BASS FACES
A criticism I receive from traditionalists about contemporary worship is that the musicians are just “putting on a show”. When I’ve probed to learn what people perceive as “a show” (or “a performance”) the most common complaint is that musicians move with their instruments to the music.
I’m not talking about dancing around wildly, but about drummers and bass players making unusual faces as they play or guitarists swaying to the rhythm of the music. Some musicians close their eyes or move their heads, hands, or shuffle their feet to the rhythm of the music. These things, I am told, make it “a show” to draw attention to and glorify self rather than to God.
Oddly enough, a classical pianist can do exactly the same things without offending traditionalists in the least! I’ve seen pianists play in the strictest conservative churches – eyes closed, lips pursed, head rocking and body swaying with great feeling as they frenetically tickle the keys up and down the keyboard and the piano shakes with the intense emphatic pounding of their hands – and when the piece concludes, a resounding hearty “Amen” erupts from the congregation. I’ve never heard one complaint about a classical pianist “making a show” in the church.
I often work on correspondence or sermons on my computer in my living room chair and I’ll hear my wife laughing. “Who are you talking to?” she asks. Having been deep in thought, my face was expressing what I was typing without me realizing it. Anyone concentrating on a task might do the same thing.
When I practice the bass alone in my living room or office I make “bass faces” and I move with my instrument. Some of it is the challenge of a particularly difficult fingering on the bass so I make the same face a plumber makes loosening an overly tight nut! And some of it is just “feeling the music” and enjoying the beauty of a composition. Music (even without lyrics) is a language of emotional expression and beauty that can move the soul, and when the soul is truly moved, sometimes the body cannot help but move as well.
Traditionalists, reacting to excessive distracting expressions, seem to rule out all emotional responses to music as flesh rather than spirit. A bored musician with a straight face assures all observers that he is not enjoying the music in the flesh but is truly worshipping in the spirit.
The traditionalist in me shares the concern about distracting excessive displays of feeling. But is the opposite pole -- emotional constipation – the best answer to that concern? Or is there a sweet spot to be sought between those poles at the center of that spectrum?
If you are a traditionalist annoyed by a little emotional expression, experiment with your soul a little bit. The next time you see it, instead of judging it as a self-glorifying show, tell yourself that that soul is genuinely worshipping God with all her heart, soul, mind, and strength. Then close your eyes and join in, singing with all your heart to the Lord. You might find the result a great blessing.
I’m not talking about dancing around wildly, but about drummers and bass players making unusual faces as they play or guitarists swaying to the rhythm of the music. Some musicians close their eyes or move their heads, hands, or shuffle their feet to the rhythm of the music. These things, I am told, make it “a show” to draw attention to and glorify self rather than to God.
Oddly enough, a classical pianist can do exactly the same things without offending traditionalists in the least! I’ve seen pianists play in the strictest conservative churches – eyes closed, lips pursed, head rocking and body swaying with great feeling as they frenetically tickle the keys up and down the keyboard and the piano shakes with the intense emphatic pounding of their hands – and when the piece concludes, a resounding hearty “Amen” erupts from the congregation. I’ve never heard one complaint about a classical pianist “making a show” in the church.
I often work on correspondence or sermons on my computer in my living room chair and I’ll hear my wife laughing. “Who are you talking to?” she asks. Having been deep in thought, my face was expressing what I was typing without me realizing it. Anyone concentrating on a task might do the same thing.
When I practice the bass alone in my living room or office I make “bass faces” and I move with my instrument. Some of it is the challenge of a particularly difficult fingering on the bass so I make the same face a plumber makes loosening an overly tight nut! And some of it is just “feeling the music” and enjoying the beauty of a composition. Music (even without lyrics) is a language of emotional expression and beauty that can move the soul, and when the soul is truly moved, sometimes the body cannot help but move as well.
Traditionalists, reacting to excessive distracting expressions, seem to rule out all emotional responses to music as flesh rather than spirit. A bored musician with a straight face assures all observers that he is not enjoying the music in the flesh but is truly worshipping in the spirit.
The traditionalist in me shares the concern about distracting excessive displays of feeling. But is the opposite pole -- emotional constipation – the best answer to that concern? Or is there a sweet spot to be sought between those poles at the center of that spectrum?
If you are a traditionalist annoyed by a little emotional expression, experiment with your soul a little bit. The next time you see it, instead of judging it as a self-glorifying show, tell yourself that that soul is genuinely worshipping God with all her heart, soul, mind, and strength. Then close your eyes and join in, singing with all your heart to the Lord. You might find the result a great blessing.