Saturday, March 28, 2009

Article Review - Drumming In Chruch

A Critique of Drumming In Church, Demands And Rewards

The March issue of Modern Drummer magazine featured an article entitled, “Drumming In Church, Demands And Rewards,” by Stephen Brasgalla in the Jobbing Drummer column. Modern Drummer magazine is a publication that addresses drumming issues mainly in all the mainstream pop genres. On rare occasions, they will interview a drummer who is involved in the Christian music scene in some capacity, or feature an article that is relevant to church drumming. In any case, Modern Drummer magazine is an excellent resource for all drummers and I would encourage all drummers to subscribe to this publication. I think it would be good for us praise drummers to let MD magazine know that we appreciate it when they print articles that are relevant to our genre. For more on MD magazine, you can go to www.moderndrummer.com.

As for Stephen Brasgalla's article, I think his piece was very comprehensive and he did a good job of covering the topic of drums as it relates to the contemporary church music scene. The only thing in his article that I would take exception to is his comment in the "Trills, Spills...And Fills!" section when he wrote, "Never play a fill until the band members ask you to." While I would agree with Stephen’s overall philosophy of taking a conservative approach to playing fills, I think waiting until you are asked to play one is a bit extreme. There aren’t very many bands in the mainstream secular genres who like their drummers to overplay, this is not just a church thing. Being a fill-hog prima donna can get you run from a secular gig just as fast as it can from a church gig.

Here are some basic guidelines I use for doing fills while playing praise music:
· Remember that the purpose of the fills you play in the first place is to enhance the song and its ministry value. Fills are not meant to be an opportunity for you to show off your drumming prowess;
· The best time to play fills is at the transition points of the song. Example, playing a fill when making the transition from the Verse to the Chorus and from the Chorus to the Bridge and etc.
· Don’t play fills in parts of the song where the lyrics are being sung. If you do, make sure that your fill enhances or punctuates the words that are being sung so as not to cause a distraction.
· Remember that the kinds of fills you do and how you do them is just as important as the quantity of fills you play in a song. The “less is more” principle not only applies to the quantity of fills played in a song, but also to the kinds of fills being played. In praise music, it’s very rare that you would actually have to fill up an entire bar with an intricate sixteenth note triplet round house fill. Many times a simple two beat fill consisting of a quarter note and a couple of eighth notes will suffice.
· Consider doing some fills on your hi-hat. There is no policy written in any drummer’s code book that I know of that says all your fills have to played on your toms. The same licks you play on your toms can be just as easily played on your hi-hat. The advantage to playing a fill on your hi-hat is that it is more subtle and less overpowering;
· Listen to the recording of the original artist who produced the song you would be playing. Often times, the drummer (or the drum machine) in the original recording can give you a good idea of what kind of fills you can do and how often they should be played. There will be times when it may not be feasible to duplicate exactly what the original drummer did stroke for stroke on the recording. However, you should always try to duplicate the general effect of what was recorded;
· When in doubt, don’t fill. To echo what Stephen wrote, it’s better to do less fills and be asked to do more, than to do more fills and be asked to cut back.

All and all, Stephen’s article was very good. You may read it for yourself by going to my March 19, 2009 post. Feel free to respond with your own opinion.

Wednesday, March 25, 2009

DVD Review - Defining A Worship Drummer

A Critique of Defining A Worship Drummer

Go to any drum store, or peruse a drum catalogue or web site, you will find a lot of instructional DVDs or Videos on many different facets of drumming. There is drum instructional material on how to play the drums for any given musical genre, how to do fills, groves, soloing, double bass drumming, percussion, or whatever. You name it; there just might be an instructional DVD or Video for it. Well, there is one exception, Church Drumming. I have not had much success in finding instructional material on how to play the drums in a modern contemporary praise setting until I stumbled across an instructional DVD that was written, produced, and performed by Keith Banks back in 2006 entitled, Defining A Worship Drummer.

