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Contemporary Christian Music- Advice Needed


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Greetings,

 

Kind of out of the blue I came into contact with two churches wanting to hire a keyboardist. I guess I passed the phone interview and now the pastors want to meet me in person to talk.

I thought it would be a good idea to have a couple of songs ready to play and sing.

 

The thing is, I am Catholic ( very open minded by the way, and I am accepting of all regions ...) I sub as a drummer in " non denominational" "charismatic " "spirit filled " type churches so I know what I'm getting into and I have a good feel for the music. But truthfully I don't seek out contemporary Christian music for my own listening pleasure so I'm not really familiar with artist names and the latest "hits" .

 

So anyways I plan on playing and singing "Open My Eyes of My Heart" . Is that too dated or over played? Any other tunes you could recommend, for just keys and voice?

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Waymaker is great, as is Is He Worthy. Both are good for solo piano/keys and voice.

Yamaha: Motif XF8, MODX7, YS200, CVP-305, CLP-130, YPG-235, PSR-295, PSS-470 | Roland: Fantom 7, JV-1000

Kurzweil: PC3-76, PC4 (88) | Hammond: SK Pro 73 | Korg: Triton LE 76, N1R, X5DR | Emu: Proteus/1 | Casio: CT-370 | Novation: Launchkey 37 MK3 | Technics: WSA1R

Former: Emu Proformance Plus & Mo'Phatt, Korg Krome 61, Roland Fantom XR & JV-1010, Yamaha MX61, Behringer CAT

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Nope, not " Open the Eyes". That would be extremely dated. Look for songs by Elevation Worship, Hillsong, Jesus Culture. These comprise a large percentage of what's happening in CCM in most churches.
Kurzweil Forte, Yamaha Motif ES7, Muse Receptor 2 Pro Max, Neo Ventilator
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Nope, not " Open the Eyes". That would be extremely dated. Look for songs by Elevation Worship, Hillsong, Jesus Culture. These comprise a large percentage of what's happening in CCM in most churches.

:yeahthat:

 

And Chris Tomlin, Passion, Kari Jobe, Pat Barrett, Kim Walker-Smith, Planetshakers, and Vertical Worship to name a few others.

Yamaha: Motif XF8, MODX7, YS200, CVP-305, CLP-130, YPG-235, PSR-295, PSS-470 | Roland: Fantom 7, JV-1000

Kurzweil: PC3-76, PC4 (88) | Hammond: SK Pro 73 | Korg: Triton LE 76, N1R, X5DR | Emu: Proteus/1 | Casio: CT-370 | Novation: Launchkey 37 MK3 | Technics: WSA1R

Former: Emu Proformance Plus & Mo'Phatt, Korg Krome 61, Roland Fantom XR & JV-1010, Yamaha MX61, Behringer CAT

Assorted electric & acoustic guitars and electric basses | Roland TD-17 KVX | Alesis SamplePad Pro | Assorted organs, accordions, other instruments

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Here is a great resource. This link takes you to a page that shows the most popular songs. You can get charts from them, too.

hey, I not that they have 10,000 reasons as the most popular of all time (according to their charts sales) and was the first one I was going to recommend.

https://www.praisecharts.com/explore/top

.

 

 

10,000 Reasons is decade old. But it's a great keyboard song to play as a solo piece.

Pastors generally really like the theology in it. It's a bit more hymn-like so longer life IMO.

 

 

The Blessing, one of the biggest hits of 2020.

 

 

Goodness of God

 

 

What a Beautiful name:

 

 

Waymaker is probably the most popular song of the past few years. However, the melody is pretty simple, so it might not be impressive in a keyboard-only audition so it would not be my choice.

 

Mike Kent

- Chairman of MIDI 2.0 Working Group

- MIDI Association Executive Board

- Co-Author of USB Device Class Definition for MIDI Devices 1.0 and 2.0

 

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Forgot a song - Famous For by Tauren Wells/Jenn Johnson. Or Hills and Valleys which is a few years old.

Yamaha: Motif XF8, MODX7, YS200, CVP-305, CLP-130, YPG-235, PSR-295, PSS-470 | Roland: Fantom 7, JV-1000

Kurzweil: PC3-76, PC4 (88) | Hammond: SK Pro 73 | Korg: Triton LE 76, N1R, X5DR | Emu: Proteus/1 | Casio: CT-370 | Novation: Launchkey 37 MK3 | Technics: WSA1R

Former: Emu Proformance Plus & Mo'Phatt, Korg Krome 61, Roland Fantom XR & JV-1010, Yamaha MX61, Behringer CAT

Assorted electric & acoustic guitars and electric basses | Roland TD-17 KVX | Alesis SamplePad Pro | Assorted organs, accordions, other instruments

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Any other tunes you could recommend, for just keys and voice?

 

 

How about asking them the names of 5 or 20 songs they currently do?

Kurzweil Forte, Yamaha Motif ES7, Muse Receptor 2 Pro Max, Neo Ventilator
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Honestly I'd just work up something that you can do well, and express a willingness to learn their material. In ideal situation would be to attend a service or two to see where they're at, but there's no time for that apparently.

