Learning to Like Contemporary Christian Music (the music I hate)
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- Опубліковано 16 лют 2020
- I spent a week trying to like CCM. I'm not sure if I succeeded, but I did learn about the idea of musicking, and music as an action rather than a thing.
Musicking: The Meanings of Performing and Listening
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Don Moen Thank You Lord (Don't Overplay) workshop
• Don't Overplay (ft. Th...
Pete Seeger - Michael Row the Boat Ashore
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Signals Music Studio's video on Bro Country
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Mozart actually liked people clapping
www.therestisnoise.com/2005/0...
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Christian Contemporary Music: Don’t over play.
Gospel Music: Hold my bible.
Best comment!!
Hahahah, go on top, I'm with you
Dude. for real. One’s super boring and ones pure fun.
Adam needs to pin this!
Hahahaha good one.
"don't overplay, because this is about the Lord"
J.S. Bach, an extremely devout Christian with insane 3-part counterpoint: "AM I A JOKE TO YOU?"
To be fair, there were historically huge debates about how complicated music should be in church. Some churches weren't so hot about the idea of complex polyphony because you couldn't understand the text.
3-part?? how about 6 PART BRO bach was on another fuckin LEVEL
Right, and he was a guy who frequently improvised during services and would write original music for an entire service only to play something completely different the next week. Dude was truly the Buckethead of his time.
That’s a good point indeed. I just wish you had chosen another way of expressing it instead of this awfully overused meme.
@@FacePomagranate True, even the notion of having more than four modes (which could *not* be transposed to different root notes), or of having improvisation or variation to begin with, so many things were once debated heavily... we've come a long way.
My grandma, who would be 101 years (now in 2022), hated the beatles. The music, the attitude, their hairs, the fact that my mom loved them. Well, everything.
Then one day, she went to see a presentation of the orchestra I was playing in, and she cried when we played Yesterday. She said it was the most beautiful song she had listened.
The King's Singers' covers of Beatles' songs, is what did it for me.
@@michaelowens5394 don't know that one. Will check it out
@@renatanovato9460 ua-cam.com/video/VGQXg1ABULg/v-deo.html
Awww i love the Beatles and this made me so happy 🥰
I heard a cover of yesterday that was a flute and a piano in a nice reverberant hotel lobby and it was the most beautiful thing I have ever heard.
Ngl, that rendition of “Oceans” on the bass was really good, Adam. Well done!
Id love a released cover of it
@@rafasowden7685 Yes please
@@rafasowden7685 that'd be really awesome
I was gonna say the same thing! :)
I play in a church band. Very much dislike ccm. When we play that one I try and channel sigur ros
“Don’t overplay, this is about the Lord”
Band at my church: literally has a guitar solo during the communion hymn
if its like a really cool song they are playing my church will sometimes do like some cool light and maybe even fire effects with like huge drum solos. that is really only on special days tho
It's such a disservice to those who have dedicated their musical lives to making a joyful noise to the lord.
You just have to know when to play what. Serve the moment, serve the song, serve the audience, etc. Taste matters.
It's like that at mine too. I'm a Catholic, but during communion we do violin solos and massive drum fills it's amazing, it helps a lot with worship I think
President Putin HAHAHAHA IM THAT TYPE OF GUITARIST
Is nobody gonna mention how cute it is that Mozart was so happy when people whooped and cheered his pieces that he went and bought himself an ice cream after the show?
Joe1729 that was the takeaway for me.
That is the most adorable thing I've ever heard
This is so wholesome. He must've been a cool guy
@@Inseut he was actually really weird. He also loved scat.
@@shay.w.5812 Not making him less cool, just weird, also, that reaction to people cheering is at least, wholesome =3
Many Christians like myself hate it too, and not just because of the blandness, but the lyrics. Especially with Hillsong and Bethel, it's almost always milquetoast, meaningless, uninspired, formulaic, inoffensive, man-centered, hyper-emotional, excessively repetitive, and theologically incorrect. Like the joke how all of them have to rhyme "fire" and "desire". But Adam is exactly right about joy and creativity. We worship the God who created creativity and joy, so why on earth does the music have to be so repetitive, bland, and reserved? How many times is it repeated in the Psalms to MAKE A JOYFUL NOISE? Even if music is depressing or even horrifying, like "I Am" by P.O.D, that fits with all the times David wrote worship psalms while in the depths of his spiraling depression, crying out that he feels physically weak and drowning in despair. There is no limits here to what can be done, but CCM just doesn't understand that.
Can I follow you?
I was going to comment saying basically the same thing.
I feel like when it comes to Christian music, Thousand Foot Krutch and P.O.D do an amazing job, its that exact concept that you're talking about. Even as a non religious person, their lyrics are so powerful and can be felt even if you aren't part of the faith, it isn't overbearing or pretentious or virtue signaling but personal, heartfelt, and passionate; exactly what Christian music should be going for in my irrelevant, non religious opinion.
@@MrAdravix Yess. TFK is honestly great.
Every once in a while, CCM artists worship together with hymns. I think they recognize the need to get back to the heart of worship, so to speak. A couple years ago there was the Worship Circle project. Kim Walker Smith from Jesus Culture led "Jesus Paid It All": ua-cam.com/video/WXOYgN3jI14/v-deo.html
Can we get that full version of Adam playing “Oceans” with his band and in his room?!
Pleaseeeeee
"You're not making Christianity better, you're just making rock n roll worse" - the immortal words of Hank Hill, 2003 AD
Stolen comment
@@snatch1838 i mean he did get the quote from someone else lol
I get this is a popular quote attributed to Christian rock, but there's secular rock that people believe makes rock worse too. There are a lot of great rock groups like August Burns Red and Extol that do great work. By the way, I'm an Atheist.
@@RandomIgnorance Rock shouldn't have any place in Christian music. Bringing the whole obnoxious hippie, drug, and sex culture into Christianity is sacrilegious. The term "Christian Rock" is as ridiculous as saying you're going to attend a Christian orgy, or smoke some Christian pot, or engage in some Christian fornication or adultery. It's the trashing of something sacred with the profane that's the problem. It's also about the constant preaching to the choir. How many songs do there need to be stating the same damn thing over and over again. It's as if they don't keep reinforcing their beliefs, they're going to shrivel up and die. It's the dumbing of things down to attract the lowest common denominator. There are all kinds of problems with the concept.
@@Elhardt Uh... that's so 1950s. I guess you haven't heard of Jars of Clay.
"Guys, I only know 4 chords!"
"Well you need to forget one if you wanna play for Jesus."
LOL
Fr lol
G sus... holiest of chords
Delta62 Arcus 🤣🤣🤣
painfully, that often seems the case. I am in a lifer in the Worship Industrial Complex as well as Secular Music. I now get to participate in an Evening Jazz Worship service where we get to play straight ahead jazz/fusion/gospel/hymns with my band and really get to MUSICK! It's glorious and sadly rare outside of the Gospel community. I have throughout my career in the church had to engage in what I have always called "sneaking as much music into the music as I can". Adam Neely, thank you for the non derisive towards Christianity itself manner in which you have addressed this topic. It's like you're speaking my brain. Thanks for what you contribute to music and musicking!
Dude, I’m a worship leader who is also studying music in college. This video is seriously awesome. I’ll always advocate for less simplified worship music, if we believe God has given us these great gifts we should use them!
