Choosing the Right Songs for Worship Services
I have had the honor of leading worship for 20+ years in various worship contexts. One question I get asked frequently is how I select songs for worship services. Here’s some practical insight on how I choose the right songs for worship services.
The Big Idea
When I’m planning the worship set for a service, initially I try to get a sense of direction and how the Lord is leading me. I attempt to discern what the “big idea” is for the worship set. I’ll ask questions like:
- What aspect of God’s nature or attributes are we emphasizing? (His power? Glory? Grace? Omnipresence? etc. etc… )
- What is pastor’s message about? What songs will complement the pastor’s message so everything points in the same direction? Is the pastor in a teaching series?
- What does God want to accomplish in this worship service?
Asking these kinds of questions help you pinpoint a direction and you can plan from there. I have lead worship sets that felt disjointed because the song themes were all over the place and didn’t complement each other. For instance, I would lead a song about God being an all consuming fire, then a song about Him being the water of life, then a song about His mercies, then a song about him fighting for us, then a song about surrender. All of these themes in one worship set don’t complement one another and it’s hard to build momentum in the atmosphere. You can utilize complementary themes like grace and mercy, truth and God’s promises, God’s faithfulness and His word in your worship set and that will set the stage for a seamless flow. When you establish the “big idea” first, it helps with song selection and in selecting scriptures you can incorporate into your worship sets to help the congregation connect with God.
Song Flow
I’ve learned over the years that songs need to be properly placed in the worship set in order for them to be effective. My philosophy as a worship leader is to initially get everyone in the room on the same page by “gathering” the people. That includes doing songs that are easier to sing and are familiar to the congregation. There are some songs that are inherently great opening songs. If you use songs that are great opening songs in the middle of the worship set, it may feel like you’re starting from scratch. There are some songs that are great “transition” songs to shift the tempo or into another theme. Then there are some songs that are most effective when a great flow has been established and they would be considered more “intimate” worship. When I’m planning a set, sometimes I sing the end of one song and see how it feels to transition to the next songs intro. Does the transition feel “natural” or forced? Do I have to rebuild momentum again when going to the next song? Becoming skillful in crafting the right song flow takes time to learn. Here are some things to consider regarding song flow:
- What opening song will get everyone on the same page? What is that song that is a “quick win” for everyone in the congregation? Start with that kind of song.
- What are the tempos of my worship set? Do the song tempos feel too choppy? (1 fast, 1 slow, 1 fast, 1 slow)
- What keys are the songs in and can I connect any songs with the same key signature?
- What’s a good song to use as a transition to a slower tempo (or faster tempo if you want to end on a high note)?
Prepardness
Let’s set aside what we would consider the “spiritual” aspect of song selection like prayer and look purely from a “natural” perspective. I really take into consideration how prepared my team is to execute the performance of the songs. If your team doesn’t sound prepared on a song, that is probably a song that you shouldn’t force into your worship set list. Some songs don’t go over well simply because they weren’t executed well by the worship team. If the musician’s are missing notes, the drummer’s timing is off on those accents, the singers can’t get the harmony on the bridge, etc., I highly recommend practicing that song until it’s ready. Every worship leader has had the experience of having their team nail a song at rehearsal, only to act like they never heard the song in Sunday’s soundcheck. I simply remove that song from the set list and call an audible. My advice would be to never perform a song that’s not ready because it kills momentum in a worship set, it can be embarrassing to the team, and…… most importantly….. your failed worship set can go viral on YouTube (*joke)
Theologically Sound
Some songs are just not biblically based. They sound good, have a great beat, wonderful melody, and beautiful lyrics that aren’t theologically sound. As worship leaders, it is our job to ensure that what the congregation is singing lines up with the Word of God. We never want to sing songs that can sow seeds of error or reinforce bad theology. This is dangerous and should be taken into consideration when choosing the right songs for worship.
Everything in this blog post has nuance to it and I encourage you to be lead by the Holy Spirit and to use your best judgement. I pray that you faithfully lead people to Jesus!
The Scepter of God
This past weekend at our Saturday Night Live Worship Service (http://twwc.church/snl) I preached a sermon called The Scepter of God. A scepter is a ruling rod of a king and is symbolic of absolute authority, power, and sovereignty. We know that Jesus has absolute and complete authority in heaven and earth. Over kings, rulers, and nations. There are scriptures that give us insight on His authority and what His kingdom is built upon.