No one can ever accuse Keith of being stingy. His DVD gives his viewers their money’s worth with about 2 ½ hours of footage. Throughout this instructional piece, Keith alternated between a performance on the drums and a few teaching modules.

Product Strengths:
• The DVD is very positive and uplifting. Keith has a very good spirit and an infectious enthusiasm for praise drumming. His genuineness and sincerity is quite obvious;
• Keith did a good job of encouraging the viewer to have the right spirit, attitude, motivation, character, and integrity and perspective in general. Also, Keith referenced a lot Scriptures to support his teaching;
• In total, Keith performed five pieces. After you see him play, there will be no question that he is an accomplished drummer and is more than qualified to teach in this DVD. This is one bad cat with some nasty chops!

Product Weaknesses:
• I thought the teaching side of Keith’s DVD could have been a little less philosophical and a lot more practical. He never taught any special drumming techniques or nuances that would have been relevant to the praise genre, nor did he ever give any general drumming tips. Although encouraging your audience to have the right attitude and perspective is a good thing, and it is something that should be in this kind of instructional DVD, I think Keith could have made a better effort to balance out his teaching with both the philosophical and the practical sides of praise drumming;
• I think Keith could have used a better choice of words in his teaching vocabulary that would appeal to more of the mainstream of the Christian community who is into the contemporary praise scene. Using phrases like, “rhythms of deliverance,” and “prophesying on your instrument” may play well at Christ For the Nations and other like-minded denominations. However, if he is looking to widen his span of influence in the Evangelical community, I think it would be good if he would use the vocabulary and vernacular that most Evangelicals can relate to. I think Keith and I are in agreement as far as the end result goes, I just think there is a better way of saying the same thing. For example, instead of saying, “prophesying on your instrument,” I would have said something like, “be vessel for the Holy Spirit while you are playing your instrument so He can be manifested in the music.”
• The word, “worship” or a variation of it was mentioned several times in this DVD. However, Keith never gave the Biblical definition of the word. Nor, did he ever make the distinction between praise and worship. Most of the Scriptures that Keith referenced in his teaching addressed the topic of praise. Although he did reference the clichéd “worship in spirit and in truth” Scripture in John 4:23 & 24. However, this reference does actually define what worship is, it only declares that it will take place at some point in the future;
• I think Keith spent too much time splitting hairs over the difference between “performing” and “worshiping” (or “ministering.”) He insisted that when he is playing in a Christian venue, that he is not “performing” when playing the drums, but rather “worshipping.” I for one do not have a problem with admitting that I am performing when I play the drums in church. And the reason is, when I am playing in a praise setting, I am performing for the Lord, He is my focus. So, how can performing for God be a bad thing if He is at the center of your performance? Again, here is another example where Keith and I are probably in agreement on the end result, but are just using different words to convey the same point.

Conclusion:
In spite of the weaknesses in Keith’s DVD, I think Defining A Worship Drummer is a product that would benefit any praise drummer and I would recommend purchasing it. I think Keith is owed a debt of gratitude for creating this DVD for no other reason than that he has stepped up and created a product in a vacuum where praise drumming instructional materials is sorely needed. At this point in time, Keith’s product is the only instructional DVD for Praise Drummers that I know of. If there are others out there, please let me know and I will review it as well. You can acquire a copy of Defining A Worship Drummer at: www.keithbanksmusic.com.

Thursday, March 19, 2009

Drumming In Church, Demands & Rewards

Editors Preface
This article was written by by Stephen Brasgalla and was originally published in the March 2009 issue of Modern Drummer magazine and is being republished on this blog with permission from Billy Amendola of MD magazine. Since this blog is dedicated to church drummers, I thought it would be fitting to feature this piece.


This fact culled from the pages of MD should grab any gigging drummer's attention: Many of today's leading funk and rock drummers cite their experiences playing in church as their most important formative times for building skills in a band situation. Combine this with the fact that churches across the country are scrambling to put together praise & worship bands (often called teams) that appeal to the taste and musical preferences of their congregations.

