I think sometimes we take the word “worship” for granted. We know deep down that it’s more than singing, and yet we typically mean “singing songs to God” when we talk about worship. It’s even in our titles: the “worship leader” is really “the song guy”, right?
Other church traditions – mine included- use “worship leader” to refer to the person who leads the musical and sung portion of the gathering. This also seems unhelpful, as it implies again that singing is the main or only form of “worship” in our spirituality, and also that we need someone at the front to enable this “worship” to take place…
Any ideas? What do you think good alternatives to “worship” and “worship leader” might be? Perhaps “sung worship” and “song leader”? Other suggestions?
Jump over to Vicky’s blog for more discussion – there’s some good stuff in the comments.
So what say you all? What do we call it? And what do we call ourselves? What do you think?
I once heard it said that “Christian” makes a better noun than an adjective. I think there is much truth to this, especially when it comes to music. I am happy to be a Christian (noun), but what is often touted as “Contemporary Christian Music” does not please the heart of Christ.
Maybe I was just extra-sensitive because of numerous run-ins today with “cultural Christianity,” but as I drove home from work listening to our lovely local “Contemporary Christian” radio station, I was a bit irritated when I was told that my faith is to be:
More like falling in love
Than something to believe in
More like losing my heart
Than giving my allegiance
Caught up, called out
Come take a look at me now
It’s like I’m falling, oh
It’s like I’m falling in love
Now I understand what the artist, Jason Gray, is trying to say. He’s putting into poetry the [almost] old adage, “It’s not about religion, it’s about a relationship.” But in doing so, he’s denying some very important biblical truth.
You see, when the Philippian jailer asked Paul what he must do to be saved, Paul didn’t answer, “Just fall in love with Jesus, lose your heart and get everyone to look at you.” He said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved…” (Acts 16:31). When he wrote to the Romans “if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved,” I don’t think he really meant “Fall in love with Jesus… get yourself feeling all warm and fuzzy inside and THAT’S how you will know you are saved.”
Jesus, in his Word, told me he wants me to believe in him. He doesn’t want to be my boyfriend or husband or lover… he wants to be my LORD (and for that I am EXTREMELY grateful). He wants me to love him, but not with a sexual love (what “falling in love” denotes in our culture, if we want to contextualize), but rather a devoted, covenant love.
So let’s agree to something (especially as worship leaders): let’s be careful what we communicate with the music we write and promote. Let’s not write all “Christian” music off as good and all “secular” music off as bad. Let’s pursue the heart of Christ in our words and songs, being discerning in all things.
Jason Fried recently wrote, “Constraints are advantages in disguise. Limited resources force you to make do with what you’ve got. There’s no room for waste. And that forces you to be creative.” Sometimes circumstances force our creativity. This past Sunday, I knew I’d be going without percussion or drums, so that put some constraints on the music I could choose. But I also knew that I’d have a violinist and a mandolin player, in addition to bass, keys, and two acoustic guitars.
Our pastor was preaching on Romans 2:17-29, with a focus on the law. With that in mind, I prepared the following set.
1) Come Now Is The Time To Worship
2) Open The Eyes Of My Heart
Admittedly, these two songs didn’t necessarily reinforce the theme of the service, but I find that they’re always good openers. They get us to focus on worship and “open up” to what God has to say to us.
3) All That I Need
The law can’t provide for us, but God does. That’s what I wanted to get across with this song, that God provides everything we need.
4) You Are My King
There’s no law without a king, right? How better to focus on the original source of the law than to explicitly acknowledge Christ’s Kingship?
5) Good To Me
I love this song because it comes from such a place of brokenness: “I am weak, I need Your love to free me.” We need freedom. The law will never free us; only God can.
6) Amazing Grace (following the sermon)
I know my pastor pretty well, and I should after serving under him for five years. I knew that after all that talk about the law, he’d turn to grace, so I used “Amazing Grace” as our response song. And with our instrumentation, we played kind of a country-ish, slightly bluegrassy version, which the congregation really seemed to enjoy.
