He's Elevating Modern Worship Guitar Reaction to E. Edwards

[00:00:00]Oh.

[00:00:08]>> [music] >> Yeah.

[00:00:14]>> [music] >> Oh. This channel is all about simplifying the world of modern worship guitar, and today we're going to look at one of [music] the best worship guitarists out there. He's responsible for a lot of the guitar parts on the songs we listen to. So, I thought it'd be fun today to look at one of his GoPro videos and [music] just make some observations for those of you who might look at modern worship music and feel a bit confused.

[00:00:37]>> [music] >> Um I would love to maybe go and just kind of interpret some of the decisions he's making. So, I'm going to pick a bunch of these and just we'll go through and I don't know. I'll I'll see what happens and we'll try to make some sense of it.

[00:00:50]>> [music] [music] [music] >> Okay. I thought it was an ender or something. Okay.

[00:01:05]Nice.

[00:01:06]So, already we get into this song and uh we can tell that we are going to be pulling in some stylistic influences that are outside of what is most what's commonly known as modern worship music.

[00:01:17]Uh just the intro, they're going outside of the key with one of the chords. Um just here on this little verse part, he they're doing some stabs that are like a little more R&B-ish.

[00:01:33]Yeah.

[00:01:34]>> [music] >> Oh.

[00:01:36]>> [laughter] >> Okay. Now, we're uh yeah, we're going to start with a banger here. This is uh this is pretty sweet.

[00:01:43]So, he has his Elliott uh I think it's a Warhawk. He's sponsored by Elliott. Um so, you're going to see Elliott stuff all over. This is E Edwards, by the way, from Elevation. And they're in the key of uh looks like his fingers, yeah, E flat.

[00:01:59]And [music] so, he just pulled we've already heard a bunch of R&B-ish type thing. So, you know, you have the one chord.

[00:02:07]And they're taking these stabs at and six. It's 1 2 3 4 5 6. You're not going to hear that in modern worship stuff, but you will I mean, that's a kind of a blues move there.

[00:02:19]So, it makes me wonder what it is we're going to how much this stylization is going to go on. If anybody is going to style in the direction of R&B and gospel and all that stuff, it's going to be Elevation. Um, which I think it's very cool stuff they're doing. Um, but what did he do? He just did some lick. So, there's this little R&B lick. If you're in your pentatonic, your E flat like in the space here, you can take these like in the pentatonic there these two notes and these two notes here and you can >> [music] >> stuff like that. This E flat up here.

[00:02:48]Do the same thing.

[00:02:50]But, he just did something he just did something else.

[00:02:54]>> [music] [laughter] >> Uh So, okay.

[00:03:03]Ooh, that's tough.

[00:03:05]Something like that.

[00:03:08]Ooh, ooh. That's tasty and uh, boy, that's pro right there. Let's keep going.

[00:03:14]This is going to be fun.

[00:03:15]>> [music] >> 1 over 3 6 C minor 4 >> [music] >> 2 3 4 >> [music] >> 4 5 >> [music] >> 1 No.

[00:03:44]Uh, we're going to have fun today.

[00:03:46]>> [singing] [music] >> Okay, okay, okay, okay.

[00:03:51]So, if you've seen any of my videos, you'll know that in a key a key major key is just a group of seven chords. We have three majors and three minors.

[00:04:00]But in the seventh position, we always say there's this diminished chord that we never get to use.

[00:04:07]Well, we're going to use it today. The most common use that you're going to see at least in worship music is when we draw from like jazz gospel world.

[00:04:14]And we use it in a turnaround. And that's exactly what he just did. Charity Gayle in the song I Speak Jesus. There's one little like gospel-y point when they threw turnarounds in there and just hit so hard.

[00:04:25]I won't go into explaining all the two five and what turnarounds are. But think of it this way. They're they're at a one chord.

[00:04:33]And then it [music] then it at some point it's going to go to a six chord.

[00:04:37]The C minor.

[00:04:39]And so as they're as they're playing [music] through this, basically they're saying, "Hey, what's a cooler way to sort of like get ourselves from this one chord to the six?" Here's a one chord.

[00:04:49]>> [music] >> Now, what would a seven diminished be?

