Kim Gentes

Drum Grooves for Worship

The subtitle of this DVD is "Essential Patterns for the Top 100 CCLI Songs" and this is a descript summation of Carl's intention on this training resource DVD. Here is the premise- Carl reviewed the most popular 100 songs played in churches today (as ranked by CCLI) and listened to the recordings of those songs. In analyzing the songs, and the recordings of those songs, Carl found that all of them can be played in what amounts to 7 basic rhythm types. For those who don't know who he is, Carl Albrecht is to worship drumming what Tiger Woods is to golf- the perennial contributor that has more accolades and credits to his pedigree than I could put in a review of less than 3 pages. If you have heard any worship recordings in the last 20 years, there is a good chance Carl's name is listed on the drum credits for that CD.

That said, Carl approached this DVD with a laser focus to teach you something that you can actually use. He walks methodically through the seven basic grooves found in the top songs of the church. He instructs you, groove by groove, in not only the fundamentals and techniques, but the terminology and the application into which those grooves will fit in songs that are meant for worship. There are a number of worship resources sprouting up from skilled players, but none from as seasoned of a professional instructor as Carl. This DVD doesn't attempt to add superfluous fluff, but focuses keenly on absolutely making you successful at locking in to these 7 essential grooves. The chapter list includes these main items:

• chapter 3 - 8th Note Feel
• chapter 4 - Alternative Rock (8th with 16th note fillers) - ghost notes
• chapter 5 - 16 note (train groove)
• chapter 6 - 8th & 16th Note (ballads)
• chapter 7 - 6/8 time, felt in 2 (majestic)
• chapter 8 - shuffle/swing feel (triplets minus the middle) - and hip hop!
• chapter 9 - odd time signatures (3/4, 5/4 etc) - hymns
• chapter 10 - prayer... "prayer for the saints" on drums (a solo)

As a worship leader, and a former drumming instructor myself, I can't say enough about the importance of the points that Carl makes. Every worship leader who wonders why their drummer seems to drift off beat, speed up going into the chorus, or lose time during instrumental parts should be thanking God for Carl Albrecht. Because, while it is painful to have those situations occurring in your local church band, at least now you have a remedy that can actually help your drummer be the timekeeper you need him/her to be.

Drummers and worship leaders, I can't urge you enough to consider getting this core drumming learning tool. Check it out online at :

http://carlalbrecht.com/store/drum-grooves-for-worship/

In the rhythm,
Kim Gentes

Friend, this is Kim Gentes. As a worship leader, I occasionally like to write about resources that I know are specifically helpful and made for worship leaders and musicians. In that category, we find there are a plethora of collection songbooks - from "best of" to those that try to include hundreds of songs. But most of the time, either the collection is too sparse (top 20 doesn't make sense a very complete worship resource, in my mind) or it is so expansive that the cost is outrageous. Recently I found a great new resource that includes a very extensive list of songs, at an exceptional price. The resource is this product you found here called "Survivor Songbook".

What is great about this songbook is not just its extensive enough to cover most of the popular modern worship songs- but it also includes an amazing set of files on the included CD-ROM. The companion CD disk (included in the songbook) has complete piano sheet music files and overhead masters for every one of the 200 songs in the songbook. The printed songbook itself has lyrics, chord charts and teaching articles. This means the songbook is of manageable size to actually use (wow! imagine that!). But that decent size doesn't mean you give up having access to every single piano sheet music score for the songs in the songbook. This is a marvelous thing, and allows you to print the score off for just the songs you need. Of course it also has the formatted lyric masters for the overhead and projection uses that most of us need. All the scores are in PDF format, so it is completely portable across computer systems, which is great! Check this out (above) for an overview, list of features, and song list of the songbook. I think this is the best songbook available anywhere! And while we normally give "Editor's Choice Awards" to CD projects, this song definitely deserves for what a great resource it is!

Product Link  http://amzn.to/nTMbI5 

Many blessings,
Kim Gentes