In contemporary music, keys players are expected to do more than just play the notes. We also have to choose a different instrument to each song! Some songs require a straight piano sound. But other might call for an organ, or perhaps some strings, or perhaps some strange sound which fits the song perfectly... Most keyboards and electric pianos these days come with at least a few different sounds to choose from. Here is a little bit of a sample of the sounds that I use regularly on GH gigs.

Acoustic Piano

The original, and often the best. Don't underestimate the different "sounds" you can get out of this beast by playing it in different registers (higher percussive notes, long lower chordal notes, etc). If the vibe of your church is laid back and acoustic then a real acoustic piano (or a keyboard with a rough imitation) might be all you ever play. That's awesome! Your main job will be to play the chords to fill up the space between the bass notes and the melody (you might also be needed to "state the root" by playing a simple bass line). When the congregation is not singing it might sometimes be appropriate to throw in some ornaments - a little melody here, maybe an improvised lick there. But while they are singing, some simple "comping" is enough.

Hammond Organ

The thing about organ is it is not a piano. If you hold down a note on a piano, it makes a percussive sound ("attack") which is louder the harder you hit it, rings for a few seconds and then fades away into oblivion never to be seen again. On an organ, it's completely different. Hold down a key and there is the same slightly less pronounced attack no matter how hard you hit it, followed by a sustained note which can last as long as the monkeys keep the bellows pumping (or, if your church doesn't have monkeys, as long as they keep your power switched on). It follows, therefore, that the way you play it will be completely different.

• Less notes: organs in pop / rock music usually sound best when there playing one (maybe two) notes.
• Longer notes: you can hold the notes over an entire chorus if you like.
• Higher notes: organs tend to get muddy in the lower registers, and interfere with the bass player.
• More attention to tone: Organs make the same sound no matter how hard you hit the keys. So you need to be creative with what sound you produce. A real pipe organ has stops (which turn on and off different banks of pipes), and a Hammond organ has drawbars (which add or take away overtones). Some hammonds have a "leslie" or a "rotary speaker" effect, which is a cool way of making simple organ parts sound really really ridiculously good.

Your keyboard might not have drawbars or a real rotary speaker cabinet, but it should have a couple of organ sounds (which represent the most common drawbar settings) plus a button or a knob which turns on a simulated rotary speaker and maybe even lets you make it go from fast to slow. Experiment with this - slow generally suits more laid back parts of the song, whereas fast builds energy in a chorus, especially when used up high.

Electric piano

There are several key types of electric piano sound

Rhodes

During WWII a guy called Harold Rhodes discovered that the aluminium pipes from the wings of B-17 bombers make a really cool noise when you hit them. So he made an electric piano out of them. As you would. Most keyboards nowadays will include an approximation of that signature "Fender Rhodes" sound. If Lindt Extra Dark chocolate could sing, it would probably sound like a Rhodes.

Wurly / Wurlitzer

In the same vein is the electric piano sound called the "Wurly". It has a more feathery tone than the rhodes, and is often run through guitar amps for a light "crunch" (distortion). If this instrument were a chocolate it would probably involve a lot of caramel and coconut.

Others: Other electric piano sounds usually sound much more bell-like (especially Yamaha's distinctive brand of "FM-synthesis" sounds). Treat these sounds with suspicion, at least until early 90s music comes back round in fashion.

An electric piano can be a good way of laying a singer-friendly foundation for the song. A dark tone (as opposed to a bright tone) does wonders for a hymn, giving the same depth as an organ but without the cheese of a synthesised pipe organ. Dense clustered chords sound mad on either Wurly or Rhodes (especially if you have some kind of tremelo or chorus effect handy), but they are also great for providing some tastefully sparse ornamentation - throw the odd grace-note heavy blues lick together with some casually placed third or fourth intervals and people will walk in off the street looking for the Whitlams. But remember - less is almost always more when it comes to coolness.

The "pad" option

By "pad" I'm referring to a whole family of synthesiser sounds: anything which is designed to sit humbly in the background and give the impression of depth - for instance a deep choir sound, analog strings, weird ephemeral morphing sounds etc. Usually they will be thick, with lots of reverb and chorus effects, and probably a slow "attack" time (the time between when you press the key and when the sound reaches its maximum loudness).

Used well, a pad should work its magic without people even realising its there. Like vasoline on the camera lense, it can smooth over the rough edges of the guitar and drums to transform Powderfinger into U2. If this is the effect you're going for then think of yourself as an effect being added to the guitars rather than a separate instrument: adding tone and texture to what is already there, not more notes. In a similar way a pad can be used to subtly add harmonic support to the vocals, particularly during a quiet chorus. As with all keyboarding, you need to be responsible - sometimes space is exactly what the song needs, and so the best keyboardist will play nothing at all. Sometimes the song will cry out of a little less emptiness, and that is when you should fill up the gaps with a tasty pad.

The 80s "lead" synth option

Use with extreme caution.