 

CCM is a huge category, most teams have a core group of songs in rotation that they build on, and what those songs are varies from church to church. Just my experience... I've been out of that scene ever since I moved 6 years ago, so really have no recommendations beyond that.

 

Best of luck :thu:

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Honestly I'd just work up something that you can do well, and express a willingness to learn their material. In ideal situation would be to attend a service or two to see where they're at, but there's no time for that apparently.

 

CCM is a huge category, most teams have a core group of songs in rotation that they build on, and what those songs are varies from church to church. Just my experience... I've been out of that scene ever since I moved 6 years ago, so really have no recommendations beyond that.

 

Best of luck :thu:

 

 

That's great advice especially since I'm meeting the pastor tomorrow. I did learn 10,0000 Reasons, which may or may not serve me well. The pastor just called me and told me that the church prefers Black artists such as Tysha Cobbs, Kirk Franklin, and Travis Greene. No problem, most of the tunes sound easy enough, and I think I prefer it to the (White) CCM, anyways. But I am less familiar with Black CCM or would those artist be considered gospel?

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Kirk Franklin for sure. You Are Good by Israel Houghton is a nice one that we"ve done sometimes. Hopefully others with more experience in that realm can comment further.

Yamaha: Motif XF8, MODX7, YS200, CVP-305, CLP-130, YPG-235, PSR-295, PSS-470 | Roland: Fantom 7, JV-1000

Kurzweil: PC3-76, PC4 (88) | Hammond: SK Pro 73 | Korg: Triton LE 76, N1R, X5DR | Emu: Proteus/1 | Casio: CT-370 | Novation: Launchkey 37 MK3 | Technics: WSA1R

Former: Emu Proformance Plus & Mo'Phatt, Korg Krome 61, Roland Fantom XR & JV-1010, Yamaha MX61, Behringer CAT

Assorted electric & acoustic guitars and electric basses | Roland TD-17 KVX | Alesis SamplePad Pro | Assorted organs, accordions, other instruments

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So, montunoman, how did it go?

 

 

Thanks Mike for asking!

 

Unfortunately I had to cancel my meeting/audition due to some nasty side effects due to the 2nd vaccine. I think I'm better now, and we rescheduled for next week.

 

I am auditioning for 2 churches, One is CCM and the other is more modern gospel .

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One of my wife Cheryl's favorite songs was "Revelation Song". That song would move her in the spirit every time she heard it.

 

I recorded a version with all the instruments, and sang it for her memorial.

 

Very simple song, but very powerful when done right.

"In the beginning, Adam had the blues, 'cause he was lonesome.

So God helped him and created woman.

 

Now everybody's got the blues."

 

Willie Dixon

 

 

 

 

 

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I actually ended up getting hired as a drummer (my main first instrument) . It is a Baptist church that features CCM at the services. I play to a click and tracks. It's a pretty elaborate/involved set up, with lights and video images that are synchronized with the music. I playing a fully mic kit, at rock band levels. So different in everyway to my Catholic upbringing, but no problem, it's gig, I'm happy to be working.

 

Thanks for the tips, even though I got the drum spot. At least I knew some names of CCM artists, song titles, and I now have I pretty good idea of what the music is about stylistically.

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I actually ended up getting hired as a drummer (my main first instrument) . It is a Baptist church that features CCM at the services. I play to a click and tracks..... I pretty good idea of what the music is about stylistically.

 

 

Be prepared for a ridiculous amount of tom fill work. I don't know why CCM has made that part of do many songs. Very little playing with a strong back beat.

 

We use click but rarely use tracks and yes, the set-up is elaborate.

Kurzweil Forte, Yamaha Motif ES7, Muse Receptor 2 Pro Max, Neo Ventilator
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Congrats! Sounds like a nice gig.

I actually ended up getting hired as a drummer (my main first instrument) . It is a Baptist church that features CCM at the services. I play to a click and tracks..... I pretty good idea of what the music is about stylistically.

 

 

Be prepared for a ridiculous amount of tom fill work. I don't know why CCM has made that part of do many songs. Very little playing with a strong back beat.

 

We use click but rarely use tracks and yes, the set-up is elaborate.

 

I've noticed that trend the last few years. I like toms a lot, but I'm not sure why it's taking over.

Yamaha: Motif XF8, MODX7, YS200, CVP-305, CLP-130, YPG-235, PSR-295, PSS-470 | Roland: Fantom 7, JV-1000

Kurzweil: PC3-76, PC4 (88) | Hammond: SK Pro 73 | Korg: Triton LE 76, N1R, X5DR | Emu: Proteus/1 | Casio: CT-370 | Novation: Launchkey 37 MK3 | Technics: WSA1R

Former: Emu Proformance Plus & Mo'Phatt, Korg Krome 61, Roland Fantom XR & JV-1010, Yamaha MX61, Behringer CAT

Assorted electric & acoustic guitars and electric basses | Roland TD-17 KVX | Alesis SamplePad Pro | Assorted organs, accordions, other instruments

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