Part 2: Creating “Flow” In Worship

Worship

It’s important to think about the “flow” of worship as a worship leader. Your goal should be that the people you are leading have the best possible environment to personally enter into true worship of the Living God. Therefore, your job is to remove all distractions and do what you can to help them worship. Here are some simple tips.

1. Making the Set a “Whole”. Consider the worship set as a whole entity, not 4 separate songs. Don’t stop between songs unless you absolutely have to. It really helps if your songs are in the same key, then you can flow straight into the next song. If you have two songs back to back that are in differing keys, transition the keys if you know how to. If you don’t know how to, try to make your ending of the first song and the start of the next song as seamless as possible so as not to yank them out of the worship mindset they are in. This may be a good place for you to pray, either way – if you are transitioning instrumentally or if you have to stop playing to change keys. Practice talking while you play so you can pray/talk while you are transitioning – this also keeps the “flow”of worship from breaking. TRY TRY TRY to avoid just singing through a list of songs – with no direction and no purpose. Then it becomes about the people, the songs, the music. HOW CAN YOU MAKE THIS ABOUT GOD?

2. Playing the “Intro” to a song. Most songs will have an instrumental “intro”. If you can’t figure it out from a recording or from the music you have been given, try playing through the verse or the chorus chords, or even just the first line or so of the song until you find a progression of chords that sounds right! We like to sometimes go right into the singing and skip the intro – usually not on the first song of the set, but maybe on one song in the middle or at the end of the set.

3. Talking during the worship time. If you feel you must say something, keep it short and succinct. Refrain from saying “trite” sayings – only say what you truly mean in your heart. If possible, plan ahead of time what you will say so that you don’t ramble. Remember that the whole point of you saying anything should be to point them towards God and to help them worship – so keep the focus off yourself and on God. We like to say something to put people at ease at the beginning of the set, especially if it’s people whom we don’t really know. Also, to help them focus on Christ. It’s good to read Scripture that goes along with a song, or to say something that will help them understand better what a song means. Try to avoid saying things like, “for our next song…” or “the next song we will sing…”

4. Musical “Flow”. We mentioned before how key and tempo affect the worship set. So, to say it again, try to keep the set in the same key, if possible. And consider how the tempo differences from song to song “flow” into one another. For instance, it would be awkward to do a fast song, then a slow song, then a fast, then slow, etc. We like to start with a fast “clapping” tempo song at the beginning of the set – to help everyone to move into a more reflective time later. Also, think about how differences in time signature will feel when you put songs back to back. Going from a 4/4 song to a 6/8 and then back to 4/4 might not be as good as doing the 4/4 songs together and then the 6/8.

5. How long should a song last? It will usually depend on the song – they each can be different. As a general rule, though, you want to sing through each section of the song (verse, chorus, bridge) twice – especially if it’s a new song. Obviously, if there are multiple verses, only sing each one time (unless you come back to the first verse at the very ending of the song, which happens sometimes). For the bridge, often times it is repeated. If you are teaching it as a new song, you definitely need to sing it more than once, so they can learn it and have a chance to try it. We will often do two choruses at the end of the song, to “build up” to a more powerful ending. Here is a typical “form” of a song: Verse 1; Chorus; Verse 2; Chorus; Bridge; Chorus; Chorus. However, don’t feel tied to any of this – especially if the song feels like it’s dragging out too long and you want to cut off the repeated chorus at the end. Remember, though, if you make the song too short and try to include too many songs, the people never have a chance to learn each song and worship can feel like it has ADHD!

The next series of posts were written by a great friend of mine, Andy Brown. He is one of the        most artistically gifted individuals I have ever met. His skills and experience range from set  building, to graphic design, to music and video. Through years of experience as a worship leader  Andy has compiled a series of writings explaining his thought processes on worship as it  pertains to music and the local church. Soak on this!

Part 1: Preparing a Worship Set

Theme: The first thing to consider is your setting. What is the theme of the service or event you will be leading at? Try to choose songs that complement the theme. Next, consider what the songs are about. Some worship leaders look at it as moving from the “outer courts” to the “inner courts” – from general and congregational praise to more personal and intimate songs. We will generally begin with energetic songs about God, extolling His characteristics, etc. Then we may move into songs that focus on our commitment to God. This is not a rule, though. It’s just important to consider what each song is about. Think about how the themes flow from one song into the next – and don’t forget to consider the theme of the event or what the speaker will be talking about.

New/Old Songs: Consider the group you will be leading. Try to choose as many songs as possible that they will already know. However, don’t be afraid to teach new songs. Maybe one new song per time you lead them, as a rule of thumb. The Bible says, “Sing to the Lord a new song” more than once for a good reason! There’s something about a new song that touches our hearts in a fresh way. However, consider the difficulty of the new song you are choosing. Try to choose songs that are “catchy” and memorable, with melody lines that are at least somewhat predictable (but not boring!) so that they can follow along even the first time they hear it. If you can, sing through the chorus for them before starting the song.

Key: If at all possible, choose songs all in the same key for a set. This helps keep a worshipful flow. If you have to have different keys, try to move up in keys (such as 2 songs in the key of D and then a song in the key of E). This keeps the feeling of worship moving forwards. How many songs? We find that a song will be 4 minutes on average, so plan according to how much time you are allotted for worship. We find that a 4 song set (which will end up being 20 minutes if you talk or pray at all during it) is a good amount of time for people to worship. Some like more, some like less, though, so you need to consider yourcontext.

Speed: Often times, we will move from fast songs into slow songs. But this doesn’t have to be the rule. Changing it up some times creates variety and keeps you from falling into a rut. (See “Creating ‘Flow’ in Worship” section for more on this). What key should a song be in? Try to place a song in a key that is comfortable for everyone to sing who will be worshiping with you. For instance, it is not comfortable for women to sing songs that are consistently high (if the notes are at a C above middle C or higher for much of the song). In this case, we would try a lower key. It is important for you to consider the group you are leading, and not just yourself when choosing a song. If you are a tenor, you might tend to place songs in higher keys because that is the most comfortable for your voice. However, if you are leading women, it will most likely be too high for them. It will also be too high for most men. As a general rule, if someone is untrained at singing, they will not like to sing high. An exception for this is for those who are accustomed to singing hymns from a hymnal, which are often placed in a high key. In this case, you could have the key in a bit higher range. It is never a good idea to have song go any higher than a high E above middle C. In the same way, it should never go lower than a G below middle C (for women). You can often adjust a key one notch in either direction, especially if you are trying to place it in the same key as another song you are playing. Remember, if you are a pianist playing with a guitarist, that the easiest keys for them to play in are G, D, and E. C and A are also doable for most guitarists. If a guitarist has a capo, they can also raise the song from the key they are playing in to the key the pianist would like to play in. For instance, if the pianist would really like to play the song in a key that the guitarist is uncomfortable with, such as the key of B, the guitarist need only to place his/her capo on the 2nd fret and play the song in the key of A. It may be necessary to have a lead sheet prepared separately for each instrumentalist according to which key they are playing in. If you are attempting to play a hymn in a praise song style, it is very likely that you will need to change the key from the key in the hymnal, because they tend to be written very high, and usually not in a good key for a guitarist to play and even can be difficult on piano.