So that was my set list for this past Sunday, and the reasons behind it. I’m curious to hear what you think, and also what songs you played and why.
If you’re not reading Carlos Whittaker’s site Ragamuffin Soul, you’re missing out on some great discussion, as well as insight on leading God’s people in worship, both on and off the stage. Carlos is far from a perfect, and admits it freely; it’s refreshing to read the words and thoughts of someone who humbly acknowledges his own struggles, vices, and sin.
But anyway… Carlos has been working on an album of original material. While it’s not out yet, he put out a three song EP earlier this year. I bought it from iTunes immediately, of course, and started listening to it right away. The short version of this review: it’s excellent.
The EP opens with “Rain It Down”, an upbeat worship song calling upon God to rain down His healing waters upon us. One of the reviews on iTunes described the sound of this song as U2 being led by Chris Tomlin, and that’s not entirely inaccurate. It’s a great song that really moves, and that should be easily singable by your congregation:
There’s nothing like Your healing water
Pour it out on Your sons and daughters
Our eyes are lifted high
We are here and we are waiting
Flood our hearts ‘til they’re overflowing
Our hands are lifted high
Carlos follows that song with “Jesus Saves”, which features a line that blows me away: “I am the sum of the failing and of grace.” Wow. What a great way to summarize that we are the products of our own personal histories and God’s grace on us. This is another upbeat song with shades of Tomlin and Bono. It, too, features a memorable and simple melody that should lend itself well to congregational worship: Your innocence has covered my shame
Your love has spoken me by name
And I have victory over the grave
You overcame
The EP ends with “We Will Worship You”, my personal favorite of the bunch. This one is the slowest of the three, but probably the most powerful. I’ve already introduced this song to my congregation, both the Saturday night and Sunday morning crowds. It was a big hit, and I think the credit for that goes to its powerful lyrics. I could write volumes about this song, but instead, I’ll just let the chorus speak for itself: Save us from these comforts
Break us of our need for the familiar
Spare us any joy that’s not of You
And we will worship You
Yeah, we will worship You
The three songs on the EP are great, and they left me anxious to hear the full album that’s on its way. And as a bonus, Carlos has generously made the chord sheets available on his website in PDF format for free (click here to access them). Carlos Whittaker – EP is available at iTunes and Amazon.
Have you ever noticed that the average designer looks like they are in the band? Ever notice the odd coincidence that so many music people also dabble in design? Ever wonder why? Let me play a few chords of the common bond between music and design… When a musician begins learning, let’s say… guitar, he (or she) first learns how to play the notes, but then begins to learn on a higher level how different notes and sounds make up the songs that create his moods. He learns the chords that stir him up, wind him down, and make him wax melancholy.
This certainly rings true in my experience. The important question, then, I suppose, is how to apply this wisely to our worship services.
Ever try to lead a song that either the congregation, or worse, the worship team, just didn’t pick up on? Bob Kauflin has a great article on teaching such songs over at worshipmatters.com. Here’s an excerpt:
A friend recently emailed me and expressed a dilemma he was facing when teaching new songs performed by an artist who varies the way he or she sings the melody. My friend asked:
When do we go with the lead sheet, and when do we go with the CD melody? And when do we go with what is simple and consistent and when do we go with what is sung on the CD?
I’ve faced the same dilemma. While I’m grateful for many of the new congregational songs that have emerged in recent years, they’re not always sung in a way that makes it easy for a congregation to pick them up. Phrases are elongated in one verse and not the other, melodies are changed, and sometimes the melody becomes hard to identify or unsingable by a normal congregation. Here are a few of the thoughts I consider when figuring out what to do.
How about you? What are your strategies for teaching difficult music? And what are some of those songs that your worship team or congregation just doesn’t click with?
1.Including too many new songs in the set – your congregation is there to worship – most will find it difficult to do so if they spend most of the time learning your latest masterpieces. Vary your set list to include a variety of older, recently introduced and brand new songs and be ready to make changes on the fly if you sense your congregation is becoming weary.
