Need vs Greed Musically Speaking

Recently I heard Rick Warren use the phrase need vs greed while delivering a message on contentment concerning our possessions. It wasn't until a day or so later that I used the term while speaking at a neighboring church's worship team rehearsal. In the past couple of weeks it's been a wonderful metaphor for teaching about musical space and how a song needs to breathe.

Does the song need every note I'm playing? Does playing all these notes help to deliver the lyrical message? Should I be content with my contribution as is or am I playing some greedy notes?

This past week, on a return visit,  I made the reference (after the first run though of a new song...), "Okay, lets take it from the top without the greedy notes." After a few sheepish grins, we ran the song down again and much to everyones agreement it really felt better and began to take life.

Using fresh terms and phrases to teach is not a novel idea, but one that definitely works. Repeating the same line over and over can sometimes diminish it's effect. A simple phrase can also sometimes help get a difficult or emotional point across without embarrassing anyone.

So let's get creative as we strive to inspire our teams to a deeper worship experience.