Electric guitar in a acoustic set?

[adaw2821]

Hello everyone, I'm contemplating bringing my electric guitar into play at church. We do mostly contemporary music. However it's a small church and has pretty much been led by a piano and acoustic guitar.

I've played acoustic for years and am pretty comfortable play it. Ive been playing electric for about a year and a half but never live. I'm just starting to get comfortable with it and getting the tones I want.

I'm just not sure how it would sound in context of playing with 1 acoustic and a piano? Any thoughts or suggestions appreciated!

[David Eastwood]

Originally Posted by adaw2821

Hello everyone, I'm contemplating bringing my electric guitar into play at church. We do mostly contemporary music. However it's a small church and has pretty much been led by a piano and acoustic guitar.

I've played acoustic for years and am pretty comfortable play it. Ive been playing electric for about a year and a half but never live. I'm just starting to get comfortable with it and getting the tones I want.

I'm just not sure how it would sound in context of playing with 1 acoustic and a piano? Any thoughts or suggestions appreciated!

Don't play the same as you would on your acoustic. The last thing you'll need is another instrument banging out chords in this scenario - particularly if you have a 10-fingered pianist. Instead, look for opportunities to add colour - different inversions of chords, lightly arpeggiated, for example. If a song you are doing has a particular instrumental motif, go ahead and add it, or hint at it. Don't be too precious about tone or effects - the congregation won't care. You want to add, not distract. A little goes a long way in the scenario you describe.

[YamahaGuy]

I've been in the same boat and in my experience, finding a "pocket" to play in is key. If the piano covers the bass, and the melody, and I assume the acoustic is handling the chords, try playing some d-shape chords that match the key (obviously) of the song, or maybe go for a delay with some tasteful reverb and a compressor/sustainer to add a "pad" underneath the other instruments, especially on slower songs. For faster stuff, palm muted crunchy tones work well. Electric definitely has a place in worship music. As mentioned above, just don't play chords that match what the acoustic is playing. Also, if you can transpose, try using a capo at a higher or lower spot on the fretboard than the acoustic, matching their key to get different voicings, i.e. if the acoustic is in the key of C, you would capo at 5 and play in the key of G (relative to the capo).

[adaw2821]

Thanks that definitely helps one song has some lead part and fills between vocals that I'm gonna take a stab at. The other is a little slower so I was thinking most diamonds with some arpeggios. I just wanted to make sure the electric wouldn't stick out like a sore thumb!! I'm guessing playing style should be a little bit more subtle in this context though?

[YamahaGuy]

Yeah, for sure subtle. Not sure what amp/modeller you're gonna use but watch your volume. With drums and bass, there's more leeway, but with piano and acoustic, you will really need to match your volume. Also, be sure your tuning is stable. My friend who plays electric with me when I go electric is always out of tune and it sounds awful.

[DupleMeter]

Originally Posted by adaw2821

Hello everyone, I'm contemplating bringing my electric guitar into play at church. We do mostly contemporary music. However it's a small church and has pretty much been led by a piano and acoustic guitar.

I've played acoustic for years and am pretty comfortable play it. Ive been playing electric for about a year and a half but never live. I'm just starting to get comfortable with it and getting the tones I want.

I'm just not sure how it would sound in context of playing with 1 acoustic and a piano? Any thoughts or suggestions appreciated!

It could work - it would give you an opportunity to be more "texture" and support. The question I always ask in a situation like this is: will the congregation be okay seeing an electric guitar? Clear it with the music director. If the MD says "go ahead" it's his head that rolls not yours. Plus (having been a church MD) you need to give the MD the heads up because they will get "feedback" regardless. If you've never been a church MD you have no idea how many people think they know how to do your job better than you & have no qualms telling you (repeatedly). Volunteers rarely get put in the hot seat like the MD does (and rightly so).

Just my $0.02

[jayhawk]

I do this same thing and acoustic is my instrument of choice. The advice to look for your spots to fill. You haven’t said what style your church plays so I’m going to blindly suggest some ideas.

Go look at you tubes of the songs you do. Look for the original artist, Bethel Music, Hillsong, etc. get ideas from what they are doing. You’ll find a lot of good tutorials. Www.worshiptutorials.com is a good free source.

Thing about using triads to fill with. Thing about 1 strums with the amp set for lots of sustain. Capo up several frets to get out of the way of the piano and acoustic. Think about setting your tone so you can easily do ambient sounds. I look at it as not having to carry the song so I can have fun. Not playing is sections is ok, too.


Hope this helps get you thinking about possibilities

Jack

[adaw2821]

Thanks guys. All went fairly well. I appreciate all the advice because I will probably be playing electric again. I like the idea of triads to fill. I tried mainly to try to add some dynamic: let acoustic play in soft spots, do some diamonds, and then a little rythmn as it builds.

The church is pretty ok with seeing an electric as long as thing don't get to crazy lol. It's a pretty easy going church.

Gear wise I'm using a fender American special tell and a line 6 HD500x. Fender reverb amp patch witch some grit from pedals, delay, and reverb..

[vindibona1]

Originally Posted by eatswodo

Don't play the same as you would on your acoustic. The last thing you'll need is another instrument banging out chords in this scenario - particularly if you have a 10-fingered pianist. Instead, look for opportunities to add colour - different inversions of chords, lightly arpeggiated, for example. If a song you are doing has a particular instrumental motif, go ahead and add it, or hint at it. Don't be too precious about tone or effects - the congregation won't care. You want to add, not distract. A little goes a long way in the scenario you describe.

Couldn't have said it better myself.

Whenever you are playing with others you have to look to find your own sound space and play space without stepping on others' sounds and contributions. We all have a different "role" in the ensemble. In one group I play with, one fellow only brings an electric. However, his role is primarily to play melodic/lead elements. The only time he's playing chords is when one of the acoustics takes more of a melodic role.

[jazzguy]

It really depends on the songs in your set list. Serve the song first, and let the song dictate whether an acoustic is better than electric or the opposite. Generally speaking though, in an “acoustic set” you are generally better served by an acoustic guitar because of the natural sustain. If the electric is used, I would definitely lean toward clean tones and on slower songs a hint of delay / chorus to provide space. In any case, don’t force it...serve the song.

[Ozzy the dog]

Christy Moore and Declan Sinnott often include an acoustic plus electric within their set and it can work very well.

This video has two songs - 'Wise and Holy Woman' which is two acoustics followed by 'Ride On' incorporating the electric (from 3.38 in the video).

The electric guitar can be very effective and provide an extra dimension to the mood.