True, but strategically and wisely. It can easily become distracting.
@@SeraphsWitness And that's the whole point. I think when the purpose of something is unknown, abuse is inevitable. I guess mystic music would be even more boring for some, though it's great!!!
As long as it evokes the emotions that you need IMHO. Bring out a joyful noise since that's what God has given us.
@@matthewgarcia7376 Worship isn’t about emotion, though. An emotional response is warranted and natural, but we don’t do worship to feel the “emotions you need.” We worship for the sake of worshiping God.
yea you must be fun at parties! I mean seriously, whenever I here of someone emphasizing strategically and wisely, I'm like *FacePalm* Christian vibes using Pro- verbs and Psalm Palms to bitch slap ya....typical religious garb@@SeraphsWitness
Thank you for this thoughtful and sincere take. One word I would add is "risk." There is no risk in the musicking of CCM worship anymore. The proliferation of high quality technology, worship videos, live streaming and multi-tracks (purchasing and playing the literal stems of the original recording to fill out a local church's band) has led to a very emulative approach that isn't even first about worship. It's about "excellence" - meeting the high expectations of people coming to a church service that the church wants to become members/contributors. There are no risks taken to play something inspired or unique because that doesn't serve the consumeristic desires of many churchgoers.
"spirit lead me where my licks are without borders"
We will be watching your comment with great interest.
«Where I jam to Muddy Waters»
Low key
ahhhh haha good one!
DEFGE-CD
[before christian rock was invented]
*In mosh pit*
wish i could do this for the lord
Crowd killing for Jesus
Music is Win lol there is Death Metal, but I guess it’s Holy Metal
So, Slayer? Metallica?
I don’t want Metal with themes of god and religion, I want Metal about SATAN and EVIL and... SATAN.
“Let us praise the lord by opening this fucking pit”
As a person discovering this in 2022, and someone who plays electric CCM music in a band (and therefore exclusively listens to this type of music) - it's actually incredibly refreshing to hear your thoughts on this. The one thing that we do is allow ourselves to creatively shine in rehearsals and worship evenings, and for services on Sundays we hold back and allow the lyrics to stand out more. A big difference to us is that we're not performing as a band - we're leading the church through worship, and so the music is made simpler to be played in the masses.
Loved this, as a professional Christian songwriter and music producer for my church it’s a huge encouragement to hear your thoughts as you explore CCM. I appreciate your charity as you explore this topic. Wonderfully done 🔥
glad you chimed in , Im very curious aside from the message , do you feel restricted musically as a christian songwriter ?
thanks in advance for any response
"You're not making Christianity better, you're making rock WORSE!"
-Hank Hill
That's exactly how i feel and I've been playing worship music for 12 years... I just don't let them "leaders" castrate my feeling, expression and joy of actually being there and playing/worshipping...
justkidding lmao this is a great comparison
I just heard the openeing theme with that quote
Hahaha comment of the day right here "I'll tell you wahut".
I just wanted to take a moment to remember all those faithful tortured and slaughtered, for their faith in Christ. ua-cam.com/video/lgX0tghvz4A/v-deo.html This is your time. (She Said Yes.)
Chord: C
Mr Guitar Player: I'll add a 9.
Worship team leader: Time out, Paganini.
😑😑😑😑😑
😂
I feel like Cadd9 is played more in worship arrangements then C. Especially in the key of G, cuz you don’t really have to move your fingers as much.
@@jonclark3421 It could be a hymn though
@@silviomp true true
Adam I love that you made this video *and* also literally performed one of the songs in question with your giant band as an experiment. that is so dope
I think it’s cool. But if I was a fan and at that show I would have been slightly annoyed lol. “Bathroom break I guess”
As a worship leader I walked into this very reserved but I really appreciate and respect the way you approached this subject. You’ve given me much to think about and bring into my leading. Thank you for being willing to do a video like this.
I lived to listen to Adam Neely playing a bass solo version of Oceans.
It's so good I want the full verison!
Pretty awesome right
@@OnTheLeftHandSide please
We need to see this!
a very moving version actually
That’s why Gospel is so good. Right balance of flashy, jazzy, and melodic
Specifically BLACK GOSPEL.
@@bleyzza3739 true
@@bleyzza3739 Isn’t like 99% of Gospel music.
Yes yes yes! Fred Hammond for example does some pretty fun stuff - and certainly let’s the musos really express themselves.
@@jonthekiwi Agreed. I like his music.
as soon as you started playing oceans at 4:32 I recognized it -- I don't know if that was the track you found the most promising for recontextualization or if it was just a random pick, but as someone who grew up in the "christian church featuring a white dude with an acoustic guitar" scene and also dislikes CCM, oceans is the exception for me. I found that song by accident when I was a teenager, and never told anyone about how much I liked it. I think that I don't ever want to hear it performed live, because the way I imagine it "musicked" is probably a lot messier and emotive than what I'd see in some CCM cover band. great video, thank you!
As someone who also self-identifies as a Christian, but who also finds a lot of CCM eye-rolling, I really appreciated the thoughtfulness of this. There is absolutely a huge difference that the musicking makes - at times, it's the difference of it feeling incredibly profound and moving in person, to "how quickly can I find the skip button" when hearing it on the radio. Having CCM on "in the background" almost can feel *wrong*, like having the nation anthem or "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" on in the background - those are musical experiences that feel disembodied when detached from their intended "musicking" context.
As someone who spent years involved with my church's worship team, I couldn't agree more with this. There was always this pressure and discouragement to not be musical, rather to just play the bare-bones song structures, because "it's not about you." While I still practice my faith, that kind of mentality about worship (among other problems in the church) honestly made me step down from it. I absolutely love music, and being told to not give my all into something that I love, in favor of staying in the congregation's musical "comfort zone," in my opinion, doesn't make me want to "lift a joyful noise." I believe Lincoln Brewster (famous worship leader) said it best when he said: "if I'm not giving my all musically, and I'm not using all of my gifts and talents to glorify God, then I'm not being obedient to what He's called me to do."
I agree with you. And there are so many christian creative who want to worship Him with their all and explore their creativity . There's Montell Fish for example. Can't think of another tone but He's a perfect example
That was EXTREMELY well said
yeah lmao my church refuses to let me play the drumset and forced me to use a perc box which i didnt enjoy playing and ultimately i chose to quit cause of it. its not a common thing im aware but its an annoyance regardless
Ortizsensei a lot of beliefs of how music “should sound” in the church stems from the older generation. Wanting to have dynamic music for worship isn’t wrong and God is far more creative than what many churches have attributed to Him.
That's right. Play as best as you can musically in dedication of God. Like Tchaikovsky's cherubim
What is a ccm musician's favourite chord?
Gsus
The fact that Gsus is also a common chord is what makes this joke even better
🙏 Amen.
Perfection.
OP, your awful pun physically hurt me and I love it
What's the most popular Bach's piece in Vatican?
Concerto for organ in a minor.
