Latest / The Daily Writer / Whatever Happened to Singing in Church? Part 5: Musical Factors

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Whatever Happened to Singing in Church? Part 5: Musical Factors · The Daily Writer

• 0:19
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome everybody to the Born to Create Podcast.
• 0:22
  SPEAKER_00: My name is Kent Sanders, and I'm your host.
• 0:24
  SPEAKER_00: I'm an author, musician, and a teacher.
• 0:27
  SPEAKER_00: But most importantly, I'm a husband and a dad.
• 0:30
  SPEAKER_00: Here on the show we talk about practices, habits, and strategies that help us live out our creative calling.
• 0:36
  SPEAKER_00: This is episode twenty-seven, and today our topic is whatever happened to singing in church, part five, musical factors.
• 0:44
  SPEAKER_00: You can find the post that accompanies this episode, as well as all the links at KentSanders.net slash singing dash musical dash factors.
• 0:56
  SPEAKER_00: This is the fifth and the final episode in a five part series examining the important but rarely discussed question of why people don't sing as much in church anymore.
• 1:06
  SPEAKER_00: In the first four episodes, I shared reasons why singing is an important part of our faith, as well as several cultural, environmental, and leadership factors that have impacted singing and worship.
• 1:16
  SPEAKER_00: In this episode, we'll look at three musical factors that can impact people's engagement as well as some simple solutions.
• 1:24
  SPEAKER_00: Ready to go?
• 1:26
  SPEAKER_00: Let's dive in.
• 1:27
  SPEAKER_00: Number one is people don't know the songs very well.
• 1:31
  SPEAKER_00: How many times does somebody need to hear a song before they know it well and consider it a meaningful part of their worship?
• 1:37
  SPEAKER_00: There's really no set answer because everybody's different and every church has its own culture, but we can assume that the average person needs to hear a song at least a few times before they're familiar with it.
• 1:48
  SPEAKER_00: In the last episode, I mentioned the need for a worship leader to have a pastoral approach to their ministry.
• 1:54
  SPEAKER_00: The issue of song frequency is one area where that issue I think comes into play.
• 1:59
  SPEAKER_00: Let me explain.
• 2:00
  SPEAKER_00: Anybody who's been in a modern worship service over the last decade or so has probably heard Chris Tomlin's song, How Great Is Our God.
• 2:08
  SPEAKER_00: It's one of the most popular worship songs in the world and for a good reason.
• 2:12
  SPEAKER_00: It's simple, singable, easy to play, and easy to learn.
• 2:16
  SPEAKER_00: But from a musical perspective, and I'm just being really honest here, it's not really a very fun or a challenging song to play at a basic level.
• 2:24
  SPEAKER_00: It only has four chords that repeat in mostly the same pattern on the verses, chorus, and the bridge, any worship leader or worship team member would get tired of playing it pretty quickly.
• 2:34
  SPEAKER_00: At least a standard arrangement of it.
• 2:36
  SPEAKER_00: That's where the pastoral element comes into play, though.
• 2:39
  SPEAKER_00: By the time a congregation hears a new worship song for the first time, the worship team has listened to it ad nauseum.
• 2:46
  SPEAKER_00: By the time it's been used in a worship service a few times, the worship team is completely sick of it.
• 2:51
  SPEAKER_00: But it goes back to the purpose of leading worship, to facilitate and support congregational singing.
• 2:57
  SPEAKER_00: Musicians who are looking to get all of their creative enjoyment from playing in a worship band might be disappointed.
• 3:02
  SPEAKER_00: Why?
• 3:03
  SPEAKER_00: Because they're not always going to be playing music that's artistically satisfying.
• 3:08
  SPEAKER_00: However, that's not the point of playing and leading worship music, at least in a congregation.
• 3:13
  SPEAKER_00: The point, rather, is to do what's best for the congregation, and that's probably going to be leading more songs like How Greater's Our God, rather than really complicated songs.
• 3:23
  SPEAKER_00: And that's precisely what I love about Chris Tomlin's music.
• 3:26
  SPEAKER_00: He writes it with congregations and worship teams in mind.
• 3:31
  SPEAKER_00: So we have to think, plan, and lead with our pastoral hat and not just with our artistic hat.
