How does it feel?

The other day, I mentioned a quote from Herbie Hancock where he said his goal was contributing to how the song “feels” rather than showing off technical skills. I want to elaborate on that concept a little more today.

I have said before that if your goal as a pianist is just impressing people with your skills, you are setting the bar too low. Music is more powerful than that. Yet, almost all of the pianists I hear play church music have fallen into the trap of just trying to impress people with flashiness.

I have been thinking about this a lot because of my current practice I am doing for my upcoming CD. As you know, the orchestrations are done, and I am practicing with them. At this point, I cannot change the chords very much and I cannot change the tempo or the rubato. Those things are pretty much locked into place because I have to match the existing orchestration. However, I am still changing the actual notes I am going to play for each chord and I am changing how I play them.

The reason for all this experimentation has nothing to do with anything technical. I know the music technically and if I mess up when I record in a few weeks, I just have to try again. It is fairly easy to produce technically perfect music these days just because of the advances in recording technology.

Actually, the experimentation I am doing has to do with the “feel” of the songs. I know that sounds nebulous, but I am referring to the way a song comes across to the listener and the impact it will have on the listener. The “feel” or impact of your music is far more important than any other factor.

I have different plans for the various songs on the project. Some should soothe, some should encourage, some should make people feel joyful, and some should create goose bumps. And it goes without saying that all of them should help people reflect on God.

If you are a church pianist, make sure you are thinking about the way your music will impact people. And never let your ego get in the way of that impact.  Very often, that will mean backing off on the flashiness and playing less notes.