Digital Worship Song Library - Prefilled with 2,200+ Worship Songs!

It's the 21st century yet many of us still continue to haul bulky, hardback song books around with us when leading worship. Why is that? I would suspect it is because it's such a hassle to try to scan, type up, or download all of the songs that you are likely to want to use. Even if you have your set list on your computer what if you want to use a different song? Worship song books are a bit like a lifeline to the worship musician!

As many of you know, there's a fantastic piece of software called Power Music, which allows you to manage your song collection in a very organised way. It has a fantastic search facility as well as numerous other useful features such as playlists, key changes at the click of a button and loads more.

The only frustration I've had with Power Music is getting my song sheets either from physical songbooks, or from MS Word and PDF files on my computer, into the database. Fortunately Power Music has a clever way of importing PDF files so all of my Soul Survivor songbooks which have CDs at the back with PDF files on them meant I could easily and quickly select which ones to import.

Even having imported lots of my favourite songs there were still many more which I wanted to have all in one place - i.e. within Power Music. Good news! Cambron Software has teamed up with Kevin Mayhew Publishers (who have the rights to all of the songs in The Source worship collection) and you can now buy Power Music pre populated with over 2,200 worship songs! (For a full list of the songs go here).

As you'd expect, all of these songs are easily searchable by either first line or song title and you can either use the sheet music or the chord sheets. As previously mentioned you can transpose chord sheets at the click of a button and there's a whole host of other helpful features too.

What's more is you're not limited to the 2,000+ songs that are pre-populated - you can go ahead and import more, or write them from scratch (for example if you write your own worship songs).

This is what every worship musician has probably been dreaming about for some time and it's been put together and made available to anyone in the world!

As Kevin Mayhew publishers are UK based the price of the product is in pounds - the total cost is £295. Now you might be thinking this is a lot of money but it actually works out that you get about 8 songs for 1pence! (The equivalent of £295 in US dollars is about $463).

If you'd like to download a free demo of 'The Digital Sheet Music System - Worship Edition' you can go to this page and click the Sample tab.

One other thing worth mentioning is that the price is actually very competitive if you were considering purchasing this for your worship team - the price of 4 additional licenses is only £65! That therefore works out at 295 + 65 = £360 for a worship team of 5 people - that's less than a pound a day for your worship team!

Finally it is worth mentioning that the Kevin Mayhew Digital Sheet Music System is based on Power Music 3. Power Music 4 has recently been released with new features and an option to import songs directly from the Kevin Mayhew Digital Sheet Music System and the good news is you can upgrade for the small amount of £19.99.

Worship Central Podcast

I've not tuned in to the Worship Central podcast for quite some time now but today I finally found some time to listen to it. If you're a worship leader and haven't checked out the Worship Central podcast before it's well worth a listen.

Worship Central is a school of worship from Alpha International. Tim Hughes, Al Gordon and Ben Cantelon are the guys that run Worship Central and the events they run are great fun and very useful for worship leaders. I've been to a couple of the Worship Central events in London and met up with Tim Huges and Al Gordon at one of them. They're really down to earth guys and have a true gift for leading worship (Ben Cantelon has either just recently joined thew Worship Central team or will be very soon).

So, back to the Worship Central podcast! The monthly podcast is normally about 30 minutes long and has a variety of resources on it for the worship leader, as well as a good measure of fun banter to keep the listener interested and laughing lots (which can be embarassing when listening on a train journey!). Tim Hughes and Al Gordon normally use the podcast to share news of any upcoming Worship Central events (both here in the UK and around the world), as well as showcase a new worship song (and you can always download the chords for the new worship song from the Worship Central website). They often have guest speakers on the Podcast too - they range from well known theoloians talking about the importance of theology in worship songs, to well known worship leaders like Brian Doerksen for example. The practical tips on the November 09 Worship Central podcast that I listened to were about how to put together a worship set list.

If you're a worship leader and enjoy listening to podcasts on your iPhone or just on iTunes on your laptop or PC then be sure to check out the Worship Central podcast here.

Are You A Worship Leader In The UK?

I know a lot of our readers are members on Worship The Rock, but if you're also looking to meet worship leaders and worship team members from the United Kingdom then you might also like to check out He Must Increase. I set up He Must Increase just over two years ago and it's grown to be a useful community of worship leaders from the UK. It's a helpful place to discuss and share issues that you're facing with people from similar backgrounds and from the same country.

You can even join a group from your specific part of the country or add and browse UK worship events. If you haven't yet checked out or joined HMI and you're from the UK click here to visit now!

Death is nothing at all - Another Fantastic Quote!

Assuming you read yesterday's blog you might be thinking 'why another quote'? Well I came across this one at the same time as yesterdays Mother Teresa quote, but I thought they each deserved their own blog - enjoy!

'Death is nothing at all. I have only slipped away into the next room. I am I, and you are you: whatever we were to each other, that we are still. Call me by my old familiar name, speak to me in the easy way which you alway used. Put no difference into your tone: wear no forced air of solemnity or sorrow. Laugh as we always laughed at the little jokes we enjoyed together. Play, smile, think of me, pray for me. Let my name be ever the household word that it always was. Let it be spoken without effort, without the ghost of a shadow on it. Life means all that it ever meant. It is the same that it ever was: there is absolutely unbroken continuity. What is this death but a gateway? I am but waiting for you, for an interval, somewhere very near just around the corner. All is well. Nothing is past; nothing is lost. One brief moment and all will be as it was before. How we shall laugh at the trouble of parting when we meet again!'

Canon Henry Scott Holland

Great Quote By Mother Teresa

Came across this amazing Mother Teresa quote today. Challenging and true:

"People are often unreasonable, illogical, and self-centered; Forgive them anyway. If you are kind, they may accuse you of being selfish, ulterior motives; Be kind anyway. If you are successful you will win some false friends and true enemies; Succeed anyway. If you are honest and frank, people may cheat you; Be honest and frank anyway. What you spend years building, someone could destroy overnight; Build anyway. If you find serenity and happiness, they may be jealous; Be happy anyway. The good you do today, people will often forget tomorrow; Do good anyway. Give the world the best you have, and it may never be enough; Give the world the best you've got anyway. You see, in the end, it is between you and God; It was never between you and them anyway." -

Mother Teresa

How Often Should I Introduce New Worship Songs?

In this helpful video clip Paul Baloche helps to explain how often worship leaders should look to introduce new worship songs. If you're often wondering if you introduce too many songs and too often, or if you think that perhaps you're not doing enough new worship songs then this video is for you. Paul Baloche has been a worship pastor for many years and has a real gift for sharing his wisdom and experience with others.

(If you're viewing this blog on our Facebook page then remember to view the video you'll need to visit the actual blog here).

Are You A Worship Leader Twitterer?

We've got a fun group on Worship The Rock specifically for Worship Twitterers who use Twitter to spread the Gospel as well as to stay in touch with friends.

So far we've got over 100 members in the group, all of whom have shared their Twitter name so others can check them out and choose to follow them if they want to.

Are you on Twitter? If so, please do come and join this fun group and share your Twitter name for other worshippers to check out!

http://www.worshiptherock.com/group/worshiptwitterers

P.S. If you're not following Worship The Rock yet you can check us out here.

