Praise • Cajon Playthrough

Goodness, this is a fun song to play and declare praise to our King with! It’s also easily the most complex drum part I’ve ever attempted to boil down to a cajon- multiple drummers/percussionists parts work together in the normal Elevation version of this, and the primary drum kit player has a larger than typical set with 4 toms that he uses very intentionally. But, here it is in box form! You’ll notice that there’s only really a few drum parts that get repeated and modified in the various sections of the song, so I don’t think it’s as intimidating to learn as it might seem at first. Lots of syncopated tom work and extra percussion=a great chance to bring in the side of the cajon as a playing surface. The most important part of this to latch onto is the steady “4 on the floor” kick drum through everything- start there and build up! For the nerds like me, this arrangement is in A at 127BPM and 4/4 time. My goal with these videos is to provide a somewhat simplified version of the percussive elements for the song, while retaining much of the feel and rhythms normally beat out on a drum kit. Most of the time I don’t want to use a ton of flashy playing, or even show the full extent of what I might play if I were to sit in on cajon for a Sunday morning set with this song (though that’s precisely what this video in particular shows, questionable fills and all). I’ve been known to add hihats, tambourines, shakers, toms and a whole bunch of stuff to an “acoustic set” kit. While those can all be appropriate and a lot of fun, I don’t feel like that’s the most helpful for someone who’s sitting on a cajon for the first time or is still getting a feel for playing with a band. For these videos, I’ll stick to a cajon and an occasional shaker. If you have any questions about playing cajon, how I approached this song, or any song requests, let me know! Glory to God, always.