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/

How Songs are Built

Why do I need to know how a song is built? Why do you care?


Because knowing how songs are built enables you to:


~ Learn it without “playing it on repeat 18 times”
~ Rehearse it as a band without just “playing the whole thing 8 times”
~ Know what you can change in it so it’s still fresh and worshipful after singing it 28 times
~ Encourage the congregation to sing more (without asking for it)
~ Adapt it to your band…(especially if your electric guitar player still thinks solid state is king)
~ Heroically decide not to play it when you realize (before Sunday morning) that your rhythm section (that carries that particular song) just doesn’t have what it takes to pull it off (yet)

So first, what are the elements that make up a song? Melody, Text, Form, and Accompaniment (which is harmony, rhythm, tone, tempo, and dynamics). There are things in a song that you can rework and there are things that if changed, make it a completely different song. Text, Form, and Accompaniment can all be modified to different degrees. Melody is the DNA of a song - change that, and it's no longer the same song.


We’ll start with what is most flexible, Accompaniment:
You may be able to change the chords and still sing the melody as written, but you may need to change what harmony you can sing with it. You can change the rhythmic feel of the song, and it may still work – like laying a rock feel, or a jazz swing, or a pop groove on it. You can play the song with only an acoustic guitar or a full band, but you'll need to play it differently to achieve similar energy, feel, or even style. You might use instruments the original author never dreamed of using. You can play the song slightly faster or slightly slower (about ±10 BPM unless you're doing a drastically different groove). You can change the key (thankfully). You can play different voicings on the instruments, use capos, and chord inversions. It may work to add or subtract harmonies. You can play a really quiet version or a REALLY LOUD version (sorry for the shouting). Ask “Would this song make sense if sung a cappella?” or “Would this song work without a drummer or a strong lead guitar player?” Then change at will…the sky is the limit. In fact, next rehearsal, try playing the same song once with only the players on the left of the stage, and then once with the ones on the right (and yes, the drummer has to pick one or the other). How did it work? What didn’t work? What did you learn?


Form:
A song may be written V1, Ch, V2, Bridge, but you can totally start on the Bridge if you'd like. You don’t need to sing both verses. You can sing just the chorus of a song. I’ll often repeat whichever verse I’m feeling like God wants to highlight in that moment. I recently led Here I Am To Worship and repeated the second verse twice (without going to the chorus) and went right into the bridge because it seemed right to be singing about God coming to earth “Humbly You came to the earth You created, All for love's sake became poor” …and then go right into “I'll never know how much it cost…” So it’s Outback Steakhouse here…no rules, just right.


Text:
Sometimes, you can slightly alter the text and still keep the song as it is - personalizing a pronoun for instance. You might change a chorus on the third time around from "God is great" to "God You're great" or change “He” to “You.” But if you change it up too much "O praise Him, He is holy" sung as "I praise You, You are holy" doesn't really work. But be careful here, purists may harpoon you after the service (in love, of course). Some of us feel like changing the “sloppy wet kiss” in How He Loves to…any of the dozen substitutes for the original lyric ruins the song. Some of us can’t stand the original. So alter with taste and tact…and good reason.


Melody:
But melody? Nope. Don't change that. Every note and every rhythm is foundational to that song. It's the only thing that separates it from every other song. Think of it as its DNA or fingerprint. If you don't sing it true to the original, your singers will have a hard time following you and the congregation will certainly have trouble following you and singing along. (this may very likely be on of the main reasons they don't sing if they aren't!)


Now I know, I know...you’re artists just expressing yourselves. Good for you. You are, but you’re servants first. Just like you should “Worship first; Play second” you must be a “Servant first; Artist second.” There are lots of ways to be creative and artistic, but altering the melody is not one of them. (unless you’re teaching it as a new song)


I’d love to hear your thoughts!


(oh, and if you like those pretty little boxes at the top of this section, head over to Red Rocket Box and pick up some gold)


http://adlibmusic.com/

God Is Coming

Sounds like an Advent theme.


Could be a coming attraction at a church near you.


It's actually a prayer and proclamation from Tim Hughes and Martin Smith, in the form of a new song on Tim's album "Love Shine Through" that came out earlier in 2011.

I think there's really something to this song. There's the moving of God. There's uniqueness and creativity. There's built in space to meander, pause, and build...launching into a soaring anthemic shout! (I can see the Father running to His returning son...and I hear the sound of celebration...the lost is found...and it was all God's doing!)


You can find the free chord chart here. There's one in B, which is the original recorded key, one in A, which is a bit more of a congregational range, and one in G, which is what most guitar players will use...along with their trusty capo.


WorshipTogether.com has further free resources, such as a lead sheet (with notes), download the song, or watch Tim teach the song in the New Song Café.


If you like and use this song, give them some Twitter love @TimHughes77 and @MartinSmithTV!


http://adlibmusic.com/