10 Free Christmas Songs - Free Sheet Music

This Friday i'd like to draw your attention to some Christmas songs that Worship Together are giving away. They're letting you have 10 Christmas songs for free - you can download free sheet music, lyric sheets and listen to the MP3s for the following songs:

1. Emmanuel (Hallowed Manger Ground) - Chris Tomlin
2. All Creation Sing (Joy To The World) - FEE
3. Sing - Josh Wilson
4. Born In Bethlehem - Third Day
5. Here Is Our King - David Crowder*Band
6. Glory In The Highest - Chris Tomlin
7. Silent Night (Emmanuel) - Matt Maher
8. Joy Has Dawned - Keith Getty & Stuart Townend
9. Love Came Down - Ben Cantelon
10. Born That We May Have Life - Chris Tomlin

To get your free songs you just have to sign up to Worship Together (if you haven't already).

To get your 10 free Christmas worship songs click here.

Do Worship Musicians Lack Confidence?

Junjie, one of the guys that helps me with the admin side of running Worship The Rock has written a great blog called 'Worship Musicians - A Sales Lesson'. It's about how churches should and shouldn't recruit worship musicians and has some great insights and truths. I've included an excerpt below but please do real the whole article.

Worship Musicians - A Sales Lesson

This never fails to irk me.

I'd be talking with some business people, and they'll tell me what kind of customers they want, usually those who would mindlessly buy all their products at prices way above the market rate. Fair enough. I mean, if I was in business that's the kind of customers I would want too.

And when I ask, "What are these people like? What do they care about? Where can you find them?" I usually get blank stares. Or they say "Can you help improve the English in our advertisement so that we can appeal to those people?" They've probably realized that their advertising isn't working, so they hope that a quick fix (like improving the grammar) is enough to have hordes of crazed customers banging down their doors, begging for the chance to give them tons of money...

If business was THAT simple, shouldn't I do it myself and take all the money? Come on!


("JJ, I thought this is about worship ministry?" - I'll get to that in a moment!)


Those business people don't realize that you cannot create something, present it to your ideal customer and try to trick them into buying it. Unless you are the only source of a product everyone needs, you have to know what your customers are looking for, what matters to them and how to give them what THEY want to buy, not what you want to sell to them.

Makes sense?

Just as clueless as the business people I mentioned earlier are many church leaders when looking for worship musicians. They approach recruiting church musicians with the same amount of care, planning and thought those businesses approach acquiring customers - almost zero.

Let me put this to you in business terms: when you are recruiting church musicians, you are doing sales. You are selling people the opportunity to be used by God in a powerful ministry that can deeply touch the lives of people, and can oftentimes unlock many other hidden giftings within the servers as well.

And what is the price? The price they have to pay to buy this opportunity is time; time spent on lessons and practice to acquire the relevant skills and knowledge, as well as time spent on rehearsals and service. This is time that can be spent with the family, on the career or the social life, or studying other areas of interest.


(Taking me for example - the biggest reason I am currently a socially-inept worship ministry geek is because of all the time I spent practicing during my younger days. That was the price I paid. This is why I can't do youth ministry. I totally don't understand youth, because I spent my youth on scales and drum rudiments!)


Besides time, many musicians have also invested considerable sums of money, both in their lessons and to purchase their instruments for practice. Let's not include the opportunity cost, all the money they could have made if they spent their free time working instead of practising!

From this we can see that it takes a certain personality type to become a musician. Working with this type of people is like marketing to the affluent. If you try to sell products and services to the affluent without understanding what makes them different from the rest of the market, you will fail.

Dismally.

There is one thing many worship musicians have in common. And if you understand this ONE feature, you will know how to recruit them, how to handle them and how to lead them.

What is it?


Worship musicians very often lack confidence.

This makes sense if you stop and really think about it. Music is very wide ranging and diverse, and after some time the musician become aware of all the areas they are still not good at. Sight-reading? Arranging? Playing in a particular style, such as baroque, classical, jazz or R & B? Playing by ear? Improvisation? Transposing?


Continue reading the rest of the blog...

10 Things I Don't Like About Worship Music!

We recently had a discussion on Worship The Rock about worship music and the things we don't like about it! It was intended to be a light hearted look at so called "worship music" but ended up being a place to vent frustrations too. I've pulled out 10 of the "shorter" comments for you to browse through.

10 Things I Don't Like About Worship Music:

1) When it's really not worship music at all and titled as such!

2) Major rock style interludes, especially on 'upbeat, contemporary' arrangements of hymns. I picture Animal from Sesame Street doing his drum solos. Just doesn't work.

3) When the same old words and phrases get used over and over.

4) When the same worship songs get "recycled" and recorded by every worship singer and his brother. (When "Here I Am To Worship" (great song!) first came out, I heard four different "artist renderings" in one afternoon on a Christian radio station.)

5) A lack of musical creativity. I tire of playing the same chord progressions over and over and over and over.

6) Time limits! Or that worship is often seen as the "pep rally" before the main event (The sermon).

7) Singers thinking that repetition makes a song more spiritual.

8) The ME centered-ness of some songs that are labeled "worship" songs.

9) Watching instrumentalists 'grimace musically' and seeing vocalists sing with a constipated expression on their face.

10) That everything seems to be in the key of A or E--and out of range for female worship leader voices!

Read the full list here.

God Sings

A few days ago one of our members on Worship The Rock shared a wonderful blog post called 'God Sings!'. Many of us know the verse but we all need this reminder.

Here's something I've been thinking about. Where does this act of singing come from, or why do we sing? Is it just something that we humans have discovered on our own over thousands of years and decided it was fun and we should use it to worship God? Well I think the answer is much simpler, but much bigger. God sings.

In Zephaniah (3:17) we see God delighting over us, loving us, and then Singing over us. This is something I've really never thought about alot. I've always pictured God in my mind sitting on His thrown listening to us singing and enjoying it, but I never really thought of our songs to him as 1 part in a 2 part conversation. We worship God and he loves and blesses us. We sing to God and He sings back! Or maybe I have the order wrong... It is from God first that we get song. He sings to us, and then we sing to Him. He blesses us, and we are to worship Him. That's where we get the idea of singing from i think.

In my own life I find that when things are going bad I have a tendency to question God. And what happens is I start to worry and get anxious and stop worshiping. Really, when I think about it, when things seem really tough for me, I have been so overwhelmingly blessed by God that things like finances, security, family, work, etc. are so insignificantly trivial. When I stop to think about how God blesses me it is overwhelmingly clear that even though things look tough, God is still blessing me now.

Read the rest of the blog post here.

Winners of "Worship Moment" Photo Competition

We had some great entries for the Worship The Rock Power Music competition. Most of them were submitted on the day of the deadline (Friday 13th) - I guess most of our creative members just like leaving things to the last minute!

It was difficult to pick my favourite three but i've finally come to a decision. Thanks for all your entries - here are the winners:

1) Russ Hutto

"One of my favorite "recurring" worship moments is when I get to play drums. As a worship leader, I typically play keys or guitar and sing. But there's something so liberating and fun about playing drums for me. It's like I don't have to worry about vocal cues and make any decisions (when we're actually playing). I just lay it down. Here's a specific moment captured by one of my good photographer friends. Not exactly sure which song we were playing, but I was definitely into it!"


2) Diane Luna

"Me playing at an outdoor street outreach in southeast San Diego. There were tons of people break dancing on refrigerator boxes in the street during the band right before me. Note the guys playing football in the photo..."

3) Petri

"Ok, here's our entry. I lead worship both for our Sunday services as well as a once-a-month youth worship night called Elevation. My 3-year-old son Miro got a Squier Strat for his birthday and joined the band in practice... 'Nuff said! :D "


Congratulations to Russ, Diane and Petri - they all win a copy of Power Music.