Once you put your hat in the ring, you're very likely to find churches beating a path to your door--and these are potentially well--paying gigs, not donations of your efforts. This is especially true in more densely populated areas and particularly in affluent churches.

Here Comes The Sun
There's only one downside that comes to mind: If you've built a career on Saturday-night club gigs, then you can be sure that 7:00 am on Sunday morning is going to come pretty early and pretty hard. It's common practice to show up this early to soundcheck and run through the music set for the day. But balance this with the many positives that come with the gig, and you may find a very attractive package.

The finest programs feature top-notch performances and theatrical presentations. To sample the world-class services of some notable "mega-churches," check out the Web sites for Willow Creek Community Church in Illinois, Saddleback Church in California, or Northpoint Community Church in Georgia.

A key ingredient to the music of praise & worship churches is a diversity of style and favor. In addition to straight-up rock, drummers may be asked to dive headlong into Latin styles, Indian rhythms, world music beats, reggae, and even hip-hop and punk genres. Don't worry; it's not likely that you'll be required to show a mastery of these styles on your résumé for your very first appearance. The point is, you'll have an opportunity to grow into learning and expressing yourself musically in styles outside of your normal comfort zone.

Churches usually have many volunteers who participate in their music ministries. You'll find that many or most of the players and singers on a praise & worship team will be volunteers and will likely be members of the church. However, church volunteers have widely divergent commitment levels to the music program. Some participate on a weekly basis and some only once and a while. Therefore churches that are serious about their music program will commonly pay the core musicians--and expect them to fulfill terms of their employment so as to ensure quality and dependability. These performers usually consist of a singing worship leader who also plays guitar or piano, a bass player, and, of course, a drummer.

A great benefit of a church gig is that age is almost a non-issue. An older musician who is experienced and stable will be very well received in a congregation. The "weekend warriors" out there, able to afford top-quality equipment and a desire to use it to drive a slammin' band, could find a reality cozy niche in this kind of gig. Young players (even teens), if reliable and reasonably presentable in appearance, will fit in just fine as well. It's worth mentioning that casualattire is commonplace for church performers in this venue. You probably won't be expected to wear a suit and tie.

In Search Of...
So how do you find a church gig? Well, other than the internet (the obvious first choice), cold calling is actually a good option. Ask the receptionist if the church has a praise & worship service. An older but very familiar term is a "contemporary" service. If the answer is yes, ask to speak to the praise worship director. If that falls flat, ask for the music director or pastor. This will likely lead to a straight-forward conversation about their program and whether it includes paid positions for core musicians. If the director expresses interest, this will probably lead to an informal audition.

Assuming that you present yourself well and that you have solid playing skills, you're off and running! There's no limit to the potential for different church venues. But you may find more success if you begin with the non-denominational Protestant churches. From there move to the mainline denominations. In semi-urban areas, there may be fifty or more churches within a five-mile radius of your home!

Perhaps you don't have a specific desire or need to be officially employed by a church. If your musical development is the main thing, then volunteering may be the answer. The "playing field" will open up even wider for you, and you'll reap all the benefits of the musical experience while "giving back" to your community. There's certainly a personal reward for volunteering in a church. It's also reasonably certain that you're going to meet some very nice people and also widen your base of friends and contacts.

So now you've found a gig and you're walking into the first rehersal. There are a few things to keep in mind that will quickly make you an indispensable member of the team. Note that "band" is not the right idea here, becasue it's common for the ministry wolunteers to have a different line up from week to week. "Bands" are closed groups; "teams" are usually wide open, and this has special relevance in a church situation. Therefore being a "team player" is very beneficial.

Now let's detail the areas you'll need to have covered if you want to become the ideal church drummer.

