Common Mistakes Worship Piano Players Make (and How to Fix Them)
- Jered Mckenna
- 2 days ago
- 2 min read
First of all, feel free to grab my free hymnal I made. Hope it serves you well!
Let’s talk about five mistakes that I’ve made for years as a worship keyboardist—things that used to trip me up until I finally broke out of them like a piano-playing butterfly emerging from a cocoon. (Yes, I like to think of myself that way HAH!)
I first started noticing these issues back in high school and early college. I’d be playing in bars or churches, often unable to hear myself, and wondering, What am I even doing here?
The guitarist, drummer, and bassist were getting all the attention, and I felt like background noise. But over time, I picked up some tricks—especially for worship settings—that really helped elevate my playing and support the band more effectively.
1. Playing Too Busy
This is probably the most common trap: overplaying.
Let’s say you’re playing a hymn like "O Worship the King". The melody and chord structure are simple. But a lot of players will try to fill every inch of space with notes. That leads to clutter. There’s no room for the vocals, the drums, or any other instruments to breathe.
Instead, try to keep it simple. Play the basic chords and let the space do some of the work. Or, if you want to add some texture, try a simple repeated motif—like an ostinato—that acts like a soft chiming drone in the background. It creates atmosphere without demanding attention. The key is to enhance, not overpower.
2. Playing Too High
Another common issue is living too much in the upper octaves. That bright, sparkly high-end sound might feel exciting, but if you're playing up there all the time, it quickly becomes distracting—like someone shaking wind chimes in your face.
Reserve the high notes for occasional fills or moments of emphasis. Most of the time, you want to live in the middle range of the piano—that’s the “meat and potatoes” of your sound. That’s where the piano sounds most full and natural, and where it blends best with the rest of the band.
3. Using Too Many Scale Notes
We all want to show off a bit, but constantly running scales while playing worship songs isn’t helpful. Instead of flowing with the spirit of the song, it can feel like you’re trying to prove you know the scale.
A better approach? Choose just a few notes to work with—like three or four—and make them count. Stick with the pentatonic scale (we’re in the West, we love it), and build little motifs or hooks that can repeat and stick in people’s ears.
For example, gravitate around the 1, 2, and 3 of the scale—or the root and fifth. Use those to create a repeated idea that supports the melody without distracting from it. The goal is to create something memorable and cohesive, not to cram in every note you know.
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