Adam's musicking of CCM was just... Explosions In The Sky
OK… I made it to the end and I have to say that I was pleased and also surprised at your choice inclusion of Hillsong ocean. The very first time I ever heard that song was five minutes before playing it leading worship I had a church in Colorado years ago… Let’s just say it gave me chills then because of the way we musiked it as it did just now watching your recontexualization just now. We were told to never do it like that again You are so absolutely right when you talk about the interaction between performer and audience… That has actually been one of the driving factors removing me from worship bands… It’s not real… It’s without any soul. You mentioned a while back some thing about a Q&A section where somebody had asked you about why white people can’t swing or something like that, and I really feel like there is a deep connection between the “not swinging” and the overly constrained Experience of “dialing it back“ during a worship service. I never could’ve articulated it until now but wow… I do thank you
Adam covering oceans is one of the most unlikely things I think I’ll ever see in my feed
Agreed
Gave me goose bumps
That was pretty dope
that was awesome for sure LOL
It's really nice to see someone talk about this in a way that isn't religion-bashing or incredibly biased.
Thanks for this
...plus, by his own comments, a topic that can so quickly get "complicated". While this video is not unlike conversations I have had with other musicians I play with at church, this kind of thoughtful analysis and dialogue is not likely to be something you hear from the pastor to a congregation. Sadly, the wide age and taste range present in a congregation might well mean that teaching (like this video) from the pulpit and feedback from the pew is the one thing that could bring CCM into a better musicked, more joyful noise.
No need - religion generally bashes itself ... ☺️
@@kierenmoore3236 Religion, in and of itself, cannot bash a thing. It's individual people, and people as a collective, that tend to do this. A religious organization can suffer from the hands of any number of leaders or members - the same as any other organization. If you have an issue with religion, know that it's not that religion is "bashing itself". Instead, it's something people are saying, not saying, doing, or not doing while associated with that religion.
John Crafton - Your literalist interpretation of my comment is so apropos of this topic ... ☺️😉 Be well ...
@@kierenmoore3236 you're so clever.
Hey Adam thanks for the video. Still recovering from pains and trauma from when I was younger and this really helped me identify how much of those I relate to CCM. Your rendition of Ocean felt cathartic.
Watched this video right now.. and I just wanna say, Thank You! Thank you for bringing a whole new perspective to CCM. I being a christian and a part of my Church's worship team, have always heard CCM the same way and never really thought of the musicality of it. And now that I've watched your video, I also noticed the same. I hope someone, someday can make a difference and bring the joy of music and praise to CCM.. Thank you once again!
It’s so counter-intuitive to what I would want as my “YEAH GOD” experience. It’s more like “yehhh god.” *favorite quote
@@HelenGPitts Today I finally received my first over fiver-row bs on UA-cam ever!!! I've been using UA-cam on the web for ten years and I've never cringed so hard... I'm paid nothing, and the most important thing about this experience is that I've learned that even adblock doesn't help, it just reguires two basic brain cells to tell the difference between bs and truth... the best thing is that I luckily still have time to reply to bs with bs. I am able to have quality time with responding to bs and hoax and take care of cringeworthy messages that have nothing to do with the above comment. Don't ignore my reply and be sure to leave this comment section quick. Let me show what the power of almighty QWERTY-keyboard can do.... www.reddit.com
Aimee Nolte Music Aimee have you been selling Mary Kay products? Why are the bots after you?!? 😂
@@HelenGPitts That's great, Helen
Hey, great to see you here! I recommended some of your videos to some piano students who wanted to learn the basics of music theory.
I feel like a lot of it comes down to the fact that some singers such as Don Moen noticed that Christian music was starting to get its own version of "music idols," in a way, and they felt that at worst it was getting too close to actual idolatry, and at best the focus was more on the musician than on God, which is OK for a concert but maybe not for church. So their solution was to try to "get out of the way" entirely in hopes that the people would worship God directly.
As a Christian pianist and occasional church musician, I personally found this video very enlightening--to hear the perspective that for some people, more interesting and full-featured music ("showy" music, if you like) would enhance their worship experience rather than redirecting it.
Is the "yehhh god" thing referring to the Family Guy cutaway of LaToya Jackson saying "rubba dub dub, thanks for the grub, yay God"? 😭 Based upon the fact that's what I got from this comment I must be really tired lol.
I never thought I'd see the day I'd see Adam Neely cover Oceans, but here we are
I know, that totally blew me away too.
I like his version so much
Dude I was just going to comment the same exact thing you just did!
Also: It was beautiful.
Yes here we are!
Here in brazil the song Oceans became a kind of a meme bc of a digital influencer. When it played in this video I laughed so hard lol
Haha, oceans is my guilty pleasure, grew up with this stuff, but that one, i can't shake it lol, that and shout to the lord. 🙌😂
*Toguro pops out of nowhere*
em pleno 2022...
This video really nails a lot of things well. Personally I’ve heard many CCM songs on the radio and thought “blech” and then heard a friend lead it in worship on Sunday, or maybe around a campfire, and have a totally different experience of a song. Part of that is I prefer a more stripped down acoustic style, and part is that the “musicking” experience just feels a lot more authentic.
don't be shy, drop the full oceans cover on spotify
I would listen to it almost every day
I was glad when I heard him play Oceans. It’s one of the better Christian songs.
PLEASE DO THAT
Oh please! I was so bummed when the clips he played were not the whole thing. I would like Derek said listen to it a lot
I liked it, but one of the things that made the original great was the build up to that melody. That melody doesn't kick in in until close to 4 minutes into the song normally so I kind of feel like jumping right into it sort of cheapens it.
CCM = less is more
But, Gospel = more is more. Adam, could you analyze gospel music too?
This. Would love to see what he thinks of it, as a *BASS* ist of course.
Yngwie Malmsteen - "More is more"
too much is not enough.
Arghhh, just found out there was a Country song of that title.
I was going to say the same thing! Gloves really come off.
Yes!
Love this video Adam! I am gonna have to show this to a lot of people tbh, I have been a worship leader at different times and in church bands and I have always felt sort of disgruntled by this kind of thing and this sort of thinking. When I was about 16 or 17 I had this girl leading our youth worship band while i played acoustic guitar, and we were a fairly young band without much practice so we sounded pretty bad. She was upset and I foolishly told her that it was ok we can worship to clanging cymbals if we have too, she turned to me stared me in the eyes and said something that kind of changed my mind forever, she said " yes but doesn't God deserve us at our very best." I think ccm needs to bust loose with it and like you are saying have fun. If it is really for the Lord then you should have joy expressing yourself completely
loved this vid, i so appreciate the way you share your philosophy on music in these. having your own take on ccm at the end was perfect!
I remembering hearing a worship leader explain that when writing, his target audience was “women in their late 20s who don’t like music”.
That cleared a lot up.
Catholic With a Bible Where did you see that? I’d like to get some context on this quote.
I mean. I do get that. I get the notion of writing songs for a vast array of people. I thought this video was a bit ridiculous (I mean...he used a Don Moen video...like...why?). I don't love Worship or CCM music. I also pastor a church. The vast array of people in the church requires the easiest method to help all people enter into that worship space. Which translates to easy music (because John the Worship band Bass player learned how to play bass 2 weeks ago) and lyrics that all people can understand and attach themselves to you. Hymns are the same way. It's not necessarily about the musician's ability to play well as it is about ushering in a time and attitude of authentic worship.