Is There A Drummer In The House?
Bring the equipment you need. Usually a church will have a drumkit that remains set up and in position. The quality of that kit could vary widely, but normally it will be reasonably complete. Therefore you simply need your stick bag, outfitted with regular sticks, "rods" for lower-volume playing, mallets, and possibly brushes. At your option, you might bring your favorite snare drum and kick drum pedal if you're particular about the action you want. If you remove any items from the kit, treat them with care and set them back up as you found them.

Be sitting in the drummer's seat on time, and with copies of the music you need ready to go in front of you. Bring a pencil! Church bands routinely play from lead sheets, which consist of one or two pages of lyrics and chords for each song. Some charts will have melodies on a musical staff, but this is often a luxury. The music is typically repetitive, and you'll be asked to quickly understand and remember how many times the verses and choruses are played.

You're likely to rehears a song you've never heard before, so pencil notations are a must. Bringa three-ring binder and try to put your music securely inside, in the order of performance. It's never appreciated when your music slides off the stand and you become hopelessly lost. If the director expects you to count off each tune, it will be essential equipment to have a metornome with a tap feature. During practice, tap in the tempo that the director likes and then write it down at the top of the lead sheet. This makes things simple and leaves the director feeling very comfortable.

Sound Off!
During the rehearsal, never play until the director starts the tune or otherwise asks you to play your instrument.
There's inevitably too little time to get through all the arrangements and nuances of an entire service. Nothing is more annoying than a musician who is constantly noodling on his or her instrument, creating distractions, and failing to follow the flow of the rehearsal. Yes, it's hard to sit silently, particularly when the director suddenly sidetracks into a forty-five minute special session with the vocalists. But do it anyway. You'll be regarded as worth your weight in gold. Rehearsals are most often sixty to ninety minutes max, so time is usually precious.

Thrills, Spills...And Fills!
Never play a fill until the bandmembers ask you to. This is clearly an ultra-conservative policy, but one that I believe will keep you in the highest graces. Countless MD featured drummers have stated that their prime goal is to play for the song. Never is this more true than in chruch. People are trying to attain a worshipful state of mind, so a sudden cataclysmic drum fill may pull them violently back into space. Better to play a straight beat consistently through the song. When the music reaches a certain point, the director will say, "Why don't you put in a fill right there." Don't be surprised if he or she is very specific about the fill that is wanted. They may be trying to replicate the performance from a CD or make some other specific transition. Again, you'll be revered if you're responsive and conservative when it comes to fills. Avoid putting the director in the awkward position of trying to get you to cut back on your fills.

If you don't know a style or can't sustain a particular beat (or tempo), just say so clearly and directly. Nobody expects you to be the Zen master of every conceivable genre. And with some simple direction, a substitute compromise can usually be made so that you can make it through the tune. But you'll waste a lot less time and avoid unnecessary blows your ego if you're straightforward about your limitations.

Can I Get More Drums In The Monitor?
Learn to control your volume to match the levels of the group.
Church bands often play at strikingly different sound levels. Some groups routinely play at very low "acoustic"-style presentations, while others bring a full stadium onslaught of sound. You must be able to match your playing to the comparable levels of the other instrumentalists and the PA system. Reading between the lines here, you must be able to have control and musicality at quieter levels. This is a skill that many drummers lack and one that takes time and experience to build.

One of the easiest ways to manage this is to have a variety of sticks at your disposal that allow quieter playing while keeping your playing style consistent. Again, use "reverse engineering" tactics here: It's much easier for a director to ask the drummer to play louder than it is to try to get that person to play quieter. Bear in mind that hearing the singer or other vocalist is almost always the most important priority in helping the congregation engage in the music.

Lastly, I would stress the need to play exactly the same way in performance as in rehearsal. Too many players in too many situations (across the board, not just in church) are attentive to their director or their bandmates in practice. Then when the lights come up and there's a positive response from the crowd, the player gets excited or over-involved, suddenly breaks away from a balanced performance, and goes off on their own. This is almost impossible for a director to control mid-performance without creating a scene, so don't put the director in this position. Trust their judgment and try to duplicate your performance in practice as much as possible.