• 3:37
  SPEAKER_00: From an artistic enjoyment perspective, using the same song repeatedly is not really a lot of fun, especially if it's a simple song.
• 3:44
  SPEAKER_00: But from a pastoral perspective, it's very effective at helping people learn a new song so it becomes part of their worship vocabulary.
• 3:52
  SPEAKER_00: So what can we do about this issue?
• 3:54
  SPEAKER_00: One thing is to cut down your list of worship songs and don't introduce a lot of new songs in a short amount of time.
• 4:01
  SPEAKER_00: This has several benefits.
• 4:02
  SPEAKER_00: First, the congregation will know the songs better since there will just by default be fewer songs.
• 4:09
  SPEAKER_00: Second, the musicians will be a lot more effective since there's a limited number of songs they need to know really well.
• 4:15
  SPEAKER_00: And third, it simplifies the worship planning process.
• 4:19
  SPEAKER_00: When you have forty or so songs in your rotation instead of say like a hundred or one hundred and fifty, it really limits your options, which can be a great thing.
• 4:26
  SPEAKER_00: So why do I say forty songs is a good amount of songs to have in your worship rotation?
• 4:31
  SPEAKER_00: Well, forty is not really a magic number or anything like that, but several worship leaders have told me that it's enough to have variety, yet it's still manageable for the musicians and the congregation to learn.
• 4:42
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe 30 songs is even better.
• 4:43
  SPEAKER_00: It totally depends on your church.
• 4:46
  SPEAKER_00: Let's go to factor number two, which is the songs are too complicated.
• 4:52
  SPEAKER_00: I've already hit on this point in talking about how great is our God, but song frequency and song complexity are two different things, so I've separated them into two different points.
• 5:01
  SPEAKER_00: Now, when I say the songs are too complicated, what I really mean is that some popular worship songs today are too complicated for the average person to learn when they only hear those songs once or twice a month.
• 5:13
  SPEAKER_00: And that's if they're in church every Sunday and always happen to be there when you're singing those songs.
• 5:19
  SPEAKER_00: Now you might come back with an argument that says something like this.
• 5:22
  SPEAKER_00: Why can people sing every line of every song when they attend a concert or when they listen to the radio?
• 5:28
  SPEAKER_00: Well, the reason is that they've heard those songs dozens of times, if not hundreds of times.
• 5:33
  SPEAKER_00: People know the songs they love by heart because they hear them constantly.
• 5:37
  SPEAKER_00: For instance, my son has virtually memorized all the lyrics to Hamilton.
• 5:41
  SPEAKER_00: That's almost two and a half hours of complex, dense lyrics.
• 5:45
  SPEAKER_00: So how can a twelve year old memorize something complex like that, but people in church can't seem to learn simple worship songs nearly as quickly?
• 5:53
  SPEAKER_00: Well the reason is really simple, it's because they're only hearing those songs when they're in church, maybe once or twice a month, if you're doing those songs in some type of regular rotation and not necessarily every single week.
• 6:06
  SPEAKER_00: So what can you do about it?
• 6:08
  SPEAKER_00: The solution here will depend somewhat on the church and the musicians that you have available.
• 6:12
  SPEAKER_00: Some churches can pull off highly complex arrangements while other churches can't.
• 6:17
  SPEAKER_00: Whatever musical resources you have, it's important to keep things simple and singable.
• 6:22
  SPEAKER_00: I think there's a big reason why the song, How Great Is Our God, is so popular.
• 6:27
  SPEAKER_00: Modern worship songs tend to be long and I really honestly wonder if there's a place for some shorter ones that we can add into the mix to simplify things a little bit, so that not every song is five or six minutes long.
• 6:38
  SPEAKER_00: Something else to consider is listing the worship songs in the printed worship program or the bulletin.
• 6:43
  SPEAKER_00: I've seen churches do this and I think it's a great idea.
• 6:46
  SPEAKER_00: This way people can remember what songs were used in worship that day, and they can find them later on Spotify or on iTunes if they choose.
• 6:53
  SPEAKER_00: So every little bit of familiarity with these songs helps.
• 6:58
  SPEAKER_00: Let's go to factor number three, which is the songs are in a key that is too high.
• 7:04
  SPEAKER_00: A good chunk of modern worship songs are written, sung, and recorded by male tenors whose voices are higher than the average guys.
