5 Reasons Churches are Losing Gospel Pianists

5 Reasons Churches are Losing Gospel Pianists

In this video, I explore why churches are struggling to find and keep pianists for services, and I break down five key reasons behind this trend. I discuss the importance of gospel music training, learning to play by ear and mentorship's role in developing skilled musicians. We also dive into how changes in worship styles and the decline of music programs in schools have impacted the availability of pianists. This video covers it all if you're interested in gospel piano, chord progressions, improvisation, or playing hymns.

CHAPTERS:
00:00 - Introduction: Why Churches Can't Find Pianists
01:08 - Lack of Investment in Gospel Music Training
02:53 - Decline of Music Programs in Schools
05:15 - The Challenge of Learning Gospel Piano by Ear
07:22 - Musician Burnout in Churches
10:19 - The Changing Worship Styles in Churches
13:51 - Solutions: How Churches Can Invest in Musicians
16:48 - Conclusion: Choosing the Right Path for Gospel Piano

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[PianoLessonwithWarren]

Why do you believe churches are losing gospel musicians?

[pboutteb]

I have been playing in church over 45 years. The Pastor, Deacons, Mothers, Choir members call all take vacations. The musician can’t miss service unless there’s coverage.The next generation never made it up to par. So there comes the burnout.

[tonywilliams]

You hit the nail on the head Warren I totally agree with you! Even if you were born with musical skills, it can only be developed with serious investment by the churches!

[donnieyancey]

warren I got burnt out about 5 years ago with a ten year run and still have not gotten back into it, so you are actually right about the burn out

[ThePowerScript]

I feel like every church needs at least 2 pianists
To prevent burnt-out. Plus cover all the services.

[tammyrobinson]

All so true.

I have encountered a situation during my time in the music department where the ministry of music refused to mentor a young man in my church who was very eager to learn. She would not. The young man's mother got him lessons our side the church. The young man became an incredible organist and jazz musician.

I think seasoned musicians need to avoid jealousy of the younger musicians who are coming along.

Well said kind sir🫶🏼🫶🏼

[Malierysmith]

The guy at Journey told me to talk to you about some lessons before he left to go over seas. And I haven’t seen you since until I found you on here. I’ve been learning solo after 8 lessons in March this year after a 25 year hiatus. And I agree wholeheartedly with what you’re saying. So many people took me as a joke when I asked for help to learn. Now I can read music, build chords and recognize scales, and even play a good bit by ear. I’m still working on passing chords, etc. For example, I started playing “Jehovah Sababoth” by ear, and then found the sheet music and find that I was spot on with the musical transcription. And like you said, I’m super determined without guidance. Playing makes me so hungry, and I’m at the piano several hours a day. I’m trusting the Lord with my development, and I know I’ll get to the right place to learn more. I’ll check out your course soon. I have two mini me’s… 5 and 7, and they are musically inclined, so I am teaching them too.

[joshuablair]

Playing by ear is a talent, it becomes a skill in its latter stages. I.E. i can play by ear well since 10, i got tired of ear hustlin, and learned the skills of reading, chord progression, following melody tempo etc.

All these things you mention are 100 correct. It also takes the students to have the drive to learn.

[cruzan]

I am a sax player. I learned in school. I really learned how to play in church. Actually, piano players in church taught me call and response counter rhythms. I am not a professional musician. It took me decades to figure out what they were upset with me about. lol.

[jamieredden]

I am grateful for the training that I received from my teachers to play the hymns in a congregational setting. I had the privilege of having many teachers who taught me necessary skills that I needed to play piano and to play in church. Even though my early teachers didn't teach me to play congregationally, they did have me to play in church for offertory even from the beginning. Later teachers taught me how to play by ear and transposing briefly. My final teacher gave me the unique opportunity to play with her at church....a setting where there was a piano and a digital piano. She really was a great mentor to me. Since then I have really put in the work to learn to play by ear more because I now sing and accompany myself....and still working on the balance of the two.

I definitely agree with everything stated in this video as I have seen it with my own eyes. I pray that I can be used to train people who want to learn to play in church so that more churches can have future musicians and those that want to learn the hymns and preserve them

[km]

As a part of a small community church. I joined this church that did not have musicians and a choir. Being old as i was i started teaching myself to play piano by ear. Then quickly started playing for the sunday services with the basic knowledge a acquired at that time. Then i got stuck, i couldn't improve, i learned songs without learning basics. I did not have much time learning more because of my occupation and my family duty. But still play up till now after many years as a beginner/intermediate. Did the church invest in me? No. Maybe just praying for me. They don't seem to think about quality service where as a musician i need to learn from a more experience musician. They found themselves in that comfort zone where they don't need quality but just someone who can play basic during the service. Now, how many kids attend this church? A lot! Both the church and their parents do not seem to want to invest in those kids as they will stay longer/forever in the church. Some reasons are: 1. parents don't want to be responsible for paying lessons. 2. Kids don't want to spend time learning to play an instrument but just gaming or playing sports for fun...

