Make a joyful noise unto the LORD, all ye lands.
Serve the LORD with gladness: come before his presence with singing.
Know ye that the LORD he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.
Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name.
For the LORD is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations.
Psalm 100
Ever since I was a little kid I wanted to learn to play guitar. I would watch guitarists on TV and pretend to play along with them. My heroes were not sports figures. My heroes were musicians.
Raised in a Conservative Christian Family, I accepted Jesus as my savior when I was 11 years old. When I was in high school, I began seeking a deeper walk and felt something was missing at the church I was attending. I heard about a Wednesday night meeting called The House of Joy. The House of Joy was an informal spirit led worship service where other believers my age gathered to sing and praise. I began to attend regularly and within a year or two I was involved in the leadership of the service. Anyone who could play an instrument was welcome to strum along. Simple 3 or 4 chord tunes that joyfully expressed our love of Jesus.
By the time I was attending The House of Joy, I had been playing guitar for a few years. My older brother gave me his old six-string and I struggled to learn a few chords. I picked up some easy to play songbooks and learned one song at at a time. Strumming chords and singing along make the learning easy and fun. Later I found a local teacher who taught me scales. Soon I was able improvise some lead jams. But I struggled to become really good.
Today the beginner guitar player has a wealth of recourses to make learning to play guitar easy. DVD’s CD’s mp3, youtube videos, even computer programs. There are some excellent online learning courses.
What is the best way for a Christian to learn to play worship guitar?
Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.
Colossians 3:16
The great thing about playing the guitar is by learning just 3 simple chords; you can start playing right away. However, mastering the guitar can take a lifetime.
Learning how to tune the guitar. Learning how to play chords.
When you first start playing, the tips of your fingers will hurt. If you stick with it soon calluses will form, and playing will feel comfortable.
Buying a guitar can be a real challenge when starting out. If you buy a cheap guitar and it will sound terrible and will be hard to play. Being able to afford a really good guitar can be tough, but if you can get one you will enjoy it more and you will learn faster because a good guitar is easer to play.
The purpose of musical worship is to bring Christians into a state where they are open to give praise to God, while receiving the inspiration of The Holy Spirit. Edifying ourselves by singing psalms and hymns spiritual songs is really good for us. The role of guitar accompaniment is to provide the musical background to allow people to do that easily. Remember not everyone is equally talented in singing
And rhythm. Playing in keys and ranges that are easy for most people to reach is important. If a song has a lot of high or low notes, many people will feel uncomfortable and will be knocked out of state. The point is worship. God is to be glorified not us. Musicians naturally want to show their skills and that is great when it allows people to stay in the Spirit.
Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord,
Ephesians 5:19
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