@@esava44 I agree with the notion of making worship approachable, but as a church musician myself, I feel like there is never any musical growth. Any of us would assume attending church would help propagate spiritual growth. In fact, its expected. Yet, musical growth has been discouraged in church for the past 20 years. If you're attending a church weekly, singing for a half hour, if things go naturally you're going to grow as a musician without much effort. I still believe I will give my best to the Lord in music.
Catholic With a Bible soooo just more show biz
Wow, that is both an atrocity and the greatest tragedy I've ever heard. Lord have mercy on His church. We need some songs that are inspired by God and by the sound of heaven! None of this "catering to the congregation" crap. If your congregation can't enter into worship because of "this" or "that" then the pastor / leadership hasn't done a very good job establishing the right attitude and culture in the church. And I say that as both a youth pastor and a musician. We need a worship revolution in our churches!!
The "no fun while playing allowed" thing is weird - it _should_ be "don't get a big head" but ofc you can enjoy yourself while playing and worshiping. You shouldn't hold back for the sake of holding back - hold back _when_ you notice you're feeding into your pride, when you notice you're doing it so other people hear and like you more, stuff like that. We Christians can become too extreme and miss the original point sometimes. It happens a lot.
This may be some good advice to artists playing, but would the audience be able to judge this?
As someone raised Catholic (and has witnessed other Christian ways), those restrictions are what made going to churches feel like a chore to me. Shouldn't one be allowed to feel alive whilst inside?
TBH this was the meaning I took from the Don Moen video (which I'd seen before Adam's video). His point was that the musicians should be playing appropriate parts, listening to each other, and not showing off at the expense of the song. Pretty much everything Adam says in his video is valid, but I think he misunderstood Don Moen.
@@cheesecakelasagna you sound lukewarm aren’t cha?
That's the way my church band has always been. I get pretty into it when I play with them, but I've never been discouraged from doing it. Maybe people think it's irreverent.
2:48
I've been involved in CCM worship for 10 years and you just said exactly what I've felt so strongly that whole time.
The part where you talk about the … reservedness of modern classical musicking … it’s as if you’re talking about my father. He hates attending most live classical performances because they are so stuffy and uncomfortable. He wants to be up and dancing, cheering and clapping, during a performance. He really likes the vibe of Andrew Rieu productions. As cheesy as they might be, they unabashedly have fun … they emote in an unbridled way - and that really resonates with him (and me). Thanks for the awesome video.
as an atheist (kinda), i want spiritual music to make me question my lack of faith.
CCM doesn't do that.
😂😂😂
hold my crucifix? Classic rock, The Rez band. Glam metal Striper, thrash metal Living Sacrifice. need to chill come to the quiet by Fra John michael Talbot a monk who used to sit in with the eagles on guitar, with great pipes and a real gift of classical guitar that the Catholic church wanted to shut up by making him take a vow of silence. finishes the record as a instrumental that wins a grammy.
Listen to switchfoot!! They are a Christian/questioning spirituality
You don't have to rationally believe in something in order to feel believing in it. When you see a Hitchcock movie you may feel quite tensed even though you rationally know that it is only a fiction. It is a beauty that a good movie, story or music, if done correctly can cheat our sub-conscious mind into believing things, even if we know that it is a fiction. You may feel free to enjoy religious music and feel its holiness without feeling the need to rationalize your feeling.
Black metal brother
It’s funny, cause psalms 33:3 says to “play skillfully before the lord.” I have to remind the band at the church I play at of that occasionally
I agree Daniel
Man, i alway get kinda sad when they play like they are dead inside. Like, don't overplay, but always do your best at the music you are playing. If you're not doing the best, then why be there?
Skillfully and out of control are two different things. You wouldn’t solo Over an entire song in any genre. Unless that’s what the song requires. Skill and amount of notes you play are not the same.
Skillful means being expert to, its entirely different for solo expression when u play on band and solo playing by urself lol 🤣😂
Psalm 98:4 "make a joyful noise", directly quoted by Adam (intentionally or otherwise), but completely not by the guy whose video he was reviewing
As a black female worship leader who grew up singing gospel music and has seen an influx of ccm I loved this video.
I so appreciated this take. Love your take and your thoughtfulness. It was fascinating to see the crowd response of your band’s lovely rendition of the CCM tune contrasted to the way it might look at a Hillsong United concert setting. Thanks!
"Sing to him a new song; play skillfully, and shout for joy." - Psalm 33:3
Nice
Underated comment
"Praise Him with trumpet sound;
Praise Him with lute and harp!
Praise Him with tambourine and dance;
Praise Him with strings and pipe!
Praise Him with sounding cymbals;
Praise Him with loud crashing cymbals!
Let everything that has breath praise the Lord!
Praise the Lord!"
Psalm 150:3-6
So basically, praise Him with a jazz band.
@@codyhufstetler643 Yes!! christian jazz would be something...
Dude everything this guy has said in this video so far is so stupid and inaccurate. Nobody for the most part in the worship music world advocates for intentionally not playing well and making the music boring so you don’t distract from God or the lyrics and don’t bring praise to yourself. That’s like the cheesiest dumb as crap I’ve ever heard. Yes some people say that but worship music is a style and it is incredible. It’s probably my favorite style of music to listen to and play. Worship artist like an elevation worship have the best musical taste of vans that I know of. this guy doesn’t even understand the difference between contemporary Christian music and worship. They aren’t even close to the same thing or the same style. He doesn’t know what he’s talking about with anything. He just claimed worship music has the same four chords. Worship music is probably the only style of music I’ve ever played it doesn’t have the same four chords! It blows my mind. You guys should try learning these styles and learning to play it and actually sound good. If you can’t sound like the artist you aren’t good musicians and you can’t play the style well. I know trendy far left progressive who are incredibly pretentious you think music like Elevation Worship album only king forever is the best style of music they’ve ever heard and that’s their favorite to play and incorporate in their writing. Even though he literally just said the genre has nice cord progressions even though it again and he says the same for. This guy is just repeating clichés about music. He hasn’t come to a real conclusion. And he’s comparing it to jazz fusion. They aren’t even similar in style but I act like once objectively better written music for what is trying to accomplish is stupid. There’s plenty of bands that are incredibly complicated with plenty of key changes in time signature changes that play worship music.
Man, as a worship pastor I actually appreciated this approach a lot. I don’t totally agree with a lot of what Don Moen said either.
Outside of worship music I listen to stuff like Allen Stone, Vulfpeck, Muse, John Mayer, and much more, so I understand the oversimplification of the worship style, and I think you’re right in the reasoning behind it. Sometimes I wish we could see a lot more musical variety and skill put into what we do on Sunday mornings. (I usually turn to Gospel or Planet Shakers (that bass!) when I want something a bit more musically rich)
I love playing worship music and all that it entails, but I really appreciate this video and your take on it. It was interesting to see you break it down from an outside perspective.
+
You can look at traditional mass music, you will see true craftmanship of music like gregorian chants or music specialy made for mass - like "mass in B minor" by Bach.
Completely agree🙏🏻
I’ve gotta admit, I can’t stand most Christian music but Planetshakers and Planetboom are 🔥🔥
Agreed, and liking this comment also simply since you listed 4 of my favorite artists as well.