Shake It Up!
Many great players will attest to the fact that church performances were among their richest and most satisfying experiences. Short of being a full-fledged kit player, percussion is another excellent entry point into church playing. As a director, I look for the "egg shaker" more often than any other percussion instrument as a first-call sound effect. Tambourine is a close second for achieving that great pop-rock sound. And never forget our friend the cowbell! Many church bands routinely use a dedicated conga/bongo player for the flavor and dynamics that these instruments add. (Just take my advice, though, and go easy on the windchimes!)

Be a team player, keep a good spirit, and look forward to audience interaction, which can truly be a deep experience level whenever you play in a worship setting. Pay attention to the director and your bandmates, play conservatively when you begin, and keep your instrument silent when other things are happening in rehearsal or soundcheck. Follow these guidelines, and you may find yourself in one of the best musical situations that you've ever experienced. Heed the excellent advice that Cab Calloway gave to John Belushi in The Blues Brothers: "You get wise...you get to church!"

Postlouge:
Stephen Brasgalla is a multi-instrumentalist, singer/songwriter, and praise worship director in the South Florida area who also has an extreme passion for jazz drumming. He teaches drumming and percussion privately in the genres of rock, drum corps, and jazz.

Friday, March 6, 2009

Book Review - The Art of Worship

A Critique of The Art of Worship
(A Musician’s guide to leading modern worship)
by Greg Scheer, Baker Books 2006

All of the bio info on Greg seems to indicate that he possesses the skill set and body of knowledge that would qualify him to write authoritatively on the subject that he addressed in his book. He holds a Masters Degree from the University of Pittsburgh and has an impressive resume. Greg has experience in all the facets of music ministry such as being a church musician, composer, and a director of choirs and praise bands. He also has experience teaching as a music professor. By all accounts, Greg seems to be a good model music minister (although I do not know him personally, nor have I ever worked with him).

Greg’s book is quite comprehensive insofar as that it covers most (if not all) of the aspects of music ministry in a church. The fact that his book has 51 foot notes demonstrates that he did his homework. His book covers:
· The potential hazards and pitfalls a church may encounter when making the transition to a contemporary service format with a praise band;
· The details to consider when putting together a praise team and making it effective in a church service;
· How to select songs and build a repertoire;
· The different formats in a church service and how adapt style to structure;
· Each instrument’s role and dynamic in the praise band;
· How to prepare and conduct rehearsals;
· And finally, how to lead the singing during the actual service.

The book gets quite technical in some parts. Greg shows his vast knowledge of music theory when he elaborated on the various types of modulations a praise band could do in the last eight pages of chapter four. He even provides scores of these modulations to illustrate his point. Greg also did the same thing in chapter five when he devoted about eight pages to elaborate on the different types of harmonies the vocalist can use. Greg provided a lot of insight and analysis to many of today’s popular praise songs. He addressed their lyrical content and musical style while also demonstrating a knowledge mainstream pop music.

In chapter 5, Greg gives an analysis on all the typical instruments that could be used in a praise band. He elaborates on each instrument’s distinctives and how they contribute to the overall dynamic. For the most part, I thought Greg did a pretty good job of breaking down all the instruments and their specific roles. As for explaining the drums in particular, he did a good job on this instrument as well. However, I think Greg fell a little short in capturing a few of the nuances of the drums.

His first oversight is on page 155 where he incorrectly scored the hi hat line on drum part that he provided to illustrate how the bass drum locks in with the bass and piano. When scoring drum parts, it is a common practice to use an “x” as opposed to a dot to illustrate the hi hat and cymbal parts. Also, he put the hi hat line on the space just below the top line of the five line clef (the place where the note E would be on the treble clef). This space is typically where the 1st tom line is scored. The hi hat line is usually scored on the space above the top line of the clef (the place where the note G would be on the treble clef). See the score key to know more about how the drum rhythm lines are placed.



