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I wanted to get some info from anyone here who might have a job playing contemporary/gospel styles for churches. Where do you find these jobs and what songs are standards in church? I know When The Saints Go Marching In and Amazing Grace, but Christian music in the modern sense has become much more arranged and complex.

If anyone could respond on what it takes to get a keyboard player job in churches, please let us know on how and what to prepare for an audition.

Thanks katt

Can you be a little more clear on what you are looking for? Jobs like these are usually on a volunteer basis and are made up of people who are aleady members of the church. There ARE jobs, but only as an organist or an accompanying pianist in liturgical style church. As far as the style goes, that really depends on what church you are playing in. Audition pieces would need to be some sort of chart where you are reading chords.

I have a friend who does this as a member and volunteer, in a suburban area where most of the members are age 20-40.
I agree with Pianos N Cheezecake, in that many of these modern /contemporary newly established churches, music is supplied by members or, friends of members... It helps to visit and get to know people.

A lot also depends on the local culture and income in an area. Some that come to mind are tied to very specific ethnic or cultural traditions and communities. Also,some of the traditional faiths have services with modern music for their youth programs but often the music minister writes original music tailored to the specifics of the faith season (Easter, Christmas, etc.) with the youth performing as volunteers. And even then, the music minister may be holding down a second job as the youth minister.

I've seen a couple listed on craigslist under "musicians" but I think most of them are church members if it's a church praise band. At least my friends are. As P&C says, it requires being able to play from a lead sheet, and knowing the style of the music. That requires listening a lot until you kind of understand it.

Being a church pianist for other than a praise band usually involves accompanying the choir and choir practice, and it means a *lot* of sight-reading skill.

Several members here do this kind of thing, so you might put them on a "watch list" or pm them. apple*, whippen boy, TX-Dennis (I think, for the praise band kind of music), currawong, come to mind.

But as guest says, if you're not familiar with the music it's best to go and listen, to see if it really is what you want to do, and to get an idea of what is involved.

Cathy

Hey Thanks for responding. I know of several guitar players who have long standing regular church gigs and are paid very well for their commitment and hard work. Many churches have been moving to contemporary music like Kirk Franklin and other artists and the music is really inspiring and has some jazz/R&B roots. Sometimes there will be a regular pianist, B-3 organ, several keyboard players, horns, etc.

The hard part is finding listings of churches looking for good players to work with.
Larger churches have budgeted for their music programs and it can be a good part-time regular gig for the right people. Musicians involved with church music programs are not necessarily members of the congregation and some players work at different churches on the same Sunday. There are many talented keyboard players who are involved in the music programs in a variety of church denominations. Getting leads to what is out there is a challenge though and doing research on this topic has not been too successful yet in finding opportunities. I listen to and really like the music.

Thanks for all your advice

katt

Organ repertoire is incredibly large and varied, moreso than any other instrument. Unless you have a huge wealth of liturgical and gospel music at ready command, your best bet would be to get hired into a band that already performs at churches.

i would join a group.. sing, offer to play, learn the music, substitute.. you can do more than one group at a time.

Well, nitekatt if you know so many guitar players with these long-standing well paid gigs, maybe they could hook you up!

nitekatt fyi
I think it is like getting a job, it helps to meet people and have a word of mouth referral. Christian bands looking for gigs gospel musician jobs site Maybe there is something like this in your location.

I know pianists who does a lot of church gigs, but a lot of the people i know are classical pianists. They got the gig because they are good sight readers. Like what others have said, playing in church can mean very different things, but in general you need to have descent sight reading skills to do them.

Thanks again for the help. The guitar players and other musicians who worked in churches that I knew were years ago and have lost contact, many moved away, got out of the work, many factors.

But is anyone here actually playing in a church group and can tell us a bit about the experience? How many rehearsals, services, set list are things to know about.

We'll see what else pops up.

katt

Good luck. One more fyi church musician listing

I've been playing in my church for years. We're usually a 6-piece band, couple guitars, bass, keyboards, drums, vocals. We rehearse once a week, however we are at a point where we don't often need to rehearse as there is more a lot of listening going on and almost free playing throughout the form. Tunes we play come from artists from:

Hillsongs United---> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-08YZF87OBQ

Tim Hughes---> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_oMHplKQnkk

Chris Tomlin----> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7PTvr755V8s

Also David Crowder, Parachute Band, Starfield to name a few more. I come from a church that believes in relationship with God and the movement of the holy spirit. Therefore services are more or less unstructured, as well as the music (one of the reasons we don't rehearse in depth). The experience is fabulous, I love it. The musicians I play with are very talented. Um... not a whole lot else to say.

Thanks guest 1013 for that great gospel musicians site, that was exactly the kind of link I was looking for. On my search, nothing like that came up, but that's why we stay on this forum, to share information.

Although I can read lead sheets and chord charts, I'm not a classical sight reader. But the kind of church gig I am looking for is more for the R&B kind of gospel music like Andre Crouch, Kirk Franklin. I am not experienced in being a choir director, church accompanist, etc.

I am actually learning styles, gospel chord progressions from other players on youtube and I signed up for free lessons on Hear & Play gospel sight. But I have a lot to learn, but I might be able to get started as a second keyboard player in a group, and some churches have training for their musicians and weekly rehearsals

Thanks again

katt

I played in a praise band for a few years, but it was not a paying gig. It was a lot of work, though. I liked it. I guess like anything else, you need to network in church circles. I go to a liturgical church - episcopal - and we have a paid music and choir director. He has a M. Mus. from Southwest Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas, and may be the finest pianist/organist I have ever heard. He can play in about all genres of church music from catholic/episcopal high church to gospel. So he is well credentialled, etc. I have gotten to play at a service once filling in for him, and played at a Christmas midnight mass. Believe me I couldn't fill his shoes, but the services were a blast for me - they were quite gospelly, too. Keep looking and good hunting - that's a real worthy gig.

Yes, some churches have music budgets that can pay their musicians, others that are smaller the musicians are all volunteers. But I know salaries can be very good in churches with programs that can support them. And of course you have to be inspired by the music to head in that direction.

katt

Yes, I think you'd also have to take some sort of interest in God. After all, it is worship music for the most part. Check out Fred Hammond on youtube. He's great!

True, you have to be into Scripture and fellowship to be led into a church band participant. When you hear that music, it just pushes you to get into it and learn to perform and study it.

I have discovered the hearandplay website and they have DVDs for keyboardists to learn gospel and contemporary styles. Really a great resource.

Thanks again

katt

Here's me in my Praise Band:



But I don't get paid. I've belonged to a number of churches in my lifetime and none got paid. We do it as a ministry. Perhaps big, mega-churches have money to pay musicians, but most churches don't.

If you want to play for a church, volunteer for your own church.

Hi,
Did anyone mention the most obvious starting point of going to different churches, listening to the various bands and styles and picking one from what music you liked the best? If you are going to work in a church group, you should really like the music.
You'll find that the genre of "church music" means a lot of different things to different people, so be sure you aren't trying to get a job doing music you can't stand. A lot of the churches in California where I live have moved to "praise" bands, mostly folk guitar with drop D tunings and newer versions of traditional songs. Not musically my cup of tea, but I appreciate what their intentions are.
Some of my associates have made great careers out of church gigs, most notably SaddleBack Church in Orange County where they have a budget for music and bring in a lot of guest artists. They featured me at a jazz series a few years ago and it was a lot of fun. Smaller churches sometime present a challenge because it can be harder to get to know people.