Mars Hill Music - Some Do's and Don'ts

Mars Hill Church in Seattle (Mark Driscoll's church) have been producing some amazing worship music, and a lot of it is now available for download with a suggested donation.

I have recently downloaded their Rain City Hymnal EP, which is a collection of traditional hymns that have been rearranged, the Red Letter album, and the Good Friday Live Worship album. They have all blown my mind.

The interesting thing about them is this: it is always very obvious what Scripture passages the lyrics come from, the hymns all use the traditional words (thees and thous, and other very evocative, profound English words and phrases that have fallen out of common use) but the music is the edgiest, most creative combination of synths and grinding electric guitars, earth-shifting bass and gut-thumping drumming I have heard in ages! It seems like they're channeling the Seattle-sound in a big way. The version of Psalm 51 sounds like they had Soundgarden as the backing band!

You can read an interview with one of the worship pastors and band frontmen here.

Music like this, however, can raise some issues for us as local church musicians. Here are some helpful suggestions for things we can learn from this approach to church music.

• DON'T try and mimic what is done at Mars Hill, unless you have some phenomenal rock musicians with pro quality gear, a 10, 000W PA system, a congregation of 3, 000.
• DO learn to use what resources you have, just like Mars Hill has done. When you do a good job with what you have, you will have a solid foundation to build on. Jesus said in Luke 16 "Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much". If all you have now is a violin and a guitar and singer or two, work hard with that and ask God to bless you with more.

• DON'T use heavy rock for your worship services because that's what Mars Hill is doing.
• DO think about your congregation and what music would suit them best. If it is heavy rock, then pursue that.

• DON'T think that the only way to present these songs is to do them the same way Mars Hill have done.
• DO learn to separate out the song itself. Use the chords that are downloadable from their website and try and do the song with just a voice and an acoustic guitar or piano. The strength of a good song is its ability to "carry" in a variety of musical contexts, not just the one it is written in.

Lastly,

• DON"T get discouraged that your church's music will never be like Mars Hill's.
• DO listen to these songs to be encouraged, get ideas and learn a thing or two about the variety that can be present in the music Christians use to worship God.

Using A Capo

Guitar player, love your capo! And learn to use it. It is one of the most valuable tools a guitarists has.

A capo is useful for

• Playing simple chords in a difficult key.
• Changing the sound of chords. This is important for when two guitars are playing together, because if one guitar uses a capo to play the chords in a different position, it can help the guitars to sound more distinct. You can also use it to "lighten" the sound of the guitar by playing the chords in positions higher up the neck.

The key to all of this is to learn the notes on your neck and learn your open chord shapes, and learn where the capo must go to play various chords. For instance, you need to know that placing the capo behind the 3rd fret and using the chords from the key of G (G, C, D, Am, Em) you will be playing in Bb. This is because your root note is now at the 6th fret on the low E, which is Bb.

Similarly, if you have the capo behind the 5th fret and you use the same chords, you will be playing in C. And if you use the capo behind the 4th fret and use the chords from the key of D (D, G, A, Bm, Em) you will be playing in the key of F#.

This does take learning, there are no shortcuts. Perhaps the best advice is to start thinking about the chords in songs in terms of their scale degrees instead of just their names. So in G, G=I, Am=ii, Bm=iii, C=IV, D=V, Em=vi and F#m=vii. Try and work out how chords in other keys relate to each other like this, and you will begin to become a musical demon! Then it becomes easier to 'translate' a chord to a different capo position.

Remember also that the capo functions exactly like your guitar's nut. In order for it to work properly it must be as close as possible behind the appropriate fret so that the strings break hard over the metal of the fret.

Troubleshoot:

1. Setting the capo too far back from the fret will make the strings buzz
2. Setting the capo skew will make the guitar sound out of tune
3. A capo that is too tight will pull the strings out of tune, a capo that is too loose will make the strings buzz. If you can adjust the tension of your capo then great, otherwise it's time to go shopping.
4. If you get all the above right and the guitar is still buzzing, sounding out of tune, etc., it's time to take it to the shop for a service.

Lastly, don't buy a rubbish capo. The best ones are by Shubb (http://www.shubb.com/), but Dunlop and Kyser also make great capos that are quick and easy to put on and take off, and can be clipped the headstock when not in use. The only problem with these is that they pull the strings slightly sideways because of the clamp action. (My favourite is the Dunlop Trigger capo http://www.jimdunlop.com/index.php?page=products/pip&id=67&pmh=products/capos)

If all of this is a bit complicated, never fear! Perhaps a video will help... watch this space!