Greg goes on to provide suggestions on how a drummer can control his volume. I think there some nuances about drumming (and praise drumming in particular) that Greg has overlooked. One of his suggestions for reducing drum volume is, “to not use it at all, opting instead for congas, bongos, tambourine, shakers…” The thing to keep in mind here is that drums and percussion are two different instruments requiring two different skill sets. Just because one can play the drums well does not necessarily mean that he will be able to play percussion well. This is more the case when it comes to playing the congas, bongos and timbales. Tambourines and shakers are typically not too difficult to play. Therefore, many drummers don’t think they are enough of a challenge for them and think it is beneath them to play those instruments. Yes, there may be some acoustical settings that may be more conducive for just the percussion instruments and no drums. However, you better make sure your drummer can and/or is willing to play whatever percussion pieces you want him to play before you put him in that setting. Otherwise, get a true percussionist or a lesser skilled musician who would be willing to shake a tambourine to do the gig.

Another suggestion Greg made for reducing drum volume was to put the drums behind a plexiglass shield in which he referred to as a “drum shell.” This is a good idea. However, proper term is drum shield. A drum shell is the wood, metal or plastic cylinder that the lugs, rims and heads are attached to in order to make the drum.

The use of “Hot Rods” and “Lighting Rods” was another suggestion that Greg gave for drummers to reduce their volume. This too is a good idea. However, the terms “Hot Rods” and “Lighting Rods” are trademark names by Pro-Mark drumstick company. I am sure Pro-Mark would not have a problem with Greg using their trademark names in his book. However, the generic term for this kind of drum stick is called Multi-Rods.

The problem with all Greg’s suggestions for drummers to reduce their volume, is that he only centered around different equipment options. He never mentioned any technique options such as cross sticking. The cross stick technique is where the drummer puts one end of the stick on the snare drum head while using the other end of the stick to strike the rim and thus giving a wood block type sound. Another technique is playing the hi hat on 2 and 4 (with the stick or foot) on the first verse of the song and then graduating to a groove with the cross stick in the next segment.

To Greg’s credit, he did say that a drummer “should be able to control dynamic” without the aid of equipment. He also said, that a drummer should “play sensitively” and be “alert to volume changes within a song” and adjust accordingly. This is very true. To add to that, the ability to play softy in the verse and contrast that with a louder dynamic during the chorus while maintaining tempo is a nuance a drummer will need to master if he wants to be effective in the praise genre. This is especially true for the second group of songs in a praise music set. These songs as a general rule tend to be slower, softer and tend to feature a wider range of the volume dynamic. I think it is the second group of songs in a praise music set that really shows the effectiveness of a praise drummer. A drummer playing the first half of a praise set is not that much different than playing mainstream pop music because these praise songs tend to be high energy, up-tempo and the volume dynamic is not as critical of an issue.

Greg gave five and a half pages of his book to cover the nuances and dynamics of the drums. However, he only gave less than half a page to cover percussion. The title he used for that section was, “Hand Percussion” as opposed to just, “Percussion.” Percussion is a much broader term because it includes those percussion instruments that require sticks and mallets. Such as, the timbales, cowbell, cymbals, jam/wood block and the mounted tambourine. These instruments should not be excluded from the mix.

There are a lot of dynamics and chemistry that go on between a drummer and his percussion counter-part that is very similar to the dynamics and chemistry that go on between the drummer and the bassist. It would have been good if Greg had made the effort to address that. He could have provided scores of drum and percussion grooves to illustrate how these two instruments can bond and lock in with each other as he already did with the other instruments.

Another nuance to playing percussion that Greg did not mention is the coloring and texturing techniques a percussionist can do with the chimes, rainstick, and cymbal effects (with mallets or sticks). The techniques used on these instruments are especially conducive in the second half of the praise set.