Adam, I want to thank you so much for this video. My wife loves CCM and I tolerate it, just barely. Your explanation of what you found that you did not like really made me realize that I felt the same way and did not know how to express it. There are plenty of older pieces of Christian music that are musically excellent and they are being ignored in church worship in favor of the songs that people hear on their local CCM radio stations. I hope that this is a fad that will eventually fall by the wayside. I want to hear worship music that is musically excellent in addition to the message it is trying to bring.
Always great stuff from you Adam. Love the content of your channel. Thank you.
1:34 Black and White Neely has Returned
Mitzal Gaming best Adam Neely
It's like the Evil Morty of this channel
no he isn't, he's trapped in a time loop that repeats 2014 and he has been doing nothing but watching mlg frag clips
Mitzal Gaming 😂😂
oh, that cover of Oceans is *beautiful*. any way we're getting a full recorded version of it? either with just the bass or with bass and band, both are amazing.
Yes please. I super want to get this so I can start sharing it around my circle. I know a few CCM artists and would love to push the edges a bit.
Oceans was always one of my favorite songs to play during worship, as a bassist. I got major chills when he started playing it.
yes adam please please please pretty please
I never thought I would want this Midwestern Emo/Post Rock feeling cover of a song that I am already tired of hearing.
This comment needs to be seen.
That last sentence is so true! You nailed it. Really enjoyed this video.
Would love to hear the full version of your cover of oceans! Sounds awesome, definitely gives kinda kaleidoscope vibes
I think I know what we need now.
Christian Djent.
“Hey god, look at this polyrhythm!”
Also wtf why does this have so many likes.
You say that like it doesn't already exist.
Tony Bullard if it exists what are the names of the bands?
Hahaha lol 🤣
Marcus Bevzyuk I know of (not particularly djent) christian metalcore bands such as Fit For A King and Architrcts. They refer to god in their songs, not necessarily in an act of worship, but more of a cry, an acknowledgement. Which is really what christians do when they worship god.
@@marcusbevz6500 August Burns Red, Fit For a King, Phinehas, Forevermore just to name a few
"This song is fine and all, but... it could really use some more Jazz Harmony"
Don't worry, we've all been there
@@Nalhek Some of us never grow out of it, to me it's an addiction, it gives me brain orgasms when I listen really spicy chord progressions.
That was the first video of him that I watched LOL
🐄🔔
As a musician who volunteers on my church’s team. I’ve struggled immensely with some of the topics you brought up in this video. I’ve never been able to fully articulate the struggle. But I feel like you’ve touched on it here.
Thanks Adam. While studying at le Conservatoire de Musique de Montréal, I was leading music in church, then set on a 20-year church music career. My thought was to elevate the standard because we were going a gift to God through art. 40 years later and it has devolved into disposable pablum. Your thoughtful approach is pretty balanced considering your deep understanding of music. You showed enormous grace.
Adam with glasses is more intelligent than Adam without glasses
Not gonna lie, he looks like a marine with glasses
Yeah, but Adam without glasses is way more hot
@@bige689 Adam without glasses is already very intelligent, so this makes the glasses-wearing super intelligent marine Adam extremely intimidating to me.
bagabundo152 looks like he was a forgotten character in the matrix
Disrespectfully disagree
I think that CCM faces an obstacle that is unique to the genre: it needs to appeal to everyone at the same time.
You play Jazz Fusion. If someone doesn't like it, cool. You don't expect them to come to your shows. They don't care to hear what you play, they don't attend your show, all is well and good because you never expected them to come to your show.
CCM, which is primarily performed in a church service setting, on the other hand has not just an audience, but an (hopefully) actively participating congregation of a widely-varying musical background. You (again, hopefully) have everyone from the angst-ridden Emo teen, to his Lynyrd-Skynyrd or Metallica loving father and great-grandmother who was raised on Chopin or Joan Baez or Bill Monroe.
CCM, as performed in a church setting, has to appeal enough to people with such diverse musical backgrounds in such a way as to encourage the congregation to join in and sing along.
I'm not saying that this is ideal. As a musician, I can honestly say that, at times, it very much isn't. Often, it's not satisfying to play the same IV, I, V, VI for an hour straight, calling the same progression four different songs. It IS however, satisfying when the band can engage the congregation enough to have most of them singing.
And then, there's the anonymous comment cards. In one service, I've seen everything from "The music was beautiful," "the music was slow and boring," AND "the music was too fast and loud." EVERYONE and their grandmother has an opinion and it's their moral obligation to tell you how to do it right.
This comment is just on point. And your last passage indicates another problem: Almost everybody in church is highly emotional about music. Music is a heart issue (Christians are used to handling heart issues) but you can hardly approach it with categories like right and wrong (Christians are not used to that). How does a musical genre evolve and flourish when the musicians focus on the lowest common denominator and serve a community that is not even formed around the music but around the common faith & confession?
Man...my experience has been, more often than not, that the music in church ends up not really appealing to anyone. In a congregation of 500 people, I'll see 1 or 2 people who are really excited about the music, a slightly larger handful that hate it, and about 490 people who don't really care, and just sing along because that's what you do when you're in church.
My position, for some time now, has been to treat music the same way we treat the preaching of the gospel. You give the congregation something good. Whether they "like it" or not is immaterial. It isn't about them anyway. You create a desire for good music by giving people a steady diet of good music and simply refusing to give them less. Currently, people in church have an appetite for bad music because that's what we've been giving them now for at least 2 decades. And a wider variety of styles should be heard. IN EVERY SERVICE. Don't have a specific service for a specific style, or else the only people who show up will be people who like that style. Play the best music we can from as many different styles as possible. (I don't mean 12 different styles in every service--worship sets aren't usually long enough for that. But why pigeonhole ourselves into one style all the time? Why? Because it's what people want? Is the music for people or for God? If it's for God, then why are we worried about what people want?)
Try to appeal to everybody and you wind up appealing to nobody.
I’ve been a Christian for basically all my life, I grew up in church, still go to church and I’ve at least visited quite a few churches of different theologies... I have never liked CCM and I am the target audience.. it seems fake to me and as though the band are trying to stir up emotion using the music. I much prefer worship that is fun or properly impactful. Emotional music is self serving whereas worship should be about God. A whole room of people singing about how emotional they are is a room of people focussing on themselves. How about actually having fun? When we have fun, we’re better able to think outside of ourselves aren’t we?
Grew up playing it, and only a few songs ever appealed to me, mainly from New Zealand songwriters in "Parachute Band". Thats because NZ has a base of highly musical people, who can sing harmony and find ways to make even the most basic progression interesting. The big name CCM was always bland, slightly "whining" and "begging" in tone, and forgettable. Which is pretty much like most people are. Complaining, begging, peasantry. I was like this, and still am to some extent. When one's church is basically begging people through emotional manipulation to participate and most importantly put money into it, then thats what the music will reflect. Begging and whining.
Adam I love your videos!! They really shine immense philosophical insights upon what music is.
Glad you added that last part at the end. The Ron Kenoly / Tom Brooks album Lift Him Up is the greatest of all time
"KOYANAANISQATSI DEEZ NUTZ!"
I never knew I needed this.
