The following is an excerpt from my book, Advice for the Modern Worship Musician.
In order to better understand this concept of moving the song forward let me illustrate something for you. Imagine a roller coaster. Ask yourself, what makes a roller coaster so much fun? Now let me be the first to admit that I hate roller coasters, personally, but I do understand why other people like them. It’s certainly not the speed. I could stick my head out the window of my truck and drive 110 miles an hour down the freeway and not feel the adrenalin rush I get on a roller coaster (my wife might, though). It’s not the height either. I can step inside any skyscraper in any major city and look out the window of the top floor; nothing. Seriously, what is it about roller coasters that make them such a thrill?
Well for starters, they go up. And not quickly either. They take their sweet time building up the excitement and anticipation, letting your imagination cause you to panic. Up and up and up, higher and higher, and just before it reaches the very top it slows down for a second. A quick pause, just a brief moment where you say “Uh oh.” It’s that initial climax of the first drop, allowing you to see your inevitable plunge consume you in slow motion. Talk about building up the tension, right? The calm before the storm, and then BOOM! You’re off.
Where exactly are you going?
Down.
You feel like you’re falling at the speed of Mach 20, but it doesn’t stop there, does it? You go left, and then you go right, up and down, this way and that, through a loop and then backwards. Are you getting the picture here? You’re going somewhere! The roller coaster would be nothing if it was just speed, height, or turns and twists alone, it needs to build up the suspense and then take you some place by combining all of those elements. A straight line is no fun at all and it’s all about the journey, not the outcome. Our music needs to do the same exact thing as a roller coaster. It can’t stay at the same place the entire time because that would be boring.
