I’m often asked how I choose songs.
Let’s face it. There are thousands upon thousands of worship songs. Even with all of us combined, we could never sing them all.
There are many worship songs I like that I never lead. There’s also a lot of worship songs others lead that I don’t like.
I have a specific criteria for how I choose them.
These 8 questions give me a framework for choosing songs. I hope they’ll help you too.
8 Song Choice Questions
Before we begin, it’s important to remember that song choice isn’t about you – your voice, your preferences, your creativity. It’s more about who you’re serving, who you’re leading, and what will engage them in worship.
Think about your church. Do you lead for:
- A group of wild and crazy Middle Schoolers?
- Children with a very short attention span?
- A multi-generational service?
- An edgy, young adult experience?
- Senior citizens?
Be sure to keep that in mind.
With that being said, here is the list of questions you can apply to your next song list:
1. Is Jesus at the center? – Now, every song I lead isn’t solely about Jesus. But I find this to be the most helpful question. If a song isn’t directly about Christ and His character, I need to know why. Because Christ-centered songs are the best songs, in my opinion. I desire the majority of my worship sets to be filled with these kinds of songs. This is what I want my church to be mindful of.
2. Is it engaging? – I want the songs I lead to be interesting, catchy, and fun to experience. There’s not enough time to lead poorly written songs. I’m looking for songs that capture a room.
3. Is it singable? – Just recently I had my two summer interns suggest some new songs we should do for July & August. I found myself saying “no” to most of them. The main reason? They’re weren’t singable for our congregation. They didn’t possess an “easily digestible” melody for our people.
Sure, they were popular songs. Sure, they would work in certain contexts. But I’m always thinking – “what will work for Allison Park Church?” You should ask the same. Remember, most of the people in your church are not musicians looking for something creative and challenging. They simply want Jesus.
4. Does it teach an important truth? – The best songs are songs that speak directly to what your congregation is experiencing. Of course, that’s different themes at different times. I remember back when “You Never Let Go” by Matt Redman was released. Such an important song for our church at that time.
A well chosen song can unite a church in a special way. Ask – “What is my church going through right now?”
5. Can my band play it? – Want to know why Chris Tomlin and Hillsong songs find their way into so many setlists? They create methodical, simple, easily-understood arrangements. When I’m listening for songs, I’m thinking – “Can my band pull this off? Is it challenging, yet accessible?”
6. Is it declarative? – The songs I like to do most are songs that declare truth. They call people to rise up. They inspire people to sing at the top of their lungs. So I’m looking for songs with powerful choruses. I envision my church singing them acapella. How would it sound? Every aspect of a song is important, but a soaring bridge and chorus really does the trick for me.
7. Is it popular? – Now, I never start with this question, but it is something I consider. If a song is making its way around the world, I want to know why. If other churches are using a song, oftentimes it can mean there’s something special about it and I’ll give it a try. But never lead songs simply because someone else does. Consider it, but be sure to factor in the other questions.
8. Does it flow? – I like songs I can “land” on and flow with. These are the kind of songs I can lead with a full band arrangement but also work in a simple, acoustic guitar context. A great song possesses a simplicity, sing-ability, and arrangement that makes it hard to stop singing. The more you sing it, the more it stirs your heart.
OK, my friends. I would love to hear from you on this post.
How do you go about choosing songs? How do you decide which ones make it and which ones don’t?
Stay tuned for next week as I’ll discuss where I discover new worship songs to lead.
[ois skin=”Beyond Sunday 2″]
Except (7), I ask more or less similar questions I think. Other 2 points to consider would be if the song ties in with the theme of the day and fits into the overall flow of the set-list.
Hope that makes sense?
Good point, Gangai. Super important to compare how songs in the setlist relate to each other.
Totally agree! An important factor is relating to the sermon topic, so that the songs connect with the message
Great point!
One sub-consideration under “Singability” is vocal range: How low and how high does the song go? Can I move the song into a key that is singable by the most people? Sometimes a song can go too low and high for people to sing without dropping or jumping an octave. I always take Chris Tomlin’s songs and move ’em down about a third. More work for me in Finale, but if the song is good enough in all other ways, then it’s worth the work.