God Of This City - Learn Piano and Guitar Parts - Chords & Sheet Music

God Of This City

There's a fantastic song called God Of This City by Bluetree. It's also been covered by Chris Tomlin as well as other artists. The song has great lyrics and encourages us that there are "greater things to come" in our cities.

These useful free videos from New Song Cafe and Daniel Choo show you how to play the piano and guitar parts. It's a great song and very powerful.


God Of This City & Piano Instructional Part:




God Of This City Guitar Instructional:




God Of This City Played By Daniel Choo:




If you haven't come across Daniel Choo before, check out his very, very helpful guitar instructional videos on his YouTube channel here.


God Of This City Lyrics:

[Verse 1]
You're the God of this City
You're the King of these people
You're the Lord of this nation
You are

[Verse 2]
You're the Light in this darkness
You're the Hope to the hopeless
You're the Peace to the restless
You are

There is no one like our God
There is no one like our God

[Chorus]
For greater things have yet to come
And greater things are still to be done in this City
Greater thing have yet to come
And greater things are still to be done in this City

[Verse 1]

[Verse 2]

There is no one like our God
There is no one like our God

[Chorus]
For greater things have yet to come
And greater things are still to be done in this City
Greater things have yet to come
And greater things are still to be done here

There is no one like our god
There is no one like our God

[Chorus]
Greater things have yet to come
And greater things are still to be done in this City
Greater things have yet to come
And greater things are still to be done here

God Of This City Chords:

You can get the free guitar chords for God Of This City here (in the Key of C).

God Of This City Sheet Music:

You can purchase the seet music from PraiseCharts here. (I had a look for free sheet music but I don't think you can get it for this song).

Hope you found these resources useful - enjoy!

10 Fun Topics In The Worship Forum!

We've had some fun worship topics in the worship forum on Worship The Rock since we launched. If you're a worship leader looking for some light relief this weekend I think you'll enjoy these discussions:

1. Worship Team Jokes!
   
   
2. Top 10 Worship Leading Myths
   
   
3. Top 10 Christian Things That Make You Cringe!
   
   
4. I Dislike Some songs So Much I Get Up Early So I can Dislike Them For Even Longer
   
   
5. Praise And Worship Songs - Ruined Forever
   
   
6. How To Gracefully Play Guitar While Pregnant?
   
   
7. A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Podium
   
   
8. Top Ten Things You Wish You'd Never Said During A Worship Meeting
   
   
9. What's The Most Embarassing Thing That Has Happened To You?
   
   
10. Favourite iPhone/iPod Apps For Worship Leaders, Musicians & Christians
    
    

Brian Doerksen - 5 Free Songs From "Prodigal God"

This Friday I want to highlight some free songs that Brian Doerksen is giving away. Brian has been working on a full length theatrical musical depicting the familiar parable from Luke 15 in surprising ways through the eyes of the Elder Brother. It's the musical tale of two brothers and one wastefully extravagant father.

Brian is offering 5 professionally recorded songs from the project free for a limited time.

To find out more about the project and to download the free EP (and full lyrics) go to: http://www.prodigal-god.com/

Steven Curtis Chapman - Cinderella

Steven Curtis Chapman has written some great songs over the last 20 years (as well as some cheesy ones!). Cinderella is about seizing those moments with precious loved ones. You can listen to the song below:



There's a great story behind Cinderella too - you can watch the official music video and the story behind it here.

Blessed Be Your Name - Free Chord Charts & Sheet Music - Bad Theology?

Blessed Be Your Name by Matt Redman is a hugely popular song. It was written back in 2002 by Matt and his wife (Beth) Redman. According to CCLI's Top 25 Songs list Blessed Be Your Name was the 3rd most popular worship song to be played in churches in the United States in the last 6 months. The 6 month period before that it was actually in 2nd position. It's also in the Top 20 most popular worship songs in the UK.

Over the last few years 'Blessed Be Your Name' has been covered by numerous Christian music artists including Tree63 and Newsboys. So why has Blessed Be Your Name been so popular? Let's take a look at the lyrics:


BLESSED BE YOUR NAME
In the land that is plentiful,
Where Your streams of abundance flow,
Blessed be Your name.
And blessed be Your name
When I'm found in the desert place,
Though I walk through the wilderness,
Blessed be Your name.

Every blessing You pour out I'll
Turn back to praise.
When the darkness closes in, Lord,
Still I will say:

Blessed be the name of the Lord,
Blessed be Your name.
Blessed be the name of the Lord,
Blessed be Your glorious name.

Blessed be Your name
When the sun's shining down on me,
When the world's 'all as it should be',
Blessed be Your name.
And blessed be Your name
On the road marked with suffering,
Though there's pain in the offering,
Blessed be Your name.

You give and take away,
You give and take away.
My heart will choose to say:
Lord, blessed be Your name.

Matt & Beth Redman
Copyright © 2002 Thankyou Music


The great thing about this song is that it gets our focus onto God and off of ourselves. It reminds us to praise Him and to bless Him when things are going well and when things aren't going well. It's often said that many of us forget to pray and worship God when things are going well. However, when we're really struggling with something in our lives, when we realise we can't do it on our own, that's when we remember to pray and praise Him.

I would therefore suggest that one reason Blessed Be Your Name has been so popular is due to the fact that the majority of people can relate to this song. We're all either going through a "land that is plentiful" time or a "road marked with suffering" time (or sometimes both of those at the same time) and therefore need the reminder in this song that we are to bless (praise) Him no matter what situation we find ourselves in.


Bad Theology?

Interestingly, despite "Blessed Be Your Name" being so popular, many people have had an issue with the theology of the bridge, that mentions that God "Gives and takes away". Let's look at the bridge:

You give and take away,
You give and take away.
My heart will choose to say:
Lord, blessed be Your name.


This is taken from the book of Job when Job says:

"Naked I came from my mother's womb,
and naked I will depart.
The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away;
may the name of the LORD be praised." (Job 1:21)

As the following verse states that Job did not sin in saying that "God takes away" the argument is that God definitely does take away:

In all this, Job did not sin by charging God with wrongdoing. (Job 1:22)

However, many people would argue that God doesn't take away and in fact it's the devil who does that:

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. (John 10:10)

I've heard that some people change the line to "You gave your only Son" or "You give and save the day" (although as far as I understand it you're not allowed to do this without the permission from the Authors - Matt and Beth Redman). There is also the comedy version which is "You give us takeaway", but please don't sing this (and if you do, don't tell anyone I told you about it!)

We had a discussion about this over on Worship The Rock called 'Blessed Be Your Name Has Bad Theology?'.

Lots of people thought the bridge was fine but one comment helped explain the other side of the argument (it's written in response to someone who didn't agree with the theology of the bridge):

Somehow (and maybe it's just my feelings here because I can't hear the tone we're typing in) that now we've become judges of this guys ideals. Now I don't know this guy, but let me ask this, is this guy wrong for wanting to believe that God is so good to him, that God would never take anything away from him? I mean, doesn't the scriptures teach us that it's the "thief" comes to steal, kill and destroy? So he forms a good image of God that sees God as only a giver of good and we judge him as screwed up. Like I said, I don't know this guys motives either.

Let me clarify that I do understand that God gives and takes away. It's just what we believe He takes away that makes me concerned. It's just sometimes in Christianity I've seen people use God as their excuse for their own failures and they'll use this scripture in Job as their way of excusing their lack of wisdom (making wrong decisions), lack of faith and lack of taking care of themselves, etc. that may have caused this "taking away" in their life. It's a very complex thing, this life we live in huh? But it makes us feel better for the failure we've brought upon ourselves.