I am an uncultured swine, enlighten me
Elias Point “Koyanaanisqatsi” is a 1982 film which Philip Glass scored
Elias Point, Koyaanisqatsi: Life Out of Balance, is a 1982 American experimental film with music composed by Philip Glass. Worth checking out, very cool, if not somewhat sobering imagery but, apparently, some people aren't too keen on Mr Glass' compositions. Usually only the cool kids like it because it's a little different.
what the , thanks for informing me, I’ll definitely check it out
@@EliasPoint It's actually a Trilogy of films:
Koyaanisqatsi: Life Out of Balance (1982)
Powaqqatsi: Life in Transformation (1988)
Naqoyqatsi: Life as War (2002)
Being a (former) christian that also hates CCM is torture.
Right on. I'm an Episcopalian, so I have plenty of company in hating CCM. But I grew up charismatic, so all of my oldest friends don't understand my objection to CCM.
Adam makes some really good points in this video and I as a Christian totally agree.
As a christian myself, i couldnt agree more
hymns are the way to go man, when performed well they're out of this world
@@tatogl2616 hell yeah, hymns and gospel music are great
Great way of approaching this Adam. You put into words what I have felt for a long time.
Wish I'd seen this sooner - this is absolutely precious! Sharp observations, served with vulnerability. Thank you Mr. Neely!
I am a practicing Jesus follower and I totally agree that the simplified harmony and frowning on solos does feel like stifling. But everybody doesn't do it the same way - in the 1990s, for example, guitar solos were a notable part of the songs that came out of the Vineyard movement.
Here in Finland, I've taken part in a group led by a jazz veteran where the point is to improvise freely, thinking of your instrument as a prayer vehicle. Very fun - but of course the challenges of free improv are there too.
Sometimes I've taken the liberty of playing some solos when playing in worship groups. It can work beautifully. I have had an experience that I would describe as "playing in tongues" - chasing Holy Spirit on the fingerboard of my fretless bass. I talked with congregationers afterward and apparently something came across.
“Simplification of music to glorify god”
*Catholic Church laughing in Gregorian chant in the distance*
Hahaha yep. Presbyterian, not RC, but I definitely kinda cringed at his comment there. Though I totally understand his point. KISS is good sometimes, but there is beauty in the complex.
Actually up until the XIX century you could hear the Gregorian music being harmonized with improvisation, even doing crazy thing like singing a Gregorian chant with really long notes, and improvising cannons and counter point on the spot...
Dude... IF ONLY.. As a catholic and a professional classical musician, parish masses are just hard to endure lol
@@morben6767 today yes, but not everywhere, i saw beautiful masses with full afro brésilien music in Salvador de bahia
Gospel music isn’t afraid to let loose and just have a good time, unlike the Contemporary Christian Music you hate.
Also this. Gospel players can get down.
Christian Rock and Metal isn't scared either.
Holobrine Nonamerican here. Does CCM mean “white” Christian music? Contemporary gospel music, which Is
often marketed as contemporary Christian (or labelled that way on the streaming platforms) is also meant for worship but is often extremely musically sophisticated/interesting to say the least.
@@volemrienfoutre ya basically. Kirk Franklin back In the day wasn't CCM
@@volemrienfoutre Yes, I feel this. I find it extremely sad that in white churches in America, gospel music is seldom played. I am incapable of playing gospel music well (not enough talent), but I enjoy it quite a bit.
this is legitimately one of my favorite video essays ive ever seen and lemme tell ya i seen PLENTY
Thank you Adam.
I love music. So that I just can't say that I hate some kind of style. Your video proved me, that I'm not the only one.
You shared that love to music, that I can really relate with. I know that feeling and it's beautiful. Thank you for the video.
"Why is inspirational music so uninspiring." -a stand up comic in the 90s.
Sounds like a personal problem.
@@nopulsejustgod423 well, religion and god are pretty personal subject matters
@@nopulsejustgod423 that wasn't even a question, it was a quote from a 1990's comedian. you sound a little defensive, which _is_ a personal problem… 🤷
The band leader sitting there bluntly saying things like "it's my job to make sure the musicians don't play with any personality or emotion" sounds like something out of a hamfisted satire
Yeah, he sounded more self-centered than what he was trying to convey. Plus the guilt to the Lord thing.
Except that wasn't his point, and it was a technical video aimed at people already in the Christian Worship culture, rather than someone who is unfamiliar with the problem he is addressing. Because of that, he didn't fully express his understanding of the issue, instead jumping directly to the solution.
His over all point was "Play to the song". Do not let your playing be a distraction to the rest of the music. That's what he was saying.
There are songs where your goal is to engender a more contemplative attitude. In those cases overplaying should be discouraged. On the other hand, there are songs that are more expressive and exultant. In those cases, be expressive, so long as you do not distract from the overall worship, and underplaying is discouraged.
His "guilt to the Lord thing" is focusing on the attitude of the artist. On a more atmospheric song, like Moen uses as an example, is your "overplaying" an attitude of showing your all, or is it an expression of your desire to give it your all? These seem similar, but they are quite different. In the former, you have an attitude of showing off, pointing the attention at yourself, in the latter, you're expressing worship, ineptly attempting to point to God. The former should be corrected (up to, as Moen advised, possibly asking the artist to step away from the worship team for a while), while the latter should be tempered and refined.
@@MrSJPowell I agree with your last bit.... not letting the playing become a distraction. Yeah, showboating gets in the way... Unfortunately, in some cases, there are those that lead who want to control the experience. In other cases, there are those who don't want competition for the "lead" instrument, usually the keyboard. It removes the fun.... it can remove the life, heart and soul, out of playing. It can interfere with leading the people present into worship. THAT undermines its intent and purpose.
@@willbarnz6960 The best attitude I've seen is that the leader picks the music, and gives direction on how they expect it to go, but for the actual worship set, let the group collectively follow the lead of where God's taking the service.
Yeah as someone who’s played in worship bands for almost 20 years, I’d have to disagree with that band leader’s approach to overplaying, and what he even calls overplaying. It don’t think it fairly represents what we do on Sundays. I think the main reason worship leaders have to talk about overplaying is because we often have very inexperienced musicians in our bands, and if they haven’t learned how to pick their parts in a way that works with everything else that’s going on musically you get a lot of competing stuff going on and it just doesn’t sound good.
I need to hear that rendition of oceans, it just sounds so nice
Adam you nailed it: "it feels like a false ecstatic experience"
I personally haven’t experienced the whole “don’t overplay” with contemporary Christian music. I know it’s out there, but at my church, the band loves what they play and they have fun. The congregation participates and claps and dances. I do believe that during this everyone’s mind is still on God though, I think they are actively worshipping through this. I personally find it strange that people out there believe worship should be non-expressive.
Are you talking about Contemporary Christian or Gospel? There's a big difference
Noah Saltz I’m talking about contemporary Christian music, which is the style that my church worships in 99% of the time.
My church does the same. I think this might touch on the context of the "musicking" that Adam is talking about. It's tough to hear that some churches aren't breaking out with real joy, isn't it?
As a trained Christian musician, at some point during that training I reached a point, and I've heard many fellow musicians say the same thing, where music and praise "split" from each other. I can't really play music for God anymore like I used to, because the experience is exactly the same as playing non-Christian music.
I feel like wherever I play in congregational worship, the same thing happens where the skill level of the musicians is being mistaken for "inspired playing" by the congregation. Most people in congregation don't seem to have a clear boundary between good praise and good music, and I'm struggling with the idea whether you could consider feelings from music also feelings from God (after all, he is the creator of music and our experience of it).