Our Youth Pastor preached recently and requested a song to go with his sermon that was just a bad song. Bad range (too broad), bad poetry (horrible, and sometimes non-existent rhyme-scheme), and a melody that wasn’t easily singable. It’s part of my mission to use songs that support the sermon, and if a pastor feels strongly that a song amplifies their message, then I do everything I can to make it work. I went back to him and (politely) told him that his choice would possibly end up as a distraction, rather than an amplification to his message, and listed the above reasons.
I asked if he had any other songs that might fit the bill, and he recommended Majesty by Delerious. This was much better, though it still broke my rule on range (the chorus leaps so darn high from a really low verse). I figured this was a small price to pay for an otherwise great song for his message, and we used it. The congregation really responded well to it, and it’s now in our regular rotation (10 years late, I guess).
Thanks for the post, and for all your work. I love sharing your blog and ideas with my students at New Hope Christian College.
Yours,
n
Neil, thanks for sharing this. I think the “range” issue is a big one. We singers like to pick songs where our vocal skills can shine, rather than what works for most people. Also, this is a great example of respecting your leadership. You could have complained behind his back on how you hated his song choice but instead went right to him. Well done!
This is so true and it can take a lot of humility and vulnerability to choose a key where you don’t sound as good for the sake of the congregation’s song! And what’s the deal with the octave obsession amongst worship song-writers these days???
I know, right?
Amen. And Amen. 🙂
All of these are great. Another thought is where is the message headed? Does the song lead into the sermon?
Sorry, did not see Neil’s post before writing mine.
Excellent exercise, David. I agree with Gangai Victor and others about theme and flow. Expanding on the idea of flow, one could think where in the ‘liturgy’ the song is being used. Is this a ‘call to worship’, or a ‘response’ song? Is it serving the celebration of the Lord’s Table? We tend to think of songs in isolation, but they can be also assessed as to how they serve the progress of the liturgy, from gathering to benediction.
I’d also add that there must be a continued encouragement to pick songs that express the corporate voice of the gathered believers. Too many songs about ‘me and Jesus’ can take the focus off of the fact that we are a body, not a collection of individuals having a ‘Jesus’ experience in the same room. ‘We’ and ‘us’ are important words for us to sing.
Great point about liturgy. I have a new podcast episode airing next week that’s all about liturgy in worship.
This is right on! I especially like “Does it teach an important truth?” Every now and again I run across a great new (or really old) song that I think, “Wow, this theme has been completely missing from our mainstream worship songs!”
Wonderful to read your comments, gang. I sent David a voicemail on this, but curious on your take: with a multi-generational congregation, about 15-20 percent old enough to want the sounds of “southern gospel” such as Jimmy Swaggart and what he has done/is doing on his tv station or website Sonlife Broadcasting Network (SBN) http://www.jsm.org/sbn.html. A few have been quite direct in their request for sounds that honor their desires and heritage. It’s not my preference, but they do seem to “hit on all eight” of the points above depending on WHO YOU ARE (right now our band is FlyWorship and a drummer which is very limited in song choices unless I do these songs a capella). Their song needs are even popular (7) for their kind of crowd. So I believe I need to put at least one song per set in the mix as often as possible. Is this a good idea?
I think it’s also important to consider what you might call your “target culture” in addition to your “current culture”. If most of my guests were young families, for instance, I’d ask what styles of music might set this most at ease.
And I’m also at a multigenerational church and one strategy/tactic I had good luck with was holding quarterly-ish “Gospel Homecomings” to focus in on the songs/styles that 15-20% loved but weren’t getting much of on Sunday mornings. I’d load it up with the Gaither-y, Swaggart-y stuff and it really seemed to go a long way in showing them I care about what they like without compromising what we were aiming for in our main services.
Neil, I like your idea about Gospel Homecomings but I have no background in the kind of songs they like. One elderly lady did give me a list but it may not match another’s experience/background. Songs like: As I Walk Through the Door, By and By When the Morning, Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing, God Sent His Son, He is Ever Interceding and He is Jehovah, God of Creation. I looked online for a list of gospel songs and a “top 100” had (alphabetically) songs such as Because He Lives, Bigger Than Any Mountain, Child of the King and Clear Title.
Of course each of these have their own topic and approach but they generally seem to be ABOUT God and not necessarily TO God. I tend to want songs TO God personally, so there is already a disconnect. Any tips on song selection? Good options for foot stompin hand clappin? We have done Enemy’s Camp/Look What the Lord Has Done and the like when the Brownsville Revival was going strong.