I could argue scriptually for both sides of this subject but which one would be right? First of all, just in the area of sickness, did Jesus pay the price for everyone to be healed? If you have doubts in your theology that he did, then you tend to lean toward Job's experience as your way out. I would dare to believe that some of you would not categorize "health" as one of the things God takes away but I bet some of you here on the forum would believe that he does also.

Let me just illustrate just one concept. Job was written before the Law. I think we realize the Law was built on a system of do good, get good/ do bad, get bad. But it did have promises that if I do good, I'd be rewarded with good and not bad. Correct? Deut. 28 explains the blessings of obediance and the curses of disobediance. So if Job would have lived during the Dispensation of the Law, then he would have had a right to good and not bad due to the fact that he was a righteousness man, exchewed evil and feared God. Job didn't have this covenant. Dispenstaion here is very important. Obediance to the Law was a very good deterent to bad consequences and it would be your right because of this covenant. Let's take this over into the New Testament that says we have a better covenant based on better promises. Just based on the fact that "this devil" appearing in Job has now been defeated by our Saviour. So just in the area of the sickness and health issue, I could have an argument that GOD doesn't take away health since that's part of the price Jesus paid for on the cross for us. Yet good Chrisitan people still get sick and die of horrible diseases. So to use this scripture, "well the Lord gives and the Lord takes away" would be an insult to the price Jesus paid on the cross to back up why we're sick. Now I would never insult a person dieing with cancer with such a harsh word but I would try to give them hope through the scriptures that they could be healed based on the Word for today. Like I said, this is just in the area of health, healing and sickness. It could get a lot more complex than this.

Let's just be careful to rightly devide the Word of Truth concerning our lives and the dispensation we are living in as compared to other dispensations that these other people lived in. God hasn't changed, but the way he deals with mankind has changed with every dispensation in time. Each dispensation came with a new covenant that had promises along with it.


No matter what we believe I think most of us can sing the line "You Give and Take Away" and let it mean what we want it to. Some will think it means that God takes away good things (like babies, health, money etc) and others will take it to mean that God takes away sickness, sin, poverty etc.

At the end of the day a lot of these issues come down to the way we understand the Sovereignty of God. I'll have to do a separate blog on that one though - no time right now.


Guitar Chords &  Sheet Music

If you'd like free chord charts (and guitar tabs) to Blessed Be Your Name you can get them here. I usually play it in the key of A, but you can play it like it's written (in the Key of B), or any other key you find suits your congregation. As usual, I couldn't find any sites offering free sheet music for 'Blessed Be Your Name' but you can buy the sheet music here.

The following  worship songwriting tips came out of this discussion on Worship The Rock: Top 10 Worship Songwriting Tips.

I've grouped together the best tips and included them in sub-headings below.

So, whether you're a new worship leader looking to write your first worship song, or if you're a veteran Christian worship songwriter, hopefully you'll find something here that will get your creative songwriting juices flowing!

46 Worship Songwriting Tips

Write, Write, Write!

1.    Write, write and write... Write as much as you can. The more you write the greater you will hone your skills and become a better writer. I heard Matt Redman once say that he will write anywhere from 30-40 songs in preparation for a project. Out of those 30-40 songs only 10-15 will make it on the final project.

2.    One  trick I do is to put all the songs on my mp3 player, listen to them in random order while I'm out walking the dogs in the morning for an hour or so... and then paying attention to which ones I'm singing to myself later that day.

3.    Try to write a little everyday, even if it is only for 5 or ten minutes. Practice makes perfect as they say!

4.    Write always! Most of it will be dookey, but in the midst of our poo God may harvest something amazing.

5.    If you have just written your very first worship song ever, it's probably not nearly as good as you think it is... make a recording of it so you know how it goes and then move on and write the next one (like somebody else said, "write, write, write!").

6.    Our worship is a response to what God is doing in our lives. Songwriting is often a musical expression of that response. You can never write too many songs. Even if most are lousy as far as making a "hit" or touching other people. As Jeremy Riddle has said before when he told God to give him words that would touch the hearts of His people, he felt God respond by telling Jeremy to write songs that touch God's heart and He'll take care of how it touches His people. In this context, every song is a "hit." God loves to hear our response to Him. So, even though it makes you super vulnerable, just be real and respond to the story God is writing in your life.


Worship Him and Study His Word

7.    Become very familiar with Scripture - overall content, themes, specific verses and sections.

8.    Let the Holy Spirit work through daily devotions, etc to drive new song ideas.

9.    Worship, read the Bible and listen - songs will come.

10.    My experience is while worshiping the Lord He has always given me songs. A couple of them were dead on scriptures only to find that out afterwards. Prophetic worship works too especially if you record your worship sessions you can go back and take from that. All in all be lead by the Holy Spirit. Ask the Father what He would like to be blessed with.

11.    Worship Him, keep it real, walk humbly with God. Don't try to write a song to write a song or to try to copy what is popular. Just let yourself express experience and reality as it has been pressed out of you and allow the truth of God's word as it has been walked out in you be communicated in spirit and in truth. There's nothing worse than writing something from a place of..."this is how I think it should be written...this is what I think I should say...this is what they will want me say ".
Let it be honest.....the reality of your life's expression and worship to God. Remove the 3rd person from your mind. Let it just be you and God. No imaginary critic waiting to judge you on how well you did. If it goes platinum...to God be the glory! If it is just written for Him alone, then what an honour!


Don’t Overuse Words!

12.     Avoid overused words and phrases. Delve deep into the truths of God and let that truth well up into the content of your songs.

13.     Be Concise lyrically... remove redundant words... less is more! Example:

"Fill this place
with the praise
Of the God
Of all grace
Lift Him High
Glorify
The Ancient of Days

Oh ye saints
Lift your voice
Lift your heads
And rejoice
God is here
Fill this place
With praise

("Fill This Place With Praise" / Bo Cooper/ Integrity's Praise! Music/ Sunday Shoes Music)

Notice that each line except the last line in each stanza has only 3 syllables- this song is easy for the congregation to pick up and learn.

14.     A title like "Blessed Be the Name of the Lord" has already been used a zillion times, and when I was picking new music for our band, if I already had a song called "Hosanna," I wasn't going to add another different one... so if your new song wants a very used name, think about calling it something else.

15.    Try to write worship songs on themes or passages of Scripture that haven't already been done to death. I once did a CCLI title search on "Create In Me" (Psalm 51) and got 199 matches (which doesn't even count songs that are based on Psalm 51 but have a different title).
And while I'm sure we all agree that God is great and God is holy and God is awesome, we already seem to have dozens, if not hundreds, of worship songs that express those truths very well. Surely there are other spiritual and biblical topics (and greater levels of detail) that can be explored.


Always Be Ready

16.    Carry either a pen & paper, or a recording device to write/vocalize your ideas, as they come to you.

17.    Have something to record your ideas. This does not have to be some new fangled recording software...an old tape recorder you can buy for five bucks at a thrift store will do.

18.     Call yourself and leave messages of a melody or line that pops in your head so you have something to go back and listen to.


Ask Yourself

19.    What thought, message or theme am I trying to convey?

20.    Do the verses support the theme?

21.    Does the chorus hook you on the theme?

22.    Does it cause the worshipper to be drawn in?

23.    Is it easily repeatable? Is it singable the first time a person hears it or do they keep asking how does this or that section go?

24.    Is the song theologically correct? (Check with theologically trained friends or your pastor and be willing to change the song).


Quick Tips

25.    Avoid using words that end in "t" followed by the word "you". Always comes out to sound like "____ chew" at some point.

