Make a Joyful Noise!

One preconception out there is that to lead worship, you need to be a premier musician.  No question, having general knowledge of how to play an instrument can help, but it’s not required to lead worship or be a profitable worship leader for the Lord.  All you need is a heart to and a desire to serve the Lord and His People through worship.

There are many tools out there these days that can make it very, very easy for anyone willing to put in a little effort to not only play the basics, but also fill the room with music and help lead worship.  One person in particular lost his left arm in an automobile accident many years ago.  He had previously been a bass player.  As a guitarist, losing my left arm would be tragic.

As the Lord was developing a fellowship in South Carolina, I decided to take a trip to Guitar Center one day and buy some gear.  I got a Yamaha keyboard, a keyboard amp, an electric guitar, and a guitar amp.  Within a very short time, he was up and running on the Keyboard and able to contribute and really round out the music team for the South Carolina Fellowship.  He only had one arm, but he jumped right in and, with some work, became very proficient.

If he can do it, then so can you.  If you want to.  I’ll be posting some basic “How To” tutorials on playing basic songs, predominantly with the Yamaha keyboard line.   Some great models to consider are:

Yamaha DGX series.  The DGX500, an early digital grand piano, has various sounds, rhythms, and auto-accompaniment arrangements, plus a very easy one-finger chord system that lets anyone jump in and play great music unto the Lord.

Yamaha PSR Series. The Yamaha PSR series has a rich heritage.  I started on the PSR 90 back in 1989.   If you can find a PSR 740, PSR 3000, PSR S700, PSR S710, PSR S900, PSR S910, or any of the newer PSR series, you’ll have an incredibly flexible instrument to work with.  Even an older PSR 530 would be a great start.

The beauty of the Yamaha line of instruments is that they all work the same.  I’m probably going to start the first videos using the DGX 500 as it’s generally easy to find for around $200 (used at Guitar Center is a great place to look) and sounds great.

If you have any questions or would like help getting started, please email me through our contact us page.