Numbers 24:17 (NLT)
I see him, but not here and now. I perceive him, but far in the distant future. A star will rise from Jacob; a scepter will emerge from Israel. It will crush the heads of Moab’s people, cracking the skulls of the people of Sheth.
The prophet Balaam prophesied in Numbers 24:17 that a scepter will emerge from Israel. He was declaring that some type of authority would emerge from Israel. This is a clue for us.
In the chapter of Genesis 49, Jacob prophesy’s to his 12 sons before he leaves the earth. He prophesied to his fourth son, Judah, these words:
Genesis 49:9-10 NLT
9Judah, my son, is a young lion that has finished eating its prey.
Like a lion he crouches and lies down; like a lioness—who dares to rouse him?
10The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from his descendants, until the coming of the one to whom it belongs, the one whom all nations will honor.
I’m pretty sure that Jacob was not aware of how significant his words would be, not only for Judah, but in the plan of God. When Jacob said, “The scepter will not depart from Judah,” he was giving, in part, a prophecy concerning the children of Judah. Centuries later, Jacob’s descendent’s formed a nation (Israel) in the Promised Land and kings began to rule. It was the descendent’s of Judah that became the royal line. The royal line started with David, and continued through Solomon, Rehoboam, Abijah, and many others, all the way through Zedekiah, the last king of Judah. Jacob’s prophecy came to pass: the tribe of Judah possessed the scepter.
When you trace Jesus’ earthly origin, you will discover that both Balaam’s prophecy and Jacob’s (Israel) prophecy were referring to Him. Jesus had come from the nation of Israel and was from the tribe of Judah.
God spoke to King David through the prophet Nathan in 2 Samuel 7:12,13,16 and said that David’s throne will be established forever. Remember, David was a descendent of Judah (the scepter [authority] would not depart from Judah’s line). When God declared to David that his [David’s] throne will be established forever, he confirmed the prophetic word spoken to Judah.
Generations later, the prophet Isaiah shows up on the scene and gives the following prophecy concerning the throne of David.
Isaiah 9:6-7
6For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
7Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness, from this time forth and forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.
Two things I want to point out in this prophecy:
- There will be no end to this government (rule, authority)
- He will sit on the throne of David
So, Isaiah confirms that David’s throne will be forever because of this person who will come. Isaiah was speaking about Jesus.
Centuries later, the angel Gabriel appeared to the Virgin Mary and announced:
Luke 1:31-32
“Behold you will conceive in your womb, and bear a son, and you shall name him Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give him the throne of his forefather David”
Gabriel’s announcement to Mary marks Jesus as the Messiah and the One who will sit on the throne of David forever. From all of the scriptures mentioned in this blog, we draw the following conclusions
- Jesus possesses the scepter of God (absolute authority). In other words, Jesus is the authority by which the Kingdom of God is built upon. No one can come to the Father except through Jesus (John 14:6). Salvation is given only through Jesus (Acts 4:12).
- Jesus is God. By virtue of the fact that He has absolute authority indicates to us that He is equal with the Father. Jesus said in John 10:30 that He and the Father are one. Which makes them equal in essence and perfections.
- Jesus reigns forever. What does He reign over? He reigns over All. Whether people believe it or not doesn’t discredit this truth. Jesus is the triumphant King that defeated the enemies of humanity – death, hell, and the grave. He is the Lord of nations and at the name of Jesus, every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that He is Lord.
Delighting in God
Delight yourself in the Lord,
and he will give you the desires of your heart.
Psalm 37:4
Psalm 37:4 is a popular and beloved scripture for many. But taking it at face value, we erroneously assume that it means God is going to give us whatever we want. I, too, have been guilty of using this scripture to justify my materialistic desires. My assumption was that praising God, going to church, and reading the Word were synonymous with “delighting” in God and the automatic response from Him would be new cars, homes, closets full of designers clothes, the latest gadgets, and whatever our hearts desired. Internal conflict arises when we’ve done all of our “delighting in God” duties and still don’t get the material possessions we desire. As a result, we become disappointed with God. We are disappointed because He didn’t turn out to be the wish-granting fairy God-father we imagined He would be. We didn’t get our way and now we have an attitude with God. The issue is not with God or His faithfulness, but it is with our own gross misunderstanding of this scripture.