[00:04:51]Here's how we simplify this whole seven dim. Now, hang with me. I know some of you are like, "Diminished? What's happening?" Let me just simplify all this, okay? So, when you think about that seven chord, which really I'm going to play it as like a half diminished or minor seven flat fifth. All that sounds crazy and complex, I know. Just think of it this way.

[00:05:08]That seven chord, all I'm going to be doing here >> [music] >> sounds so fancy. All it is is the minor two chord, which in this case is the F minor, and then put the seven in the bass. The seventh note, which is the D note.

[00:05:22]So, if you can play a minor there's a minor [music] triad then put that D the seventh in the bass. Now you have that.

[00:05:30]>> [music] >> How tasty is that? Now walk that down from your one, which I think >> [music] >> And and you're set up to hit the next chord, which was technically like this dominant seventh.

[00:05:48]Uh So So this would be the pattern. One, [music] and it's going to go seven, dominant three, then to your six.

[00:05:58]Do you hear [music] how that sets you It like moves your ear to that spot?

[00:06:04]But he doesn't do that. They add some flavors. I mean, they do that, but they're going to make They're going to add some nuance and flavor here. Let's see what they do.

[00:06:12]>> [music] [music] >> Uh Let's see.

[00:06:28]Oh.

[00:06:29]>> [music] >> So this is the sharp five?

[00:06:33]Oh. Oh, you kidding me? Are you kidding me? This is the first one I've done here. This is the first attempt at one of these reaction videos, and we're just getting Oh, we're getting crushed from the beginning.

[00:06:48]And then >> [music] >> uh boy, this C minor was different, too.

[00:06:50]Was that the nine, maybe?

[00:06:59]>> [laughter] [music] >> He hits this note here, this D underneath it. Oh my goodness, that's nasty.

[00:07:08]Seven.

[00:07:09]>> [music] >> Uh And then uh >> [music] [music] [music] >> Ooh.

[00:07:31]And then So the next one now is Okay, we're at our six chord. So where do we want to go from here?

[00:07:36]Um the next is usually the four chord.

[00:07:39]So how do we get ourselves from the six to the four? Well, we're going to do it in a really nice way. The two-five turnaround that would get us there would be a What would it be? It'd be a minor five to the one.

[00:07:51]So, we just played if I move it up here, it's a little easier to see. Here's a C minor seven.

[00:07:55]>> [music] >> Um and we're going to do a minor five, so that just goes down a whole step.

[00:08:00]>> [music] >> And so, we heard some This is just tech This is like textbook R&B gospel. It's just some walk downs. So, if I'm in a minor six here, and I need to get to a minor five, what if I just go >> [music] >> Come on, right? So, all I'm thinking are triads right now. This is just a normal C minor up here to the D minor shape.

[00:08:22]And walk it down.

[00:08:27]That's kind of fun.

[00:08:29]>> [music] >> That's cool. Maybe that's it. I don't know.

[00:08:37]>> [music] >> That's more fun.

[00:08:42]What is that? What is that?

[00:08:44]Hope you I hope you're cool. Just grab a cup of coffee cuz uh we're we're having fun here. Well, at least I'm having fun.

[00:08:51]>> [music] >> Three.

[00:08:55]Four.

[00:08:57]Oh. What is that?

[00:09:01]It's not that high.

[00:09:04]Oh. Oh. Oh. Oh, so you're just playing like the nine.

[00:09:08]I just put some nasty on it.

[00:09:11]Uh >> [music] >> So, okay. They're at the six already up here.

[00:09:20]And they're just starting a little walk down from the six minor like we just did.

[00:09:24]And they're just adding this note. It could just be this.

[00:09:28]But just add this on top.

[00:09:29]>> [music] >> And then the one is the next chord in the turnaround.

[00:09:34]>> [music] >> All right.

[00:09:38]And then to the four.

[00:09:39]>> [music] >> So, the whole thing would move like this.

[00:09:43]1 2 3 4 5 6 1 2 [music and singing] 3 4 5 6 2 3 Oh, sorry.

[00:09:52]>> [music] >> 4 >> [music] [music] >> And then maybe they'll go down to the 1/3.