Something important you mentioned is giving pianist breaks. When i am not around, which happens rarely, they sing without instruments and that makes me feel bad specifically for a sunday service. And I've found myself having to be in church every single Sunday not simply to attend service and pray but because i primarily have to play also. I can't go out of town a lot of time because of this situation. I don't get paid, i don't ask to be paid, i do this for God but it can get frustrating at some point. I know a friend's church with a lot musicians and they always alternate every other sunday, month or whatever.
Thanks for talking about this subject

[ElenaKarepova]

Thanks for this video, that's real true. I got burnt out several years ago. Now I am in the church and I play in our worship team. That's God's goodness to me! I got classical music education and learn to play gospel on your channel, thank you very much!

[alicehopkins]

Hi. I am still playing current music at the age of 68; and thankfully I am teaching at a Music School where I am teaching multi genres of music to help build church musicians

[JCox]

Blessings to you sir. You hit it. I haven’t actively played n over 20 years . There are several additional reasons as well. My mother, back n time was the musician that influenced me. Presently, my son & grandson are active . Great video

[joevonsmith]

Public school system is where I started my journey with drums and why I was able to convert notation skills to reading sheet music and ultimately playing piano.

[djcoolcliff]

I was so glad when I stop playing in church since I was 5 yo until 45 years old! I do sound now and it’s so peaceful and not having to teach parts and MD! I enjoyed the mentorship and still do but I love moving the faders on Sunday! Oh I do make more money too but that’s the blessing cause I wasn’t thinking it was but it is!!! Just was extremely burnt out playing at church!

[bradalexander]

I been playing on churches for 45 years. I learned growing up in the church to play by ear. I later went to college and have a degree in music. I have gone through burnout from many years of having to be at church Sunday after Sunday. I’ve played at large churches where I had paid vacations but also had smaller churches where it was really hard to be away. Most churches don’t want to pay what you are worth for the time that it takes to be a quality musician. I’ve played at many different churches from Apostolic, COGIC, AME, Baptist, Adventist, and non denominational churches. I play all the hymns as well as all of the choir stuff and contemporary styles. I can play CCM music but it is the most boring music for the quality gospel musician because we have played so many other exciting styles of music. There are no mentors because most of us aren’t going to do it for free as it takes a lot of time. Gospel is such a unique style of music that most of what I learned in school really didn’t get you ready for a gospel music job playing by ear. You have to grow up playing it to really be comfortable. Now I don’t even want to play at a church on a weekly basis. I am now working as a substitute musician when guys are going to be away from their service they call me to fill in. It is a position that is really needed because there are not many good musicians that aren’t playing at a church weekly. I experienced and qualified so guys love having someone who can cover for them and it’s a win win for both of us.

[apostoliclife]

Excellent video! I think culture is for sure the biggest factor. As long as there is a culture of teaching, learning, excellence, and investing, we should have no problem filling our music teams with skillful gospel musicians. My church's music team is currently building this kind of culture and the future is looking bright for us! We're also hoping to put on a small music conference where we help other churches around our area to learn and improve in gospel music :)

[pw]

You are on point with this video. The music today has been really dumbed down and beginner players can figure it out fairly quickly. But to have a pianist that can do hymns, Christmas carols, etc., is hard to find. I am starting a mentoring program at my church to train the young piano players on how to do all styles of music by reading music and by ear. I just might be sending a few to your website to learn from you too now I know you are there!!

[ST]

I was church pianist for decades. I left when my church pastor decided to tell 𝓮𝓪𝓬𝓱 𝓪𝓷𝓭 𝓮𝓿𝓮𝓻𝔂 skilled singer and musician to step down. He replaced us with unskilled people. The result was that we all left that church at the same time—me, the choir director, the singers that not only were great singers but also coached other choir members in singing their parts (because there were choir members who could sing but couldn’t read music), and several members of the orchestra. It was a bad move on his part because of the skills we all possessed and all the hours of work we put in to help others. Also, I play classical music, church hymns, and worship choruses because I can sight read proficiently, transpose songs in my head, play the hymns in any key, and play by ear without needing a lead sheet. I submit that it’s very difficult to find advanced-level pianists who can do all this. At any rate, two singers that I sang with and I started going to another church together, where we were able to use our talents and continue singing together. It was the best move we could have made considering what had been done to us.