26.    Lots of times I find that a song gets better if I put it aside for a while, then go back to it.

27.     Put your recording in a key that is singable.

28.    I think one of the most important things in worship songs is affection.

29.    Make sure the theme of the song is consistent throughout. An easy way to check would be to try to summarise your song in one short sentence.

30.    Write from the heart for an audience of One. God loves your songs, whether they are congregational or not. Some will be, some won't, but write them for Him.

31.    If writing a congregational song, try to keep the range within an octave and a third as this will allow for all members of the congregation to join in.

32.    When you think the song is done, make a recording of it - even just a rough guitar/voice demo - and then pack it away for two or three weeks - then get it out and see how you like it after hearing it with "fresh ears."

33.    Don't be afraid to be creative. One day, someone will write the "Bohemian Rhapsody" worship song. Crowder has come close.

34.    Be a better musician! Practice your guitar more, buy a theory book, and take some lessons. "Play skillfully before the Lord". Your songs will be better for it.

35.    I once heard Rich Mullins say that he never tried to write hits he only tried to write songs for the people around him. Consider your motivations. What is it you want to accomplish in writing songs?

36.    One I liked from a Stuart Townend class: write co-operatively with your pastor since (s)he may be stronger Biblically, and probably knows the church's current needs and vision better - get ideas, phrases, even whole lyrics from them.


Longer Songwriting Tips

37.    Finish what you've started. That's one of the best songwriting tips I've heard and put into practice with great effectiveness. How many half-baked songs do you have right now? Put them back in the oven. Tonight. Then start a new one tomorrow. The last thing a potential song needs is for you to sit on it. Finishing a song is like Nike. Just Do It. In the words of Jon Foreman (of Switchfoot) - "You climb a mountain because it's there. You write a song because it's not."

38.    Decide if the song is TO God (refers to God as "you"), ABOUT God (refers to God as "He" or "God"), or GOD SPEAKING (refers to God as "I") and be consistent throughout the song. I know that a lot of very popular worship songs break this "rule" but I think they'd be better songs if they didn't. And if the song isn't working one way, try re-casting it... maybe a song lyric about God would actually work better written TO God.

39.     While Christian songs can be "preachy" and tell the listener what to do, "worship" songs should not. Larry Norman's "Why Don't You Look Into Jesus" is a good Christian song, but that's not a statement that the congregation as a whole would make in a worship setting.

40.    One of my tricks when I'm writing a worship song is that I don't give it an official "title" until I'm done working through it and revising it and making it work right. If I'm working on a song and I call it "You Lift Me Up," and then as I'm working through the song I realize that it's really not a song about God lifting me up... once I've given the song a title, it's very hard to change the title words in the song.

41.    This is sort of a pet peeve with me in terms of how people make hymns (and Christmas carols) "contemporary" - for the congregation who is singing the song, the words should move along at a moderate pace - and if you're double timing the guitar part U2 style to make the song more exciting, you're probably also singing it even slower than you would otherwise. Assuming you have a recording setup, record the guitar/piano part and then force yourself to just sing along with the song and try to sense whether it feels like you're holding out every word forever... for a congregational worship song, the CONGREGATION need to feel like the song is moving at a good singing pace.

42.    Pay attention to the TIMELINE of the song, although with worship songs, most of them are mostly in the current moment... but pay attention to which things the singer is saying happened in the past, which things are happening as he/she is singing, and which things will (hopefully or not) happen in the future. And think about whether that timeline could be shifted. For example, the other day I did one of my songs that starts out with a lot of "In my weakness, you made me strong" past-tense stuff and it occurred to me while I was practicing that it might work better in the present - "In my weakness, you MAKE me strong." Be aware of the timeline and consider how you can make it work for you.

43.    When you think the song is done, share it with others who trust you enough to be able to give honest feedback. I find it very helpful to debut a song with our worship team as a pre-service song and get input on singability from those who are around. It also points out to me where my transcription doesn't match what I'm actually singing or playing!

44.    Worship is to God. Personally I dislike songs that talk about the sinner down the street. While we must keep those people in mind and in heart, these songs are hardly congregational and are not real worshipful songs, as they are not to God. Also songs that discuss our former sins, they are not worship songs. Though it must be kept in mind how God turned us around we must not dwell in the past or on our sins.

45.     Start with lyrics or with a melody and/or chord progression.

In the beginning I started with lyrics. I'd get some truths scribbled down and pick one of the lines to try singing out ... to whatever tune came to me. I know that sounds cheesy, but that's what I did! And it even worked! Then I would build the melody around that line and figure out chords later. (Unfortunately, I usually found these melodies pretty hard to play on an instrument other than my own vocal chords, so buyer beware).

Nowadays I still start with lyrics - though it might be just a few random lines and an overall theme - then I play some chord progressions on the piano (for instance, C G Am F, repeated) until I come up with one that seems to fit the lyrics both melodically and rhythmically. Then I fill in the additional lyrics as needed.

For those of you who are strong instrumentalists and can come up with great riffs and rhythms and progressions, you might want to start there and then sing out scripture as you play. This is what Charlie Hall does with his band. He brings lyrics, they bring riffs and instrumentals - and they mesh them together.


And Finally...

46.    Remember that not everyone will like your songs.

Check Out Stu G's (Delirious?) Pedalboard!

If you've never heard of Stu G or Delirious? and if you don't play the guitar then this post could be very boring. On the other hand, if you're a guitar geek or a big fan of Delirious? then this should be pretty cool.

I originally came across this over on Vicky Beeching's blog here. It's a 3 minute video tour of Stu G's pedal board that he will be using for Delirious?'s final tour, kicking off on the 12th November (watch this space for an exclusive interview with Martin Smith).

If you can't see the video click here.

Performance vs Worship Leading?

Performance in worship is a popular point of discussion amongst worship leaders. Some would ask: Is it possible to "perform" while leading worship? Others would say: Is it possible to NOT perform while leading worship?

There have been numerous discussions around this topic on Worship The Rock and on He Must Increase and there are good arguments for both sides.

In this short video clip Paul Baloche talks about performance in worship and how worship leaders should handle this aspect of worship.

Key Takeaways:

- Performance IS involved in leading worship
- Posture/condtion of your heart is very important
- Better "felt" than 'telt'!

- Need to deflect attention to the Lord

- Our responsibility to cultivate our heart

- Important to cultivate our gift too.

- Practice your instrument, use vocal resources etc

- Think about the words, and sing with emotion

- God is the audience

- Don't be putting on a show, but do smile and tell yourself to 'bless the Lord', 'worship the Lord with gladness', even if you feel "bummed out"! (Like the psalmist does)
- Sing in private to the Lord through the week, so when in public it's a continuation

Tribute To Jim Elliot - 'Another Hallelujah'

About a year ago I read a book called 'Through Gates Of Splendour' by Elisabeth Elliot. It's a true story about 5 missionaries: Jim Elliot, Ed McCully, Roger Youderian, Pete Fleming, and their pilot, Nate Saint. They attempted to evangelize the Waodani people through efforts known as Operation Auca, in Ecuador. If you haven't read it I recommend you get hold of a copy as it's an inspiring story - especially if you're called into international missionary work.

Through Gates of Splendour is both a sad and inspiring story. The five missionaries were all killed (martyred) by the people they were trying to help, yet after their death Elisabeth Elliot (Jim's wife) returned to continue the work among the Auca Indians and many were brought to Christ.

This is a video tribute to the work that Jim Elliot and his friends accomplished through Christ and the song is "Another Hallelujah" by Lincoln Brewster.

Ever wondered what Hallelujah means?

