hours trying to improve. But as long as you find music-making enjoyable, the learning process shouldn’t be so hard. Playing worship songs on a guitar is a very deep and personal way to connect with God, and can prove to be as spiritual and moving as prayer.
Music and worship songs has long been a part of the religious experience. Christians who wish to make a deeper connection with God may find that taking some worship guitar lessons are a great way to enhance their spiritual lives. The process of learning the basics like Christian guitar chords and tuning your guitars, and moving on to more high-level techniques like plucking and tablature reading, can prove to be a spiritual journey that will give you another way to express your faith.
- Jonathan Drake