2.Pitching the songs too high – remember that a comfortable range for a woman is about five semitones lower than a man. Change the key down to avoid going above top D particularly if you are playing in a small church situation.
3.Clunky moving from song to song. Playing a song once it’s underway is fairly straightforward so make sure you concentrate on rehearsing how to start and end a song. Practising a seamless flow from one song to the next is worthwhile to focus on. It will help if both are in the same key with a similar groove and if you are using music, make sure the sheets are side by side on your music stand.
4.Poor band dynamics – conflicting rhythms, one instrument speeding up/slowing down, vocalists overwhelming the sound with too many ad libs or vibrato. Exercise leadership in directing your singers clearly and if necessary get them some vocals training. Get them to listen to each others’ parts and possibly film or record a service to help with some constructive criticism.
5.Lack of leadership – without clear guidance from the worship leader it’s difficult for the band to know what they are meant to do, let alone the congregation. Give a good clear brief in practice and use vocal cues and body language to communicate during the set.
6.Overly complex vocals – congregations get easily confused when the lead vocalist slips into harmonies, trills and ad libs. Simple clear melody is always the easiest to follow. Leave the harmonies for the backing vocalists.
7.Poor phrasing and blending by vocalists. Make sure that all your singers are phrasing each “musical sentence” in the same way. It can help to have one backing vocalist leading the others so that everyone finishes their words at the same time. In the studio, singers are often asked not to finish the last consonant in a line so that the ending doesn’t sound jagged.
8.Wrong keys or wrong capo positions. Make sure all the band are playing in the same key. Issue your set list in advance with instructions for keys. And if you change your mind, make sure that everyone knows.
9.Tuning – are all your instruments in tune and are they staying in tune throughout the set? Even the right notes out of tune sound far worse than the wrong notes in tune so buy yourself a decent tuner like the Boss TU2 – cheap tuners can be so frustrating.
10.Lack of rhythm and togetherness by the band – this can be caused by many things including poor musicianship and lack of overall direction. Try to generate a sense of team where everyone plays their part to contribute to the whole without any one musician standing out. Also ensure that you have the relevant instruments in your foldback – i.e. the kick drum and other instruments responsible for rhythm.
11.Winging it – either the result of poor preparation or trying something new out on the spot. Be sure you can accomplish what you have in mind. Are you trying to sing a song without the lyrics in front of you and you’ve forgotten the words? Does your AV guy have the words for the congregation or do they have to remember them too? Do you and the rest of the band know all the chords you need?
12.Technical problems. The sound gremlins can happen to the best of us but try to get there early, set up methodically and make sure your technicians are well trained in the system they are using.
13.Problems with pitch – you’re starting a new song and you’ve suddenly realised you’ve started on completely the wrong note. Try to identify the problem songs in advance and quietly play the note you need to hit on your instrument. Hold the note in your head while playing the intro and then hit it with confidence. Alternatively ask one of the other (confident) vocalists to lead on that song.
14.Over emphasis on the melody line. Make sure your backing vocalists and single melody instruments are playing harmonies. The lead vocalist and congregation are all on the melody line – create some contrast.
15.Worship crash – often caused by trying something complicated that hasn’t been practised enough. Never try anything complicated until you, the band and the congregation are really familiar with the song.
16.Starting the song in the wrong tempo. Either invest in an in ear click or sing the song through in your head first so that you can pace the tempo properly. Generally the chorus is the fastest part of the song.
17.Audio visual failure – this happened to Matt Redman one time when Andy was playing. Matt just shifted his set list to songs with simple lyrics and gave spoken vocal cues to the congregation at junction points in the song.
This article was taken from Musicademy’s free monthly e-newsletter. To subscribe email info@musicademy.com
Musicademy is a worship training organisation that produces DVDs, online lessons and practical training for musicians involved in worship.
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