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Song Selection
I'm sure this is a topic that has been covered before, but how do you select the songs you sing each week? Specifically, I'm thinking about diversity. Do you consider including songs from different types of song writers? Different styles? One example would be the church that does ALL Hillsong United. I know a few like that - I avoid that as much as possible (with any rut, not just Hillsong). I try not be all over place with the worship either.
Part two - Where do you find inspiration for new or "new to the congregation" songs? I like to attend another worship service on a week night if I can. I'm almost 30 years old and I still go to a young adult group that ranges mostly between 18-23 Monday nights, mainly so I can participate in a worship service that I'm not leading. I also keep in contact with another worship pastor who is a generation older than me, and has different influences (I've taken some GREAT songs from him.)
How about you? Ideas? Suggestions?
Also - How am I doing? I'll link to my setlists for July for reference.
God Bless,
Brendan
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by daniel cash on -
I like to introduce new songs in groups of five or six. I'll give them to my worship team all at once with chord sheets and recordings (with clear instructions that they are for practice purposes only and if they want to keep the songs they should buy them). This way they can grow accustom to the songs before we do them.
Also, by picking new songs in a group like that, you can make sure that you have a balanced selection. Not too many slow ones, not too many from Gaither Homecoming DVD, etc.
That being said, I'll often not introduce some in the end and others will replace them. For example, the last batch had:
God Is Alive - Fee
Rise and Sing - Fee
Desert Song - Hillsong United
Tear Down the Walls - Hillsong United
You Won't Relent - JesusCulture
Glory to God - Fee
Of that list only God is Alive, Desert Song, You Won't Relent made it to the service. The rest I canned. Other songs replaced them (SMS Shine - DC*B, The Dawn - Staircase Theory and a few others I can't remember right now).
But that was all in the first quarter of the year.
I think that you're on the right track with talking to other worship leaders. That's the best way to find new music. Also, start a church music library.
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Permalink Reply by David Estes on -
You Won't Relent - is a Misty Edwards song
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Permalink Reply by Wayne Pau on -
Brendan,
We have a really diverse crowd at the service which I serve with. Youth to retirees. Therefore our team makes an extra effort to compile songs from various eras. We try to spread it around, so everyone won't be familiar with all the songs, but they would be familiar with at least one song.
We pretty much have a hymn, some recent songs, some 90's UK, some 2000 Hillsongs/Oz stuff and maybe a song from old vineyard. It's not formulaic, but we try to do our best to spread it around.
Every decade it seems has it's strengths and weaknesses. Having the ability to pull from just narrows down your choices a lot. Newer Hillsongs has great power, upbeat, celebratory/declaration feeling. Older Maranatha/Vineyard had great quiet meditation songs. Soul Survivor had really easy to sing, catchy feel good music. Some hymns have great and majesty lyrics. =) We'll call it a balanced diet of worship songs.
I know there have been many many many discussions of Hymns vs. Contemporary, and then also forcing something that doesn't work (hymns at a contemporary service or vice versa). However, it seems to work for us.
The key is finding a worship leader who knows a lot, lot, lot of songs. People lead/sing what they know. These types of leaders go out and find old and new music constantly, without ever forgetting old favs/standards.
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Permalink Reply by Brendan Smith on -
Yea, I have a pretty big library of music, so I'm with you on that one!
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Permalink Reply by Dorothy Murphy on -
Hi Brendon,
We spend a lot of time in prayer, and studying the Bible passage to be preached, right at the start of planning for a service. We ask God to direct us to the right songs. Then we (my husband and I) brainstorm a long list of songs whiich seem to explore the theme.
From within that long list of about 20 songs/hymns, we try to find a narrative structure. One usually emerges. If we can, we try to have a wide range of dates represented. Our church LOVES the 80's. Anything by Graham Kendrick. LOL! So, in the last 18 months since we've been there, we've been trying to expand the range back into hymns and forward into more modern songs.
It sounds a complicated proces, but isn't really. With the foundation of prayer and understanding what the Pastor will be preaching on completed, God always seems to lead us to the right songs.The only times it's gone hugely wrong is when we've tried to impose our own desires too much eg 'I really like this song, we need to teach them this one etc.'
We have teenagers in our family who love Christian music so we are never short of new ideas for songs! LOL!
Dorothy
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Permalink Reply by Greg Moore on -
I agree with the concept of starting with the Word and prayer, and letting it marinate in the heart, and discovering which songs were in the list merely because they felt good, and which ones really ought to be there.
I also agree with your understanding of the basic simplicity of the thing -- what makes it wrestling is the batting down of our own egos and cute ideas about what we want, when it's about what is good for the whole Body, enriching them and motivating them Christwards.
Now........
I'm a Yank, but I still love Graham Kendrick. The world is richer for "Amazing Love" and "Join Our Hearts Together in Love" and many others of this wonderful brother.
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Permalink Reply by Dorothy Murphy on
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I love Kendrick too!
But good song-writing didn't begin and end with him. LOL! Isaac Watts wrote a few good ones too! ;-) As did Tim Hughes. Churches can just get stuck in a rut sometimes.
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Permalink Reply by Al Hilgendorf on -
I like the phrase "narrative structure" that Dorothy used. I try to keep the songs thematically connected while varying the musical style, rhythm or tempo. Once, at a Willow Creek conference, I heard Joe Horness say that when he selects a song he asks himself "where does my heart want to go from here". Flow in a service is much more important than just a group of great songs. Worship is a path that takes us through the gates, outer courts, inner courts, into the Holy of Holies. Select songs that lead people along that path.
We usually introduce new songs slowly because it takes at least 4 or 5 times of singing a new song for the congregation to feel comfortable with it. It's difficult for the music team to understand this because they've listened to the song, watched it on YouTube, rehearsed it and after singing it twice, they're ready to move on. Also, remember that learning a new song will break the "flow", so careful planning is important.
al
www.everydaypraise.com
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Permalink Reply by Brendan Smith on
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Al - this is so true!! I have to tell team members all the time that the song is not getting tired to the people, they're just getting used to it. Yes, I def. consider flow and theme (to a slightly lesser degree than flow). I try not to introduce more than 2 songs a month, usually 1, many times none. I'd say we average 8-12 new songs a year.
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Permalink Reply by Greg Moore on
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If you choose to use music outside of your present "box", be sure to gain enough skill in the style that your efforts are appreciated (and even understood). For some people a song is defined by a prominent artist's interpretation (or author's original), as much as it is by its melody and text. There have been times when I brought in a song which went well enough, butg I'd hear, "that sounded like a different song // that was sorta...white // when you play it, it sounds... um... kinda old."
This can happen particularly if, say, you do a guitar-based arrangement on a keyboard, or your accordion player really wants to do some riffs.
My dad learned French enough to do a little introduction at a concert in Montreal. He told them of the millions of combinations you could obtain on the Hammond Organ's drawbars. However, he pronounced "combinations" not as
cohm-bee-NAHS-ee-ohngh, but as "cohm-bee-NEZZ-ohngh", which are Long Johns. He couldn't understand why the laughter, but they loved him anyway for the attempt.
Learn your territory.
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Permalink Reply by David Weischedel on -
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