Some churches, to come back to your point, seem to recognise this idea and follow the thought that "good" or "free" music might distract from God because people experience emotions through music rather than God's presence, mistaking them for experiencing God. It's in fact what the Matt Redman song "heart of worship" is about: the musicians in his band got so distracted by music that they forgot how to worship
I used to go to this Christian overnight camp called Mason Dixon and they would hold a music session every night. It was really fun because they WOULD overplay.
Watching this as someone who is heavily involved in the CCM world, I think this is an incredibly well presented and well argued video.
One argument I would have for the deliberate simplicity is that the church is a place full of diverse musical ability; people who want to play in church aren’t often top class musicians who can instantly play complicated scores put in front of them. The songs are sometimes written with this in mind, that it’s accessible for most musicians to play so it doesn’t exclude some people who couldn’t play it. The church is about community and it seems counter-intuitive to leave people out because they can’t play a song.
But all in all, a great video and you brought up some really insightful points.
That's a good point. Gospel kind of contradicts that statement, though.
You may be clutching at straws there.
I've heard of gospel players being on semi-constant rotation attempting to keep their spot otherwise they'd be replaced if they weren't up to scratch.
I think if you want to inspire a sense of wonder and awe about god, playing to people without heart or soul is not the way to go.
Furthermore to cater to people who are unable to deal with the music at hand means potentially boring a crowd and as a result losing congregation. If people don't have what it takes they should be encouraged to do better and lifted to higher standards. The alternative is for a church band to diminish the stature of its pretty important purpose to the lowest common denominator.
Also being involved in CCM-- I have long wondered, if people find Hillsong or Chris Tomlin songs difficult, then frankly, they probably aren't very good musicians. Why are we having them play in church then, in front of other people, for the glory of God? I mean, I'm not a very good facility manager. That's why no church has ever asked me to be their facilities manager. Not a trained and qualified preacher either, which is why I am not asked to preach. Why do we have incompetent musicians playing our music, forcing us to use some of the worst music and arrangements on earth just to play down to the lowest common denominator? People call it humility-- I don't. I call it devaluing God: as in, "God isn't worth the time and effort it would take to have really good music played by really good musicians." To me, you haven't justified the simplicity of the music, you've articulated the problem.
@@76JStucki Whilst I agree that the purpose of worship is to bring glory to God, the vast majority of churches won't have the resources to focus on the technicalities of the worship music to do that. For example, in our church, we have a congregation of about 250 with a group of 15 of us who do the worship on a rota. Everyone of us volunteers to do it, and the only practice time that we can get before a service is one evening in the week before the Sunday. Because of this, the focus of the worship group is to create the environment for people to connect with God
@@147johnwilliams Again, gospel music contradicts that. All I'm seeing are excuses on why people can't learn the more difficult stuff.
Oceans out of context is a great way to see how this style of music has more going for it than we originally thought. Your solo bass version of it was great. The band was also good. The melody is one of the best in this genre IMO.
Agreed on Gospel being different. In my experience with gospel, overplaying is encouraged and enjoyed (and not really overplaying at all).
Very brave topic, Adam. I applaud you for covering it with such tact and introspection.
Man that oceans bass arrangement was absolutely gorgeous.
I'm trying to find if it's available anywhere, cause I want it in my music collection so bad!
Adam, please release that solo bass arrangement somewhere!
yes, plz Adam!
That was my favorite song when I was 10 (I didn’t get out much) and at exactly 4:37 when I heard him start playing, I instantly felt transported back to my 5th grade classroom learning the song and singing along with a recording with my whole class.
Couldn't agree more that creating "meh" worship music to praise God is counter-intuitive. I think this is the strongest criticism of CCM.
Could not agree more
Yeah. I feel like more people (like my agnostic ass) would go to church more often if the ambience they're trying to implement is not the feeling of it being a chore.
but how do we really measure the greatness of a song? does a more complex chord progression means "better" and therefore worthy of praising God? because I think the real purpose of a worship song is to make more people worship Him
@@ralphabalos but still, a "meh" music won't be attracting many people any time soon.
I would think Christian music would want to act like a catalyst for religious zeal. I'm not at
all religious, but the most elated I've been at the beauty of existance has been when listening to music.
Adam, I learned to play electric bass in church playing contemporary worship music. Currently I double on bass in a big band jazz ensemble. When playing worship music, the most meaningful and worshipful times, indeed when I felt most expressive towards God is when I got lost in the music. When I experienced what I think all musicians strive for, when the music coming out of you seems to transcend my ability and my intent. Kinda felt that at last big band rehearsal when I played the Chicken the best to date. So fun and so internally uplifting buzz!. And both experiences were making a joyful noise.
I loved hearing your experience of the genre outside of the emotional and spiritual experience of Christianity. and how you focused on how the songs themselves were “musick” in the context. As someone who plays on a worship team every weekend, I’ve found that my favorite part of the music is when we improvise and as a band, alter how the parts are played. It makes songs that can be repetitive fresh and exciting every time we play them.
Adam, we NEED a full version of that Oceans song on bass.
Albert Kotze hell yes that ocean song is one of my favorite ccm songs
the original version is a little too corny for me to listen to, but this cover was beautiful. i need it on spotify right now. please adam
I wonder if there's a full version of the live performance adam did with that band. That was good for the snippet that we did hear.
@@rmmiller159 to me Adam's version of Oceans feels more.....personal I'd say, which is what I like about it
Yes, that was my favorite part of the video.
I love that you’re playing Oceans. That song was practically a meme in churches because everyone loved it and played it so much.
I wanted the meme to end. Six months of Oceans is enough.
@@jeflarremore7170 how about 10 years of "here I am to worship" or "shout to the Lord". Urghh, that last one is giving me flashbacks.
Dude, I'm a church musician, and that song brought me to my effin knees in boredom because I had to play it so often😆
@@NedJeffery I'll pray the demons of that song will leave you. Dude, I had songs I HATED because we had to overplay them. I totally understand why the Beatles came up with such amazing stuff because they played it ad nauseum.
Oceans is played so much he couldn't begin the melody without my brain adding the lyrics.
You mentioned my hometown of Winchester, VA and I had to rewind to make sure you were actually talking about it
Whoa, got some Do Make Say Think vibes when you were re-contextualizing CCM with your other band at the end of the video. Good work. I'm sure you were making a point to avoid a direct comparison to gospel music, but the point you made about "making a joyful noise" by letting the spirit flow from you and through your instrument really seems like a staple in that tradition.
Speaking as somebody who's been playing in CCM groups since the mid '90s: I get it.
A lot of CCM is frankly vapid and boring. It tends to come from churches that focus heavily on maximizing attendance, so the music and lyrics are made to be as broadly appealing, inoffensive, and easily digested as possible. That's why most of it ends up sounding like pop music. It's rare for CCM to be challenging to the listener in the ways that other genres like jazz, prog, or metal can be.
