So, I started off playing guitar for my church 25 years ago. Played in the praise band first for the youth group and later for the entire church. Several years ago went through a deconstruction and left the church for a while. Now, we’re Episcopalian so I’m back in church but MUCH more liberal/progressive than I was way back when.
Playing “secular” music is SO much more fun! Haha Most of what we played back then was so simple (G, C, D repeat) and we were not really allowed to experiment. I remember the drummer in our church band was a former professional and he eventually quit because they kept telling him he was too loud and just wanted him to play straight rhythm without embellishment. The one thing I miss was that at least I got a chance to play with folks a few times a week, even if it wasn’t anything terribly interesting.
Anyone else come from a similar background? I’d love to talk about our common experiences. (Also, I got to be involved a little bit in Christian music for a short time and met a few big names, mostly to my regret. haha)
Hi Bryan (Woah, it feels weird spelling that with a ‘y’ )
Welcome to the Community!
That’s quite a specific type of musician you’re looking for
I’d be surprised if most ‘faiths’ weren’t represented here in the community, including of course atheists and agnostics, but as religion is part of the Trinity we tend to avoid discussing (along with politics and profanity), it’s hard to know for sure
I enjoy religious ideas/imagery in music and have been known to share some ‘odd theology’ here.
I’m an Irish Roman Catholic papist but am also a bell-ringer for the local Anglican (CofE) church.
Here’s a song I wrote about my afterlife
(details on YouTube)
You’d think so, but I’m constantly surprised at how many people I encounter in all sorts of places that have similar religions backgrounds. Conservative evangelicals that deconstruct and either become atheists or at least liberal Christians. Always nice to meet another Brian/Bryan (even if you do spell it the wrong way )
Cheers
Hi Bryan welcome to the site. I’m a Born again Christian. I get what you mean about church music getting monotonous. Our churches in the UK have been used to only having 1 person play an acoustic guitar and sing. I have a young cousin who is genuinely a guitar prodigy ( I mean picking up years of learning in weeks) but is always getting asked in her church to bottle the sound up. I think it’s a fear of the untested.
Im currently “on loan” to a different church that hasn’t had music at all in years and I think anything would get the thumbs up at the minute so I think it comes down to the way people operate as well.
Recording is where we really get to bust the tools out, we’ve done Christian reggae, hard rock, fingerstyle. Someone even managed to sneak in a Metallica intro in the start of a Christian song, which I found hilarious. So it’s not all boring!
That’s cool. Certainly not all church music or contemporary Christian music is boring. I actually had a lot of fun playing it at the time. Some of my favorite guitar music is by Phil Keaggy, a contemporary Christian artist. His album 220 is one of my favorites.
Hi guys…i’m a teacher (and resident ‘muso’ ) at a Catholic primary school. So i find myself playing and accompanying kids at Mass, or prayer services…remember many many many years ago when i started playing, guitars were just starting to fing their way into churches (circa 1970’s)…and the old C F,G, with maybe an Am thrown in for good measure.
A lot of new writers and faith traditions around now, and some of the Hillsong or Maranatha songbook stuff is more interesting to play. I also like attempting to translate some traditional ‘organ’ music to guitar, and it refreshes the pieces a bit…
Great to ‘meet’ you all
Michael
One thing I want to do is to learn finger style versions of some of the great old hymns. Pre-COVID, we used to have jazz and blues musicians do special concerts at our church on Sunday nights. I’d love to see that start again!
Hello Bryan. Welcome to JustinGuitar and the community. Our community is a ‘broad church’ in the widest sense and in the sense that we encompass and welcome all folks of all backgrounds and beliefs. We do have a no religion rule governing our discussions but that does not exclude religious or church or faith music of course. I’m sure you will enjoy the community spirit herein and wish you success and good luck as you learn and seek others to share that journey with.
Cheers
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