Hallelujah = Unrestrained praise to God (or simply Praise the Lord!)


Let me leave you with this one thought. It's a quote from Jim Elliot's diary on October 28, 1949 (just over 6 years before he was killed):

"He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose."(Jim Elliot)

Free Paul Baloche Songbook - Free Stuff Fridays

Every Friday I like to highlight a free resource for worship leaders. Today i'd like to show you a great free resource that Paul Baloche offers on his website.

Paul Baloche (Open The Eyes Of My Heart, Above All, Our God Saves) has been writing songs for many years and is currently worship pastor at Community Christian Fellowship in Lindale, Texas. For a long time Paul has been releasing materials to help worship leaders to develop in their gifting - books, DVDs, CDs etc.

Paul Baloche also gives away lots of resources for free on his website. For example there are free chord sheets (in PDF), free piano sheet music, free lyric sheets, free band charts, free lead sheets and free videos of many of his songs. These free resources help worship leaders to learn his materials and to use the songs that they like in their housegroups and churches.

Here are my Top 10 favourite resources (in no particular order) that he is giving away for free:

1. Your Name (As Morning Dawns)
   Listen & Play, Lyrics & Chords, Piano Charts, Lead Sheets
   
   
2. Today Is The Day
   Lyrics & Chords
   
   
3. Praise Adonai
   Lyrics & Chords, Piano Charts, Band Charts, Lead Sheets
   
   
4. Praise Adonai (in French!)
   Listen & Play
   
   
5. Our God Saves (In the Name of the Father)
   Listen & Play, Lead Sheets
   
   
6. Open The Eyes Of My Heart
   Lyrics & Chords, Piano Charts, Band Charts, Lead Sheets
   
   
7. Hosanna (Praise is Rising)
   Listen & Play, Lead Sheets
   
   
8. Above All (Above All Powers)
   Listen & Play, Lyrics & Chords, Piano Charts, Band Charts, Lead Sheets
   
   
9. Glorious (New Song)
   Listen & Play, Lyrics & Chords
   
   
10. Just to Be With You (New Song)
    Lead Sheets

To see the full list click here.

Songwriter's Circle - Give & Get Worship Song Feedback

Do you write worship songs? Are you often looking for feedback on songs that you've written and recorded? Perhaps you're still working on it but need some new inspiration or outside input?

One of the most popular groups on Worship The Rock is called 'Songwriter's Circle'. The group was started by Bizzy Bender, one of our members from the States. It's a great place to post your songs and get constructive feedback from other Christian songwriters. Even if you're not currently looking for feedback on your songs you can use your experience and creativity to help others with their songs.

There are over 350 members in the 'Songwriter's Circle' group and each day people are helping each other to improve the christian worship songs that they're working on. If you want to check it out click here.

Worship Leader Jobs - Find & Post Worship Jobs

A few months ago we launched our Worship Leader Jobs board. This is a place to find church jobs such as worship pastor, worship leader, worship director, music director, music minister etc.

We've had some good feedback from churches that have posted jobs on the board - i.e. they've found suitable applicants quickly by posting there.

The Worship Leader Jobs board is helpful to two groups of people:


1) Churches looking for a worship leader - We've recently extended the listings from 30 day listings to 60 day listings, and we've kept the price exactly the same. This means for $50 (approx £30) you can post a worship pastor job vacancy which will remain up for 60 days. We also allow free job listings if you're advertising a voluntary position.

2) Worship Leaders looking for a new job - This job board is really useful for worship leaders from any country who are looking for a new position. As we're still gaining momentum there aren't lots of jobs on the board, but we're confident that this job website will grow rapidly.

When you post a job on the Worship Leader Jobs board your advert will appear in a number of other highly visible places:

1) Worship The Rock - The most popular online network of worship leaders (over 5000 signed up members)

2) He Must Increase - The network for UK worship leaders

3) Daily Worship Blog - The Worship The Rock daily worship blog attracts thousands of worship leader visitors each month


If you still need more proof that this is a good place to advertise your worship leader jobs just do a Google search for 'Worship Leader Jobs' and you'll find the Worship Leader Jobs board near the top (currently 4th position). You'll also find a few other Google listings under that search term that feature our jobs board on them - for example "Worship Leader Jobs - He Must Increase" and "Worship Leader Jobs - Worship The Rock". You can also search for 'Worship Pastor Jobs' and 'Worship Jobs' on Google and you'll find similar results.

Finally, if you know of a worship position in your church or another church that will be becoming vacant soon please let your church secretary know about this resource which I think they'll agree is great value for money.

Win Worship Music Management Software (Worth $80) - Only 1 Week To Go!

We're giving away 3 copies of Power Music. Each copy is worth £49.95 (about $80) and gives you a really easy way to manage your guitar chords and sheet music. You can use it on your own or with your worship teams when leading worship. You can read a review of Power Music that I recently wrote if you want to find out more.

To win your copy simply join Worship The Rock (which is absolutely free before you ask!) and post a video or photo of a "worship moment". This might be a funny or serious time of worship. Perhaps you played in a different key to the rest of the band, or maybe you hit the mic with your teeth when you had your eyes closed! Or maybe it's just a cool photo of you leading worship on the beach or somewhere else.

To read more details and to submit your entry click here.

Outrageous Grace - Godfrey Birtill - Free Guitar Chords & Sheet Music - Sung By Michelle Tumes

I heard 'Outrageous Grace' (written by Godfrey Birtill) a while ago and recently re-listened to it. This song is so inspiring and uplifting and I love this version sung by Michelle Tumes, Susan Ashton and Christine Dente. Have a listen and see what you think of it:



The lyrics are as follows:

Outrageous Grace - Godfrey Birtill

Verse 1
There’s a lot of pain but a lot more healing
There’s a lot of trouble but a lot more peace
There’s a lot of hate but a lot more loving
There’s a lot of sin but a lot more grace

Chorus
Oh outrageous grace oh outrageous grace
Love unfurled by heaven’s hand
Oh outrageous grace oh outrageous grace
Through my Jesus I can stand

Verse 2
There’s a lot of fear but a lot more freedom
There’s a lot of darkness but a lot more light
There’s a lot of cloud but a lot more vision
There’s a lot of perishing but a lot more life

Bridge
There’s an enemy
That seeks to kill what it can’t control
It twists and turns
Making mountains out of molehills
But I will call on my Lord
Who is worthy of praise
I run to Him and I am saved


If you like 'Outrageous Grace' song you can download free chord charts to it here (scroll down to page 5 once you've clicked the link). You can also purchase the sheet music for Outrageous Grace (First line: There's a lot of pain) here.

Offer of $250,000 If You Can Prove Evolution!

I just came across this web site by a Dr Kent Hovind. He says:

"I have a standing offer of $250,000 to anyone who can give any empirical evidence (scientific proof) for evolution.* My $250,000 offer demonstrates that the hypothesis of evolution is nothing more than a religious belief."

I like this idea and the page does seem to be a valid offer from a board of scientists. It also confirms how confident Dr Hovind is that evolution is not a fact - it's a theory which can either be believed in by faith or not.

Like Dr Hovind, I fail to understand why evolution is now taught as fact. Surely it should be presented as a theory along with the creation view and any other theories out there?

It's also interesting to me that this offer has been around since 1990! It was originally for $10,000 and they've upped it to $250,000.

Any takers? :-) Click here to view the offer in more detail.

Top 10 Worship Rehearsal Tips - 10 Worship Band Practice Tips

We've kindly been given permission by Patrick DeRemer to reprint these top 10 worsip rehearsal tips (see more info on Patrick and his ministry at the bottom of the article).

