Keyboards - The Songs Of Today - Instructional DVD (DVD)

 Review

Ed Kerr is back with his second piano worship training DVD "Keyboards - Songs Of Today." For those not familiar with Ed Kerr, he is a national keyboard clinician, speaker, songwriter and session player. Even if you aren't an avid listener of worship recordings, there is still a good chance that you have heard some of his work on CDs from Maranatha, Integrity and others. On this DVD, "Songs Of Today", we see Ed in the role of teacher/clinician. In this role, Ed is an anointed gift to pianists and keyboard players in the church. His soft-spoken demeanor and phlegmatic presentation style makes it easy to process the ton of information on this DVD.

Ed's first DVD has become a video bible of sorts for many worship keyboardists, covering all of the important basics and then some. In "Keyboards - Songs Of Today" Ed presents even more information for worship pianists/keyboardists, but this time he presents it in the context of some of the top 25 CCLI songs. In other words, as Ed walks you through the lessons, he is demonstrating the information by applying it to some of the songs that you are most likely to play on Sunday morning.

The DVD begins with ED playing "Here I Am To Worship", setting a very worshipful tone for the rest of the DVD. He uses "Here I Am To Worship" to demonstrate how to go from simple chords "as written" to finding the right voicing, coloring the chords with other notes, creating appropriate rhythm patterns and developing bridges. The DVD then moves on to other songs like "How Great Is Our God", "Holy Is The Lord", "Blessed Be Your Name" and many more, where other topics are covered and demonstrated. These topics include creating sets transitions, developing songs sections, working with guitars, free worship, and rock piano. Ed also touches on how to get the most out playing a Fender Rhodes patch in a worship setting. He concludes the DVD with a chapter on updating Hymns with modern chords and harmonies.

As a pianist, I can say that "Keyboards - Songs Of Today" is a great resource for worship pianists and keyboard players. The information covered is a great compliment to Ed's first DVD, and the information can be applied to any song, whether it's a top CCLI song or your own composition.

Review by Jeremy Dunn