[00:10:09]>> [music] >> Listen to that.

[00:10:13]>> [singing] >> The Strat that's playing against what he's doing. Are you kidding me?

[00:10:18]1 2 3 >> [music] >> Okay.

[00:10:24]>> [music] >> Just doing some fists, some power.

[00:10:30]You're just drive it.

[00:10:32]>> [music] >> See how gospel they get here.

[00:10:38]1 >> [music] [music and singing] >> 3 Uh 2 >> [music] >> Ah, they're straightening it out.

[00:11:02]Just driving [music] it hard now.

[00:11:05]Keeping the turnarounds.

[00:11:07]>> [music] [music] >> Okay.

[00:11:23]Keep [music] it okay. Keeping that turnaround.

[00:11:28]>> [music] >> Oh, listen to that, guys.

[00:11:34]>> [music] >> Oh, man.

[00:11:39]So much going on. So, they took that fancy chord progression, they took all the flavors out of it, and just just drove it.

[00:11:47]Kept the turnarounds.

[00:11:48]>> [music] >> Um And then it's the other dude, which I maybe it's Joey in there uh with that killer strat tone. I mean, killer.

[00:12:04]I drop picks all the time.

[00:12:06]Killer strat tone. And uh man, I'm going to play this again. Listen, if you have headphones on, listen to how these guitars are responding to each other.

[00:12:15]Nothing here is spontaneous. This is not an accident. Listen to the space they're giving each other. This is completely intentional.

[00:12:27]Here it [music] is.

[00:12:31]E's [music] little lick.

[00:12:35]Yes, so E's got his little lick in there.

[00:12:39]>> [music] >> And at the very end of the note, our our strat comes in and throws some stuff.

[00:12:45]>> [music] >> And then which is like a So, uh Uh so, we call it >> [music] [music] >> Uh three, four [music] Uh the Oh my goodness. This is beautiful. This is fantastic.

[00:13:18]But, this is not characteristic of modern worship, right? So, we got to ask ourselves, is modern worship expanding?

[00:13:24]Uh Uh, are the artists who've defined modern worship, are they deciding to just create stuff outside of the bounds of what is the most common? What is What is the style modern worship music even mean?

[00:13:36]Uh, I don't know. Fun questions.

[00:13:39]Let's just hop in super patient.

[00:13:42]He is just happy to just play rhythm here. [music] Just stay out of the way. He could shred all over this, but he's not.

[00:13:57]Ooh, >> [music] >> piano so nice.

[00:14:02]Little more gain.

[00:14:03]>> [music] >> You can hear our strat is really intensified the gain.

[00:14:08]>> [music] >> Some more licks there.

[00:14:13]>> [music] >> Same walk down. [music] >> [music] >> Oh.

[00:14:49]>> [music] >> Yeah. [music] Uh.

[00:15:01]Uh, I don't even know what to say to that. I mean, it was like a it could have been as simple as just like a you know, just like a walk up in the pentatonic. Um, I'd have to just sit down and break the notes up there. Uh, it makes me wonder how it really isn't a complex thing at all. It all sounds complex, but when you add layers, they're harmonizing with each other. Oh, this is great.

[00:15:31]Oh, that was it. I Holy cow, I just did that.

[00:15:36]>> [music] >> Yeah, that's just straight-up pentatonic.

[00:15:40]>> [music] >> That is literally maybe the most natural for those of you that play the pentatonic scale, probably a no lick that would be easier to come to you more naturally than just >> [music] >> something like that.

[00:15:59]Uh, no, it's not.

[00:16:00]>> [music] >> But yeah, so that was that was straight-up pentatonic. It can sound really really intense, but now let Okay, what do they do after pentatonic?

[00:16:12]>> [music] >> Okay, that that's our 6-5 walk-down.

[00:16:18]Just the one that we talked about before. They were at the 6 minor and to get to the turnaround that 5 minor.

[00:16:23]>> [music] [music] >> This is characteristic gospel. If you're going to do gospel stuff, there's got to be hits. There's got to be these like melodic lines interlaced, you know, uh these surprise chord progression moves. Um, this is great. This is But I think if you're going to do you know, like I could not do the course.