• 7:12
  SPEAKER_00: And because most worship leaders tend to be male tenors, they use the same or similar keys in church as the original artists do.
• 7:20
  SPEAKER_00: The result is that the average guy in church is trying to sing in a key that's many times a little bit too high for them.
• 7:26
  SPEAKER_00: So here's why that could be an issue for participation, and I promise I'm not trying to be sexist or anything like that.
• 7:32
  SPEAKER_00: But in my experience, women will always sing in church, no matter what key that you use, and no matter who's leading worship.
• 7:38
  SPEAKER_00: Women are awesome and cool like that.
• 7:40
  SPEAKER_00: Even if the song is in a key that doesn't feel natural to a lot of women, you know, since they have higher voices than guys, they're still going to participate because, like I said, women are just cool like that.
• 7:50
  SPEAKER_00: Guys, however, are a little different.
• 7:52
  SPEAKER_00: Guys will just stop singing if they have to sing too high or too low.
• 7:56
  SPEAKER_00: And if a lot of guys stop singing, you've lost a big chunk of the vocal power of congregational worship just because guys' voices tend to be more boomy and more powerful.
• 8:06
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm not saying it's right or wrong for guys or ladies to act a certain way.
• 8:10
  SPEAKER_00: I'm just saying that's the way that it is.
• 8:12
  SPEAKER_00: So what can you do about this problem?
• 8:14
  SPEAKER_00: Well, a good rule of thumb to remember when selecting keys for worship songs is to use a key that doesn't take the melody higher than a D or an E above middle C.
• 8:24
  SPEAKER_00: I don't think this is a hard and fast rule necessarily, but in general this is pretty useful.
• 8:29
  SPEAKER_00: This might entail lowering the key of a song a little bit, but with modern tools like Song Select or Planning Center Online, it's pretty easy to change the keys of the core charts.
• 8:38
  SPEAKER_00: I'm prepared to change my mind on this whole issue though, and let me explain why.
• 8:43
  SPEAKER_00: I don't believe a female worship leader should have to lead songs in a key that doesn't work for her.
• 8:48
  SPEAKER_00: She may have to use keys that are completely different than her male counterparts, and I think that is perfectly fine.
• 8:54
  SPEAKER_00: Now it probably seems like I'm completely backtracking on everything that I just said, and that could be the case, honestly.
• 9:00
  SPEAKER_00: In my experience, some songs really do work better in certain keys than others.
• 9:04
  SPEAKER_00: However, and I think this is a huge however, as we continue to see more equality among worship leaders and more women leading worship, we're going to need to rethink our assumptions not just about the keys of worship songs, but probably about a lot of things.
• 9:17
  SPEAKER_00: And I think that's a very good thing.
• 9:19
  SPEAKER_00: Well, I hope that you've enjoyed this series on singing in the church.
• 9:22
  SPEAKER_00: I've done my best to present some factors that have affected singing in modern congregations, and regardless of whether or not you agree with me, I really do hope it's given you some food for thought.
• 9:32
  SPEAKER_00: So what do you think?
• 9:34
  SPEAKER_00: Do you think these musical factors that I've talked about in this episode prevent people from participating in worship?
• 9:40
  SPEAKER_00: What are some other factors and what solutions do you have in mind?
• 9:43
  SPEAKER_00: I'd love to hear your thoughts.
• 9:44
  SPEAKER_00: You can join the conversation and find the post and the links that accompany this episode at Kent Sanders.net slash singing dash musical dash factors.
• 9:54
  SPEAKER_00: When you visit my site, you'll find all kinds of great resources to inspire your creativity.
• 9:59
  SPEAKER_00: I'd also love to share a gift with you when you subscribe to my newsletter.
• 10:03
  SPEAKER_00: You can check it out and learn more about my books, writing, and services at KentSanders.net.
• 10:08
  SPEAKER_00: I'd love to connect and you can tweet me at Kent Sanders or find me on Facebook and Instagram as Kent Sanders.
• 10:15
  SPEAKER_00: I hope you'll also check out our Born to Create Facebook group by visiting KentSanders.net slash Facebook group.
• 10:22
  SPEAKER_00: Until next time, remember that you were born to create and designed to make a difference.
• 10:28
  SPEAKER_00: What will you do with the time you have left?