That's where the whole "don't overplay" thing comes in. IMHO, there are multiple aspects to this. One is that when playing CCM in a worship service, you have to be aware of the song's dynamics in the context of the service; for example, you don't necessarily want to have a loud, triumphant sounding song as the sending song for a Lenten service. Another is that church bands are often constantly rotating casts of volunteers with wildly varying experience levels who only rehearse the songs once or twice before playing them in front of others; because of that, "don't overplay" is often a defensive posture by band leaders to a) keep young or inexperienced players from showboating or embarrassing themselves and/or b) keep the music palatable/unchallenging for as broad an audience as possible. However, I think making "don't overplay" the default position is wrongheaded, because as I said before, context is key.
Honestly, the most fun I've had playing CCM has tended to be around campus ministries. College age audiences are much more accepting of stylistic experimentation than "grown up" churches. As a result, things like taking hymns or folk-y church camp songs and rocking them up can work really well there. (Probably the craziest thing we ever did in that regard was playing the traditional Lutheran hymn "Built On A Rock" more or less like a Korn song, complete with 7-string guitar...)
The modern church needs to stop playing at church and drop 'showtime at the Apollo'! Worship does not and cannot replace the gospel which is the POWER of God for salvation (supernatural transformation from the inside out). It's not about you, it's about Jesus. "But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.” John 4;23-24
Very informative stuff Troy, the context stuff makes sense, and that's interesting to see how that correlates with the college kids being more into embellishing the songs.
Or that some people do seem to praise worship to uplift our own musical talents by centering ourselves so...that doesn't help either.
Seems like all musicians who find CCM bland are Christians should rise up to make better music.
You have no idea how much I wanna hear jesus korn
What don't overplay thing? Christian radio still plays You Say by Lauren Daigle like 70 times a day
It’s also interesting, because vocalists are rewarded for being showy, whereas the other instrumentalists aren’t. It shows you the priority of the genre, I guess.
Brady Linebarger 🤣 where I am it’s quite the opposite. If you do too much as a singer, your chastised but the band has total freedom.
@@jondough7777777 I mean, are we talking in general because guitar players can be extremely mastuabatory about their embellishments.
I disagree. It's all about placement. Vocalists are not rewarded for being showy out of place any more than musicians are. They too are told to hold back when what they want to do isn't necessary. That's with music in general. Ccm or otherwise. The priority is to have good sounding, well balanced music. I think people just wanna take shots at ccm because it's easy when most musicians and most genres carry similar principles when executing in a show etc nobody ever congratulates overdoing things or putting things out of place ever.. So the whole argument is kinda bogus if you ask me
By God YES.
THE SINGERS ARE ALWAYS DIVAS
I think there's something to your content. It's not overtly showy, but more written to be rangey and powerful, vocally speaking.
Thanks for presenting this in a thoughtful way Adam. I have been playing lead guitar in a CCM band for the past 10 years. I don't love every song we play but I'm on a team and thus serve as needed. There are many songs I really enjoy playing and try an add interesting parts when appropriate. We are after all musicians and while I understand not over playing, the musical expression side should not be totally squelched either. My background was rock and blues, so definitely guitar forward, which is why I don't believe I would flourish in a very traditional music setting.
Your band's version sounds like something some post-rock band would come up with, like Godspeed You! Back Emperor or Mogwai. Actually sounds great!
CCM Leader: Man, I want to praise my immortal, all encompassing ethereal being that spans the cosmos...
CCM Musician:...so we should play only three to four chords and play extremely deconstructed pop music?
CCM Leader: Yes.
but we will have pads!
@ 🤣😂😂😂😂 as a keyboard player I totally get it
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
ccm leader" ok great! ill be sure the beat drags a little, as if the drummer just finished a marathon and is out of energy
I wish you could record the instrumentals for those CCM's I really love the originals but I also like hearing your guitar soloing the tune after the chorus of instruments
The best Christian music is Johann Sebastian Bach.
If it ain't baroque don't fix it *finger guns*
@@kristalcampbell3650 allow me to counter point *singular finger gun*
@@nintendude794 🤣🤣🤣🤣 this is the best comment I've even seen. I sprayed water out of my nose onto my toddler and now I'm ashamed of myself.
I disagree but I love Bach.
@@kristalcampbell3650 sussy
I love worship music but can’t stand listening to Christian radio because it all sounds the same. It’s a shame because I love God I know Jesus as the Lord and Savior of my life but hearing the same kind of song over and very is tiring outside of worship. Good points in this video.
It's hard for me to listen to CCM radio because I had problems in the past with a couple of "Christian friends" who listened to it. They constantly criticized and psychoanalyzed me while taking advantage of my friendship. I'm not saying _all_ CCM fans are like that, but...
Before the pandemic I lead songs in church but wouldn’t consider myself to be a worship leader because I’m not trying to lead people to live for God………one of the ways we should worship God is with the way we live our lives before him on an everyday basis…..one artist said in his song ( to God) “to worship you I live…..to worship you I live…. I live to worship you”…….worship does not need a song or a dance but may cause one to happen……..these are tools for worship but not worship it’s self…….so there’s really no such thing as a worship leader or worship music…….this was made up by confused singers in the church……..we worship in spirit and truth not just in music(singing,song and dance)……..worship music is made up of at least 4 guitars,1 bass,drums that sound like boxes and six keyboards playing airy synth pads and a common boring piano patch…….with ambient reverb over the whole mix……and a single violin player in some bands……..all of it sounds boring
I’ve served in full-time ministry for 34 years, 12 of those leading worship. Thank you for a VERY thoughtful take on CCM. While I can’t say that I ‘hate’ CCM, you’ve definitely put into words some sentiments I’ve had for a while.
All the best from a long-time fan.
As a Christian, I also hate Contemporary Christian music. However, as an internet goer I love hymns.
Raise your hand and say Hallelujah!!!
*gospel choir*
Is your profile pic... pink shirt guy from epicurious?
Ben Mather well yes, yes it is.
Agreed.
did you mean "hymens"?
CCM takes no risks. When artists come up in the genre that want to talk about hard, difficult, or complex topics, they get shut down fast.
Gospel music is 10/10.
Quikostdreggs I’m glad he mentioned Gungor and Kings Kaleidoscope, they both go into complex topics and don’t get enough love by the Christian community at large.
Gospel music is struggling though. The legends are no more and there are no clear successors, just lot of noise. Lacks depth. You can only make so many songs referring to all types of weather events...
I think Neely’s main point is the stifling of the musicians from truly making a joyful noise, which, as a Christian, is one of the points of music. The Bible talks about making a joyful noise. It also talks about singing “one’s own song” and “singing a new song unto the Lord”- I think these verses or phrases from the Bible point to the “Musiking” Neely was referring to - making a personal, heartfelt, spontaneous connection with music.
I guess there are various eras/zeitgeist/epochs of music to have spurred the kind of music Don Moen produced. Heck, I worshiped to Don Moen in the 90s. But I believe we as humans should not be putting a lid on how estatic we could feel about worship. Heck, Gospel music, which Neely acknowledges, does estatic, joyful, non-stifling expressions of joy pretty well and both musicians and the congregation end the session both blessed. I think that’s Musiking.
Also, whether a CCM song is “Musicking” could depend on the time and experiences in a listeners life. Our hearts are dynamic.
This is an edited version of a comment I left here- ua-cam.com/video/RV2j3nW3aSI/v-deo.html
Hi Adam,
I really appreciate your talent, your hard work, and your honesty in this video.
I would love it if you would write some worship lyrics and a tune that Christians could sing.