Top 10 Worship Rehearsal Tips

1) BE PREPARED

I define being prepared as making all of the necessary arrangements in advance that will help the rehearsal, and ultimately the worship service, run as smoothly as possible. Being prepared shows that I respect the time commitment and effort that my team members give me week in and week out. While it’s true that most who are reading this are ministry leaders, we also need to remember that we are servants. So leaders -serve your team members by respecting their time!

People tell me that I’m a pretty organized person so I thought it might be helpful to outline what a typical week looks like for me as I prepare for our rehearsal and Sunday services.


MONDAY: When it’s available, I review an outline of my pastor’s message and come up with song ideas that will help support the theme.


TUESDAY: I email the first draft of the Worship Service Set (WSS) to my media ministry leader so that she can begin preparing the lyric slides.


WEDNESDAY & THURSDAY: I actually do a prayerful run through of the WSS to check on things like song choices, arrangements, keys, song placement and general service flow.


THURSDAY: Once I’m happy with the flow of the service, I email the final master schedule to my media person so she can make any adjustments to the song arrangements before our rehearsal. I then upload the worship set on line at praisevocals.com so my team can logon and review their vocal parts. If we are introducing a new song, I make sure to let them know well in advance and make sure that they have a recording of the song. Thursday is also the day I email the final WSS to them so they can see more specifically what to expect. In addition to the WSS, I send out a production schedule. This schedule is mainly to alert the personnel who will be involved in the services, from the band, singers and tech team to those in addition to the senior pastor who will be speaking during the service.


FRIDAY: I play golf!


SATURDAY: I make any final tweaks that are needed. However, at this stage it’s very rare that there are any significant changes to be made. I spend the morning going over the entire set as many times as I need to be confident that I know the songs and transitions inside and out. It is important that I do this for two reasons. First of all, I believe I am most effective as a worship leader when

I’m not distracted by trying to remember chords, lyrics or song structure. Secondly, if I’m busy thinking about what I’m doing during rehearsal, its difficult to be fully aware of what everyone else is doing. Before every rehearsal I make sure that the distribution of lyric sheets, lead sheets or chord sheets for my musicians and singers has been covered. I am also responsible for providing the sound and lighting cues. If you’d like to see the outlines we use for our rehearsals, contact me and I’ll be happy to send you an example.

We begin rehearsal at 5:00pm and end by 7:00 (You may be thinking that we’re crazy for rehearsing on Saturdays but I will attempt to make our case for Saturday evening rehearsals later on in one of the other 10 tips). The media person and sound tech that are scheduled arrive at 6:00pm as we begin the full the run-through of the entire set.


SUNDAY: We have an opening prayer around 8:00am and begin a final run-through with the worship and tech team that continues until 9:00am. We then have a meeting from 9:00 to 9:10 with everyone who will be involved in the service including the senior pastor to make sure everyone is on the same page and knows exactly what to expect. Our first service begins at 9:15.

Here’s something to consider. If you arrive unprepared to rehearsals why should your team come prepared? Why should they spend time learning or reviewing their vocal parts prior to rehearsal when you haven’t taken the time to make sure that you’re ready to rehearse? It all starts with you. You set the bar. I’ve found that others will only rise up to the level to where the bar is set and not an inch higher. So be an example of someone who desires and requires excellence and your team will adopt the same philosophy.


2) BE ENCOURAGING

In 1 Thessalonians 5:11 Paul makes it clear that we need to be encouragers when he writes, “Therefore, encourage one another and build each other up….”. There are other times when we need to practice the art of criticism by ‘speaking the truth in love’ (Eph 4:15). Rick Muchow from Saddleback church uses the principle “3 strokes for every poke”. In other words, for every critical comment that is uttered, 3 affirming or encouraging comments need to be communicated.

We try to not only affirm the abilities of our singers and musicians but also convey our appreciation for their special, individual contributions. For example, being on time, coming prepared, having a positive and cooperative attitude or pointing out their individual growth as vocalists or instrumentalists. The more you get to know your team members the better you will be able to encourage them in specific ways that they best respond to. I am encouraged to be able to report that in the 10 years I’ve been a worship leader I’ve never had anyone actually want to leave our ministry. I attribute this in a large part to creating an environment where people feel accepted, cared for and encouraged. The thing to remember is that although we want our rehearsals to be productive, they should also be rewarding, educating, encouraging and inspiring.

When someone from our congregation tells me how our ministry has impacted their lives or their relationship with God I am quick to share their comments with my team. It both encourages them and helps remind them that we are making a difference in the lives and hearts of those in our congregation.


3) SET ASIDE TIME FOR PRAYER AND DEVOTION    

We begin each rehearsal with prayer. I randomly ask different praise team members each week to offer a prayer before we dig in and rehearse. We sometimes pray that we will sense God’s presence even as we rehearse and that the noise we make will be pleasing to His ears. We often pray that we can lay down our cares and troubles of the week at the foot of the cross so that we are undistracted and free to practice and worship. By the way, I believe that practice IS a form of worship. When we practice we are honoring God with our commitment to give Him our best. Another prayer might be for us all to be of one heart and one voice. The point is, we want to try and be on the same page spiritually so right off the bat we place the focus where it belongs, on God.

I try to leave 10 to 15 minutes at the end of rehearsal to have a short devotional with the emphasis on worship. We happen to have someone on our team with a real gift for this so lately we’ve been letting him use this gift to build us up and help us focus. There have been seasons when I have passed this responsibility around by cycling through our praise team members so that everyone can have a chance. I found that this works best when I let the team member know a few days in advance so that they have time to prepare. I believe that it is equally important to make sure that they are comfortable with delivering a devotional at all. Some people are either too nervous, too shy or don’t want the added responsibility. I respect that and just let those who can…do. As far as the content of these devotionals, sometimes we would draw from how God worked through a life experience we recently had or we might simply read a devotional out of a book and comment on it afterwards.

After the devotional we have another time of prayer where we redirect the subject of the devotional we just heard in the form of a prayer and that closes out our rehearsal time. I let people know that others and I will be available after we are officially dismissed to pray for any individual prayer needs that anyone may have.


4) REHEARSE WITH PURPOSE


“Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart as working for the Lord, not for men… -Col 4:23. This is one of my worship leader ‘life’ verses. Constantly remind your team of why we do what we do. Remind them that the ministry they’re involved in has purpose and eternal impact. Let them know that they’re not crazy for working hard every week or committing themselves to your ministry. Remind them of the vision of your church in general and the mission of your ministry specifically. If you don’t have a music ministry mission statement I would encourage you to write one. This keeps everyone focused on the goal that has been set before them. The following is ours : “We exist to EVANGELIZE seekers, EDIFY believers, and GLORIFY God”. We at Gold Coast believe that worship is the authentic expression of our love for God in response to the love of God. As team members, our desire, goal and responsibility is to communicate the reality of Jesus Christ, to usher the church into the presence of the Living God and to skillfully assist in making a meaningful connection with Him through musicInsist on excellence. This is not to be confused with perfection. I have adopted the Willow Creek Church definition of what excellence is: Doing the best we can with what we have. Another worship leader life verse that encourages me is from Psalm 33:3 Sing to Him a new song; play skillfully, and shout for joy”. Play skillfully. For me this is not merely a suggestion so I try to incorporate this as part of the DNA of our ministry.


5) HAVE FUN!

