Battle in the bands?

I’ve been dwelling on one of the questions posed to the panel at the last London Music Ministry Conference. The question was (as far as I remember) about the fact that we hadn’t used the organ or the grand piano during the day, and what the future holds for those two instruments.

Music Richard Simpkin

It got me thinking. Nearly all contemporary bands are now guitar-led rather than piano-led, while an electric keyboard is used (if used at all) simply to provide a background wash of sound, or as a link in between songs. The organ, piano and guitar have the distinction of being the only instruments in their family (respectively wind, percussion and string) that can provide chords easily enough to accompany congregational singing.