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Play Within Your Context

By Philip Hendrickson

For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven.” Ecclesiastes 3:1 ESV

These days it is easy for us drummers to learn new songs by watching YouTube videos or listening to recordings on a streaming service. However, these videos or recordings are usually made in a studio or at a concert in a large arena or big church. In those settings the drummer is encouraged to play with power and enthusiasm, and a sound engineer controls the volume as needed from the mixing board.

In a typical (smaller) church context, we have to learn how to convey the emotion of that same song at a lower stage volume. This requires playing with finer touch, which we learn by practicing exercises at low volume. Drums are a physical instrument, and it is fun to bang hard on them sometimes. But in a band—especially a band leading worship—we must adapt our playing to the context.

On stage we always have to play for the music as a whole, not just for ourselves. We’re not just having fun in the practice room or basement anymore. And in the worship setting, the role of the band is to lead the congregation’s singing, not to play a concert while they just listen.

So even if the drummer in the studio or live recording of a song is slamming, we may not have the freedom to play the song that way in our setting. Learn how to play with intensity and emotion at a lower volume, and you will have a long career filled with opportunities to play with great musicians and share the joy of the Lord in music.


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