What a concept! All work and no play can make rehearsals seem more like a burden than a time of joyful fellowship. Proverbs 17:22 says that ‘a cheerful heart is good medicine’ so lighten up! We don’t have to work every minute. A humorous diversion or antic dote is good for everyone. I want my team to look forward to coming to rehearsal. It helps if they know that a good time will be had. So don’t forget to take time to enjoy each other’s company and uniqueness and, worship leaders, it all starts with you. Remember that, like it or not, you set the tone. Here’s a thought, try cutting your rehearsal in half and surprise them by going out and grabbing a burger and a Coke.


6) ENOUGH IS ENOUGH

A two-hour rehearsal is plenty of time to achieve your goals. If it’s not, maybe you need to take look at your agenda to see where you may be wasting time and think about ways to conserve. Maybe you’re not as prepared as you need to be. Look at tip #1 for some ideas on how you might improve on this. In addition to be an excellent singer, my wife happens to be an excellent vocal director. During our first hour, I rehearse with the band and in a separate room my wife rehearses the singers. She is not an instrumentalist, so the Rehearsal Tracks (R-TRAX) that we offer at praisevocals.com are very useful. Since the vocalists have already learned their harmony parts via our website prior to rehearsal, the entire hour is spent working on technique, dynamics and general interpretation. The second hour we combine the band and singers and tweak anything that needs to be fine-tuned. Maybe you already have someone on your vocal team who could take on the role of vocal director. Maybe your strength lies in this area and you can find a band director within your ranks to lead the band rehearsals. Or maybe there is someone waiting in the wings that you can mentor and develop that would allow you to utilize this type of rehearsal plan. The bottom line: people get tired and fatigued especially if you have mid­week evening rehearsals. Be conscious of this and respect the fact that there comes a point in a rehearsal where you will get as far as you’re going to go and leave it at that. Have faith that God will take your effort and use it for His purpose. Some of our most powerful worship services have come on the heels of a dreadful and seemingly hopeless rehearsal!

If you have services on Sunday’s only, I also suggest moving your rehearsals to Saturday night. This ensures that everything you’ve worked on remains fresh in the minds of your team. I know most of you are probably thinking I’m insane so let me explain. We started Saturday night rehearsals out of necessity back in the days when we were a set up and tear down church at the local Boys and Girls club. We did this for 6 years and I’m happy to note that those days are finally over! We would arrive at the facility at 3:00pm, set up for an hour and a half and then have our vocal rehearsal. Once we got into our 24/7 facility, I assumed that everyone would want to go to a mid-week but to my amazement, almost everyone wanted to stay with Saturday nights so that’s what we continue to do to this day. We meet from 5:00 to 7:00pm.


7) SING IT THE WAY YOU WANT IT SUNG

Sometimes we make things harder than they have to be by trying to explain what we’re after in the language of ‘Worship Leader-ese’. You know, using cool music major terms like legato or rubato or using word pictures that often leave your team thinking, “huh?” I’m not saying that we shouldn’t enlighten or teach our team using these methods and sometimes they are effective. However, often the best way to get what you want is to simply give an example by singing it yourself. Have them ‘parrot’ back to you what you’ve just sung exactly the way you sang it. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen the “ah-ha” expression come over the faces of my team through this simple technique. This works well with phrasing or when trying to explain the way you may want a specific word to sound. It also is helpful with stylistic nuances. Just sing it the way you want them to sing it and you’ll be amazed at how quickly they get it.


8) USE HARMONY TO ADD IMPACT

I had a singer once tell me that they didn’t want to sing the melody because it was boring. This person doesn’t sing on the vocal team anymore.

Maybe you can relate to their statement because your have singers who feel the same way. Maybe you even feel that way. Let me remind you that the melody is the heart and soul of the song, the primary vehicle to communicate the lyrics in a way that transcends the spoken word. OK, maybe I’m overdoing it a bit but you get my point.

The melody is the foundation on which the songwriter wrote the song. Without it, your congregation would be completely lost, no one would be edified and God would not be glorified. I’m here to tell you that a strong, confident unison melody is a beautiful thing, a very beautiful thing. Along with the lyric, it’s the most important thing. In my humble opinion, harmonies should be used to add color, nuance and dynamics to a song. If every line of every verse and chorus is harmonized, the song never goes anywhere. On the other hand, if you utilize harmonies sparingly to punctuate and enhance a section of the song, the song will take flight and become a journey instead of just a destination.


9) A SMILE IS WORTH A THOUSAND NOTES

I’ve visited a lot of churches over the years and it still amazes me how many worship teams seem to wear an expression of constipation rather than exaltation. My senior pastor once put it this way; “if the joy of the Lord is in your heart then notify your face!” I’m not talking about a plastic, phony smile that seems contrived; a ‘performance’ can be spotted a mile away. I’m talking about simply allowing what we feel deep within us to be expressed by having that ‘unspeakable’ joy show up on our faces, naturally. Rehearsal is a great time to remind your team of this or even encourage them to practice smiling as they sing during rehearsal where there isn’t the added pressure of the actual worship service. It will also help to encourage them to focus on what they’re sing and not just on how they’re singing it.

Being as prepared as possible by knowing your harmony parts, knowing the song arrangements and memorizing the lyrics helps a great deal because you will become freer to express yourself when you aren’t constantly thinking about what’s coming next. One last point here, when we smile we brighten up our vocal tone so let those pearly teeth show people! It will improve your tone and, as an added bonus, will communicate to your congregation that the joy we have in the Lord is worth singing about!


10) MEMORIZE THE LYRICS

Things aren’t the way they used to be. When traditional hymns were the staple of church music there were lots and lots of songs with lots and lots and lots of verses! As we all know, contemporary praise and worship music for the most part is much simpler than many of the old hymns and easier to memorize. But why memorize when I can put the lyrics on the music stand in front of me or we can project the words on a screen in the back of the auditorium? I alluded to the answer in the previous tip. First of all, when we have memorized the lyric we free ourselves to be more expressive with the interpretation of the song. Secondly, and most importantly, our praise team singers are worship leaders too. I hope your team knows that. They may not be the ones out front but they are certainly instrumental in leading people into God’s presence. When you encourage them to memorize the lyrics you are encouraging them to be better worship leaders. Unfortunately, once we have become dependant on the written note or word, we tend to stay that way no matter how many times we’ve sung a particular song. For example, I used to play in casual bands where we used “Fake” books. For those who don’t know, a Fake book is a collection of sometimes hundreds of songs encompassing many different styles of music. It is designed for musicians and singers who play in a variety of venues for quick reference to popular songs. I found that no matter how many times we had played a particular song, I never seemed to be able to memorize it. Why not? Because without my knowing it, I had trained myself to become ‘dependent on the page’. To get your team used to singing without the lyric, try starting out by excluding from the music stand each week one or two of the simpler songs that your team has been singing for awhile. Eventually you should be able to have the majority of your repertoire free from the crutch of the lyric sheet.



Consider this: Singing praise and worship songs are all about giving God our best and most heartfelt worship. As worship leaders, helping to bring people into His presence is both an indescribable joy and responsibility that we shouldn’t take lightly. If we are constantly glancing at lyric sheets or lead sheets, can we be fully engaged in worship? Only when we have memorized and absorbed the lyrics and our vocal parts, when they have become second nature and when they are our tools instead of our focus are we able to authentically express and communicate the song to God and the congregation.

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Patrick DeRemer has been the Worship Leader for 11 years at Gold Coast Christian Church, a regional church in Ventura County, CA. He is also the creator of praisevocals.com. The site was developed primarily for Worship Leaders and offers downloadable audio files of vocal harmony parts of popular praise and worship songs. Find out more at: http://www.praisevocals.com