Our Western, Americanized perspective associates the word “delight” with pleasure and gratification. However, the word “delight” is the Hebrew word anag and it means “to be soft, delicate, or pliable”. So the picture for us is to become soft and pliable before Him, treating God with delicacy and respect as we would something that is of great value. This idea coincides with the surrounding verses that encourage us to trust in the Lord(vs 3) and commit our ways to the Lord(vs5) both of which require humility.
Desires are a God-given attribute that we all have. Desires, in and of themselves, are not evil. The issue is when we allow those desires to take the place of God in our hearts. As we allow our hearts to be soft and pliable before Him, He begins to mold our hearts and our desires so that we ultimately want what He wants. Have you ever been told to “trust your gut”? At some point or another, we have all received this piece of advice from a well-meaning person in our lives. The truth is, we can only trust our gut (desires and instincts) when they are submitted to God. It is through the act of submission that we will see what we desire come to pass.
To be clear, there is nothing wrong with desiring material things. I don’t believe God has a problem with us having material things. God doesn’t want us to be consumed with obsession for material things. What he does want is for us to be consumed with Him our never-ending source of joy.
4 Tips to Learn a New Song by Ear
Practice at home, rehearse together…
Andrae Ambrose
Over the years of teaching worship teams, choirs, and musicians, and having spent countless hours in rehearsals, I came up with a genius “hack” to save myself time and rigor in rehearsals. I figured if the music personnel have the songs in advance, they could learn their parts at their leisure and come to rehearsal ready. I know… I know…. “Andrae for President”. (lol) When I implemented this strategy I had high expectations. I mean, what could go wrong? If everyone learns their part, rehearsals will be smooth sailing. Well, pretty soon I would come to understand that everyone doesn’t know how to learn a song efficiently. It dawned on me that the crew I was working with was always given their parts and never had to learn a song on their own.
You may be one who isn’t confident in learning songs by ear. Maybe you can learn by ear, but when you sit down to play the song on your instrument, you’re lost and don’t seem to retain it. This blog is for you. Here are 4 tips to learn a new song by ear methodically:
Listen
Yes. Listen. As simple as this may sound, many people don’t truly listen to the song they’re learning. Most try to sing or play the song while learning the song and in the process they are missing so many details. Whenever I have a new song to learn, I listen to it 2-3 times (depending on the complexity of the song). My first time listening to the song is for enjoyment. I’m just listening to how the song flows, the performance of the artist and musicians, and mentally take notes if something jumps out at me. I recommend that you listen before performing.
Lock Down the Song Structure
My 2nd or 3rd listen is for information. I really pay attention to the song structure and look for patterns. How many times is the chorus performed? Is there a special bridge? How many verses are there? How many times do they repeat the vamp? I pay attention to these types of details so when I’m about to actually practice the song on my instrument, I’m well acquainted with the flow of the song.
Learn Your Part
Now that I really know how the song goes, I sit with my instrument and learn the part. It’s important that you practice with the reference track and listen to see if what you’re playing or singing is in sync with the reference track. On parts that you can’t get, just rewind and keep listening to see if you can nail the part. The more you practice, the better you will become. If you are a singer, I would encourage you to at least learn the lyrics to the song so the part comes easier during a rehearsal.
Play the Song without the reference.
You know you have the song down when you can play it without using the reference track. I have met so many musicians who have incredible ears and can actually learn the song without being at their instrument. The only issue is that they haven’t played the song without the reference track, so when they have to perform the song, they don’t remember how it goes. Sometimes when playing along with the reference track, you get accustomed to certain bass licks, drum chop, or keyboard hit and it cues you to go to the next section. When you are playing the song “naked” (with no other instrumentation), you are forced to remember how the song goes without any other cues. If you do this successfully, you have actually learned the song.
My philosophy to music teams is that we should practice at home, but rehearse together. Nothing kills the momentum of a rehearsal more than giving individual parts out to sections, or musicians who can’t nail the chop because they didn’t practice at home. When you practice the song at home and come ready to rehearse, the group can focus on their performance together rather than individual parts. I hope these tips help you learn songs more efficiently and empower your music journey!
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