[00:16:53]Uh, I don't know enough about gospel, but if there's going to be like a gospel 101 fusion with modern worship music, all the tricks are being used here. Um, I mean, this is like textbook. It's great.

[00:17:07]>> [music] [music] >> He's just hanging on some normal chords and triads.

[00:17:18]>> [music] >> Ooh. Ooh.

[00:17:27]>> [music] >> Oh.

[00:17:30]No.

[00:17:31]>> [music] >> Okay.

[00:17:36]I got a little back door here.

[00:17:38]Um >> [music] >> So, they're playing E flat into endless, they just throw one more curveball at us.

[00:17:45]So, you can do uh uh then it goes 1 >> [music] >> 2 3 4 [singing] 5 6 Uh it's not just a you can do flat seven just E flat down a whole step.

[00:18:00]>> [music] >> That's the the guts of it there. But, I there's more flavor like >> [music] >> like a major seven.

[00:18:11]And then uh like a I think is a four chords so I I'd put the nine in there the two.

[00:18:16]>> [music] >> Something like that.

[00:18:21]>> [music] >> And then, here's the cool thing. He just played my favorite chord in guitar.

[00:18:28]Absolute favorite. It's a major nine chord. And so, the last chords that you're going to play in this little uh I don't know back door turn I always call it the back door. I don't know why I call it that. Um but uh is is going to be a C sharp >> [music] >> which I played as a C sharp major seven.

[00:18:46]So, C sharp up here and then an A flat.

[00:18:50]Back to your E flat. So, what he's going to do, he's going to play this major nine. He's going to turn the C sharp and the A A flat or C sharp and A flat.

[00:18:59]I'm going to D flat and A flat into uh I've been saying C sharp the whole time.

[00:19:04]D flat and A flat into major nine chords. So, instead of a >> [music] >> There's my E bar chord.

[00:19:14]He's going to go >> [music] >> Now, a few things that we see here how important bar chords are once we start to bring in other styles of music. Um I like bar chords. What I have against bar chords is that most of you don't know how to use the bar chord, which pieces of the bar chord to use. Uh what you guys are doing is using bar chords when you have way better options uh that you can use. And so I bar chords are awesome. If you know bar chords, you are sitting really well. It's going to help you think on the guitar.

[00:19:51]Th- Everything I just did Now, hear this, okay? I I'm not jazz trained. I'm not anything trained. I'm mostly self-taught. And so everything that I just did and figured out there is not because I played tons of gospel in my life. I have not. It's not because I've studied all this necessarily. It's just because I know two things: triads and numbers.

[00:20:10]And that gave me the framework to think about all this and recognize it when I hear it. Uh yeah, just some textbook turnaround stuff.

[00:20:19]Just beautiful.

[00:20:22]So, uh oh my goodness, this is fantastic. Fantastic. What a great way to start uh the uh response. So, this is E Edwards. Uh E is He's the man and he can play anything, but you could see here like many of you guys who love R&B or you know, just blues and stuff, you the way you're approaching it is just spontaneous. Just throw random licks in anywhere. And uh I'm telling you guys, it's not going to help the team that much. And beyond that, here's the thing. This all worked because the entire band was on board. Do you know how many sets I've been in with an overeager gospel piano player who just wants to shove in all these turnarounds and stuff, but the rest of the band has no idea what they're doing.

[00:21:05]So, it If you are like, "Man, I love blues, but everybody loves modern worship music, that blues lick isn't going to work. It's just not going to work because you need the entire band on board to give you the context where that blues lick makes sense. Sure, once in a while you can, you know, throw some little stabs in there, but in general, this is a whole band effort, everything you just heard. So, but it's learnable, it's doable. So, I think this is a great song. If you're like, hey, what would it look like if you have people at your church, or your you know, your band are like, we'd love gospel, we want to like make a step into that, this song is it has so many great features in it that would be a good start. And I'm telling you, triads, numbers, get my courses, pain free triads, pain free numbers. Even if you took the your very first steps into the that world, it's going to make a huge difference. You will you're going to be just thinking at a different level. So, anyway, I'm done talking. I can't wait to do the next one.