New Songs

So where do you go to look for new music? How do you know when you've found a good song? How do you work it into your own worship expression? And how do you teach it to your congregation?

Do you look to SongDiscovery, WorshipTogether, CCLI, Hillsong, GatewayWorship, PraiseCharts, Bethel/JesusCulture, Vineyard, CanZion, Kingsway, GreatWorshipSongs.com, Passion, Attic Studio...? The sources are endless!

Here are a few things to help you sort through the process.

There are so many great sources for new songs, but sometimes the big production that I hear on an album turns me off to the song. I get ear fatigue...it all starts sounding the same. Sometimes, that causes me to miss fantastic songs.

One thing that helps me is finding acoustic versions where I can experience the heart of the song, and hopefully the heart of the author, and even the story behind the song. Well every week, WorshipTogether.com puts out just such a video - the New Song Café. They're free and you can sign up for their weekly email that will give you the link to the video. The newest ones are here or here and you can also watch about 75 older ones here.  It's a great place to find some new songs you may have missed.


Finally, I realized that one of the critical steps for integrating a new song into my personal catalog is to use it in my own personal times of worship. If I'm really drawn to a song in my own devotions, that's a good starting place for considering using it for corporate worship. Conversely, I find that the experience in leading corporate worship with a song that I have integrated into my own times with the Lord has a whole deeper level to it that a song that I've just learned and rehearsed. What's your process been?

Introducing New Songs 

I think a system of repeating a song the week after it's taught is great.  It helps people learn it, and it weeds out songs just because you have to have a broader buy-in from other leaders and it has to be powerful enough to be used 2 weeks in a row.

And when introducing a new song, one thing that's often overlooked is actually letting people know that you know that it's a new song for them [with more than just a "this next song is a new song.  Strum..."]. I like to teach the chorus with simpler instrumentation a couple times so that once we're "doing the song" and they get there, they can really let loose. Personal sharing is so good too - getting them to get it the way you get it, to think and feel what you think and feel when you sing the abstract lyrics. Reading the scripture it's based on is great too.

I'd love to hear your thoughts. How do you find, integrate, and teach new songs?


http://adlibmusic.com/

Top 50 Songs

I’m putting together a “Top 50 modern worship songs that every leader should have in their catalog.” Would you help me with that?


List your top 20 or so songs that would fit in this category in the comments. (thanks!)


http://adlibmusic.com/