I love the cover of the book. It has a photo of a five piece drum set (brand name unknown) accompanied by three crash cymbals, a hi-hat and ride cymbal (brand name of cymbals unknown). I could not have selected a better cover design myself. While I love the image on the cover of the book, I don’t at all agree with Greg’s choice for the title of the book. The title of this book should be, “The Art of Praise, A Musician’s Guide To Leading Modern Praise.” This title would be far more appropriate simply because worship is not an art form while there are two types of praise (music and dancing) that are an art form.

The problem with Greg’s view of worship is that he has bought into the pop cultural evangelical definition of worship and not the Biblical definition. In the introduction of his book, Greg attempted to define worship and praise. As for his understanding of worship in particular, Greg took his cue from Dr. John D. Witvliet who is the director of the Calvin Institute of Christian Worship, in Grand Rapids, Michigan and cited a piece that he wrote in June of 2000 entitled, On The Three Meanings of the Term Worship.

Dr. Witvliet’s article outlines what he believes are the three basic definitions of worship. The first, is his broadest definition. Using Romans 12:1 to support his premise, he defines worship in a general way in regard to our lifestyle and how we live out our Christian lives. His second definition is a little narrower in the sense that he defines worship as the gathering of believers at the weekly church services. No scriptures were referenced to support this point. The third is the narrowest of the three. Referencing Psalms 95:6, Dr. Witvliet defined this definition of worship as engaging in specific act of “adoration and praise.”

Interestingly enough, Dr. Witvliet’s third definition of worship is actually the closest to the actual Biblical definition because Psalms 95:6 reads, “Come, let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the Lord our Maker.” However, Greg did not cite this scripture in his book. Dr. Witvliet’s never mentioned anything about music in his third definition. However, Greg took the liberty to suggest that this third definition has something to do with music and he did not even reference Psalm 95:6 as he did Romans 12:1. My study of the Biblical definition of worship has showed me that worship is primarily a lowly posture, either in a bowing, prostrate or kneeling position. The problem with the pop evangelical definition of worship is that it is characterized as an activity as opposed to a posture.

There are dozens upon dozens of verses of scriptures that contain the word worship. The exact count varies depending the translation of the Bible one reads. Worship is listed 198 times in the King James Version, and 256 in the New International Version. I find it amazing that Dr. Witvliet only uses two of the many available scripture verses that contain worship to support his position. I would think that a guy who holds a graduate’s degree in theology from Calvin Theological Seminary and a Ph.D. in liturgical studies and theology from the University of Notre Dame would be able to make his case using a wider sampling of scriptures.

After defining worship according to Dr. Witvliet’s perspective, Greg then goes on to analyze the phrase, “Praise & Worship.” He identifies this phrase as a misnomer, and rightly so. However, we don’t see this phrase as a misnomer for the same reasons. Greg characterizes worship as an “umbrella term” that incorporates “praise, lament, confession,” and many other “acts of worship.” He argues that the joining of the words, “Praise & Worship” makes no more sense than joining “lament and worship” or “armadillos and animals.” When it is all said and done, Greg then concedes to the pop evangelical norm by stating that he will use this term as is throughout the remainder of his book.

I have studied the Biblical definitions of both Praise and Worship and my research has led me to the opposite conclusion that Greg has arrived at. I contend that Praise is actually the umbrella term that encompasses seven different activities and worship would not even be one of those activities. This is because worship is not an activity, but a posture and attitude. Greg’s “armadillos and animals” analogy is a misapplied analogy. Here is how I would analogize Praise and Worship using Greg’s analogy. Praise is to animals, and of the various types of praise would be analogous to the several categories of animals, such as mammals, reptiles, birds, fish insects and etc. Worship does not fit within animal kingdom analogy. So, if praise is analogous to animals, then worship would analogous to plants.

Overall, I think Greg’s book is very good. Once you can get past the semantics of worship and his oversights in covering the drums and percussion, his book would be very useful for those who want to be involved in praise ministry in any capacity.