Tod, while I grew up hearing a lot of those songs, I’m not really comfortable leading them either and I’m definitely not comfortable leading a choir in those songs, etc. So, while I did step out of my comfort zone a time or two to lead it, I mostly brought in others. Once I asked a lady in our church who used to lead that kind of music…she was willing as a one-time thing. Other times I went outside the church to leaders in the region and invited them in for the special evening. They came in Sunday, worked with a group that had signed up to participate in a choir, led the church in some old gospel songs, sang some “special music” and people loved it. We were only able to pay them around $200 but it was what they loved and they knew people in our church so they were excited to come. If you’re relatively new in your church, try asking around to see who’s capable of leading that kind of music in your congregation or in the region. Just making the effort to organize such an event might mean a lot to those folks. I had to learn not to self-impose pressure on myself that because I’m “the” worship leader I have to lead everything myself.
These comments are very helpful. Along with being Christ-centered (and dove-tailing with it) I often consider whether or not the lyrics are biblically-based (and doctrinally harmonious with your church’s teachings). Neil had a great point on range. I constantly remind myself that the altos and baritones in my congregation can’t hit the tenor notes that I love to sing in “performance” – but that’s the whole point, isn’t it? 🙂
Worship Leader magazine advocated a list of “worship words” that I have always found helpful… “Hosanna”, “Abba”, “Hallelujah!”, “Maranatha!”, and “Amen.”
One other consideration I look for in a song to add to the repertoire is: Is this a song that presents contrast? A couple sub-sections:
(1) TEMPO AND STYLE: I can always seem to find beautiful ballads – I need to find some great fast songs, and maybe a few that can help me bridge from one tempo or feel to another. Is it different enough from other songs that it HAS a place in our repertoire?
(2) MESSAGE: Are other songs in our repertoire that convey the message of this song in need of replacement, or just a makeover? Should they be replaced in favor of this new song, or should they remain in the repertoire with it?
Thanks for your blog, David. I’m finding it encouraging and challenging.
Thanks Andrew, this is helpful stuff here.
Love this topic and got a lot of helpful hints here!! One thing I like to consider as it relates to flow is going from Praising God for who He is and what He has done and then flowing to songs that are more intimate and responsive.
Caleb, do you find that your opening, upbeat songs are more “praising God for who He is” and your slow songs are more intimate? Or does it vary?
I am curious about David’s (2) above. How do you know a song has captured a room? Number of hands up in the air? I don’t always look around and the pastor is in the front row so he likely can’t gauge it either. I have thought to pass around a survey or song list for people to “vote” but that just seems wrong somehow.
Alternatively, how do you decide something is poorly written? Too many different words? Too complicated a melody? Hard to understand the message? David, do you have examples (risky I know)? THANKS!
Tod, it’s possible to have the greatest lyrics and declare the most important truth, but to have a boring song. In point #2 I’m referring somewhat to “entertainment” value. “Entertainment” in the sense that it’s pleasing to the ears, easy to sing, inviting, exciting, interesting, as well as true and powerful. Some songs like that for us have been Mighty to Save, You Never Let Go, God is Able, How Great is Our God, etc.
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Good thoughts. You might add “Is the language accessible?” That is, can the message, the theology be readily understood by the people who will be singing it? There are a lot of songs with a good Biblical message, but the language is so convoluted or just plain ancient that it will be difficult for anyone, particularly younger people or people from non English speaking backgrounds to understand.
Many good suggestions. I follow most of what you say. Two things I add though with what is listed. Is it an “I” song? So many songs written today about what I am going to do. Since apart from Christ we can do nothing, I tend to minimize songs that go that direction. If it says things I know I cannot truthfully say to God, I toss it. Doesn’t matter how popular it is. the modern Christian is too quick to promise and to quick to forget that promise to God. The other criteria is that even though many songs are “biblical”, there are songs that are a mile wide and a half inch deep. These songs jump from topic to topic stating very important truths but do not develop them. Too much of modern Christianity it this way. I lean on songs that ponder through a verse some profound truth. That is why I tend to have a good arsenal of traditional hymns. They have stood the test of time and I am finding more and more that younger people are hungering for them and know them not in their new modern version, but the traditional version. I stay away from murdering hymns be playing a church organ slowly to put everyone to sleep. I try to put some small interesting skillful playing in that doesn’t distract but that adds freshness.