I've asked George Vinson, an amazing guitarist who played all the guitars on the record, to give specific descriptions for each of the songs to help the guitar players in your church.
Worship Guitar 101
While many of these tracks have multiple guitar parts in order to make the best possible recording project, invariably most of these songs can be covered by 2 guitarists (one playing acoustic rhythm guitar, and the other playing electric).
Every electric guitarist has his/her own favored guitar/amp/effects combination; these tracks were recorded using Fender Stratocaster (Strat) and Telecaster (Tele) guitars through a Line 6 X3 multi-effects floor unit (recorded in stereo). If your guitarist prefers the amp & stomp box approach, the 'colors' they'll need will be a distortion pedal, a chorus, and a delay preferably one that has a 'tap tempo' feature). This last feature is especially crucial in this style of playing, as your guitarist will lock the echo repeats in the delay to the tempo of the song. This creates the signature approach heard in most modern rock/pop tunes as typified by The Edge, guitarist for the rock band U2.
When I play these tunes live at various churches around the country, I have to decide what is the most important electric part that will convey the spirit and flavor of the song. Usually that ends up being a clean part (with chorus & delay) in the verses, and a more distorted 'power guitar' sound in the choruses. When I refer to this kind of part, think of the boost that a strong low brass section adds.
Unless mentioned, most songs have a straight-forward acoustic guitar part. I’ll only mention acoustic if there are any special notes.
Finally, there are a few parts I'll mention that are in the 'icing on the cake' category, such as some eBow sustained lines, and 'sample/hold' effects. Huh? Don't worry... your guitarist can help you out! These are some textures that are fun if you can add them, but not essential.
These are great songs of worship and are fun to play! Finally we get some really tasty tunes and parts to play in worship of our Savior!
God bless!
George Vinson
Descriptions for each song are below
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Beautiful One
Melody guitar:
Distorted solo Fender Stratocaster with light chorus and ddl fx
Basically playing the melody as written with some 'fills'.
Crunch rhythm:
Slightly 'dirty' Fender Stratocaster rock rhythm guitar with light chorus and ddl fx.
Mostly whole note chords in chorus with occasional eighth-note driving rhythm.
Broken arpeggios in bridge, building to drive, playing along to rhythm by the digital delay.
Blessed Be Your Name
Here’s one of the songs with some ‘extras’. Borrowing heavily from U2’s “With or Without You” from their ‘Joshua Tree’ CD, the haunting sustaining lines throughout were created using an eBow (a palm-gripped magnetic device that causes the guitar string to vibrate infinitely). This part can easily be covered by a keyboard.
Melody guitar:
The aforementioned eBow ad lib lines, played on a Strat with a slightly distorted tone with chorus and delay effects.
Clean rhythm:
Slightly 'dirty' Fender Stratocaster rock rhythm guitar with light chorus and delay. playing mostly broken arpeggios, building throughout with the ‘U2 style’ rhythm.
Power guitar:
Fender Tele with a crunchy ‘power chord’ sound.
Breathe
Acoustic guitar:
This is a very pretty guitar part, with picked arpeggios giving way to a full strumming pattern as the tune progresses dynamically.
Clean rhythm:
Tele with chorus and delay.
Power guitar:
Strat with a slightly crunchy sound, being careful to build slowly to end.
Forever
This is a really fun song to play. There are only 2 guitar parts; the first is a funky rhythm played on a Strat. Watch for the light ‘chink’ accents on the backbeat. The other part is basically a Tele playing whole notes with a clean ‘tremolo’ effect.
If you have 2 guitarists, the acoustic player could cover the funky part leaving the ‘tremolo’ part for the electric. However you play it, nothing but smiles all around during this one!
Here I Am to Worship
Acoustic guitar:
Another pretty guitar part. Picked arpeggios in the verses and light strumming on the choruses. Watch for the dynamic builds in the bridge!
Clean rhythm:
Tele with chorus and delay.
Power guitar:
Slightly crunchy Strat. Again, dynamics make this part work.
Solo guitar:
Distorted Strat with delay playing the melody, with ad libs at the end.
Holy is the Lord
A simple arrangement in guitar world. The acoustic guitars almost have a Tom Petty “Free Falling” feel. There are actually 2 acoustics on this tune, with one played in standard position and the other playing higher inversions using a capo.
The electric is a clean Strat with... what else? chorus and delay effects!
How Great is Our God
Lots of guitars on this one! 2 acoustic guitars (‘doubled’ or playing the same part to add texture), a clean Tele (yes... chorus & delay), and a power Strat (getting pretty big toward the end). There is a solo guitar line playing ‘God is So Good’.
The only optional part is an almost ‘synth-like pad’ played on guitar. Yes, guitarists frequently pretend we can cover everything, even keyboard parts (and of course, this texture could be covered by keys). This part was created by playing a Strat with chorus & delay through a wah pedal, but opened and closed very slowly to simulate a filter-type sound.
In Christ Alone
Intro melody:
This was a distorted Strat played with an eBow, but could be played
with standard technique (or...sigh... covered by a keyboard).
Clean electric rhythm:
Tele with c & d (c’mon... you know the drill!).
Power guitar:
Crunchy Strat on the choruses.
Indescribable
Acoustic guitar:
This part is really the backbone of the tune.
Clean electric:
This time the Strat gets to get cleaned up with chorus & delay.
Power guitar:
Continuing the role reversal, the Tele gets the power!
The Wonderful Cross
Another ‘kitchen sink’ song, this time borrowing from such diverse sources as Pink Floyd and Linkin Park. Yes... this IS a worship record!
Acoustic guitar:
2 parts doubled, but one acoustic has the high ‘E’ string tuned to ‘D’ (creating a cool unison pseudo-12 string sound)
Clean electric rhythm:
Strat with chorus & delay playing a rhythm similar to “Another Brick in the Wall” by Pink Floyd
Power guitar:
Strat with a crunchy sound playing a muted eighth note rhythm (think the ‘Linkin Park’ big chorus sound)
Melody guitar:
More Strat fun, playing the melody with a distorted and sustaining tone.
Weird FX guitar:
Another “I wanna be a keyboard” guitar part. This is a Tele with a slightly crunchy sound playing ‘D’ octaves through a ‘sample/hold’ filter. Many keyboards have a patch like this. It’s like a filter that chops the overtones in the chord into random octaves, but played in a rhythm that can be synched to the song tempo. In this case, a sixteenth note subdivision was chosen in order to add ‘movement’ to an already ‘eighth-note crowded’ space. This is a cool but alas optional sonic texture.
Worthy of My Praise
Bring on the funk! This sax feature has only 2 guitar parts. The first is a muted ‘funk’ style Strat through a Uni-Vibe effect (a swirling phase shifter/chorus) that most guitar multi-fx pedals have on board.
The second part is a Strat, slightly distorted along with chorus and delay, playing big sweeping whole note chords.
If you have any questions about any of the sounds and/or guitar techniques described, feel free to contact us!
Thanks again!
GV
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