Of Praise Bands and Mafia Gangs.

You know that Uncle you probably have or had, that reached out and "stole" your nose? and then he always says something to the effect of "haha! Got yer nose!"

This title is like that Uncle. Haha! Got your attention!

But seriously. Lets talk about praise bands. Mafia gangs in a bit.

Everyone has heard of the classic African praise style- A Capella, clapping, in a mud hut, with harmonies aplenty. Those are lovely, but you've heard of them, chances are you've heard them, and there isn't much more I can say about them.

I'm here to talk about western-influenced praise band style worship- I think there's more for us to learn there, in a practical sense.

Mafia time- I've decided to use a gang of mafioso's performing a shakedown to translate the sound I'm describing into a picture, for your imagination and amusement.

In the classic mafia scenario, lets say there are four guys. There's the big guy, the one holding a weapon menacingly, the normal looking one that highlights the oddness of the other three, and the one with a brooklyn accent that does all the talking.

The "classic" (classic here meaning, the one I just came up with in my head that happens to work for my metaphor) mafia shakedown can be related to a praise band thusly:

The big guy in the back is the bass. He doesn't say much, but he sits in the back nodding in agreement to what brooklyn accent guy says. He makes you take it seriously.

The one holding the weapon is the drummer. He punctuates the words of brooklyn accent guy by thwacking a rusty pipe against his palm. Or... some scary blunt object. Work with me.

The normal looking guy is the keyboard. It's normal. It's background sound. It is the canvas upon which the paints rest- there's texture, but not much color.

And brooklyn accent guy is the guitar. America's favorite instrument. Whether acoustic or electric, this instrument tends to do the most talking, musically speaking.

This is all well and good. Similar instruments are used here. The key difference I want to draw attention to is the blend.

In America praise music is very guitar-centric. African praise music has no center of attention. The bass, drums, keyboard, and guitar all speak their parts. They take turns, to a certain extent, but each is always moving in accordance with the others. Their volumes are equally audible, and each player is the master of his or her instrument. This gives the music a full, rich, gutsy sound that moves the audience. American praise music sounds skeletal in comparison.

I did not understand a single word of the song. It was in French, sung over nearly dead speakers very quickly. But the music spoke of a praise that words could not. I think we could learn from the vivacity of, and hard work put into, African praise music.