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Sunday Recap – How do You Teach New Songs?

Ryan Egan —  August 18, 2008 — 4 Comments

As always, another great day at Living Word.  And a fantastic day of rest with the family.  I’ve been attempting to set aside Sundays as a complete day of rest from several things (computer, housework, yardwork).  Of course it has to start after the service, but even to have the majority of the day be restful is extremely helpful.  It’s given benefits already.

Here’s what the service looked like yesterday:

Pre-service gathering song: Let Your Kingdom Come – Sovereign Grace Music.  More on this song in a minute.

Blessed be the Name of the Lord (Strong Tower) – Love this song.  It’s such a great reminder of who God is and so good to repeat these thoughts as we worship.  And, several people started the clapping in the congregation – thank God for worship leaders who don’t even know they’re worship leaders!

Let Your Kingdom Come – we officially taught the song here.  I love this song as it talks about making our desires His desires and making His “glorious cause” our own.  In the midst of our new building project I think this song will play a pivotal role in reminding people that we are about building God’s kingdom, not just having a place to come to church.

I usually like to use a new song as a pre-service song and then do it again during the service after people have it in there heads a bit.  How I taught it was by singing a phrase and then having the congregation repeat the phrase.  We did the whole verse, and one spot in the chorus that has a note that sort of comes out of nowhere.  It seemed like the congregation grasped this song very quickly and it seems like teaching them a new song this way seems to work really well.  Does anyone else have expereince with this?  If you were at Living Word yesterday, did it work for you to learn the song this way, or was it distracting?

Closing song – In Christ Alone – Unfortunately, the words to this song were not right on the screen.  The words we had up were from Brian Litrell’s “In Christ Alone” (which is a great song – just not the one we needed!)  This is a good reminder that we always need to double and triple check things and not rely on the song title alone to enter a song.  Many people knew the first verse and we’re singing along with me as I tried to figure out what to do.  I just simply stopped the music and read the words to the fourth verse, which directly applied to the message that had just been given.  A few people told me how disappointed they were that we didn’t get to actually sing the song.  We’ll do it again soon.

The message was very convicting and encouraging at the same time.  We learned about subtle ways that we steal and how important it is not only to tell the truth about our neighbor but to “build their reputation” as well, as Luther mentioned in his explanation of this commandment.  It was a great morning.

(This post is a part of the Sunday Setlist community at Fred McKinnon’s website.)

In For Worship Leaders, Leadership, Music
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Orchestrating an Effective Rehearsal – The Worship Community

Ryan Egan —  August 14, 2008 — Leave a comment

Yesterday I was blessed to have an article in the “featured articles” section of The Worship Community.  I wanted to point you over there to take a read.  The article talks about five things that are needed to orchestrate effective rehearsals.  Here are the five things (read the article to get the details about each step).

  1. Preparation.
  2. Have the Right People in Place.
  3. Proper Use of Time.
  4. Respect Each Other.
  5. Leaders lead.  Followers follow.

Go over and take a read – and while you’re at it sign up to participate in the forums.

In For Worship Leaders, Leadership, Training
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What Makes a Great Worship Song?

Ryan Egan —  August 13, 2008 — 2 Comments

Fred McKinnon asks this great question and one that I think has been defined and redefined often through many, many years.  I wanted to spend some time looking in depth at this great question.  A lot of people have submitted their thoughts in the comments section of Fred’s original post, but I thought this deserved a whole blog post – so here we go.

What is a “Worship Song” Anyway?

In order to define what makes a great “worship song” we have to figure out what a “worship song” actually is.  Is it a song by a “worship artist?”  Is it a song that you sing during “worship?”  What kind of “worship?”  What is it?

The broad definition that I would give a worship song as this:  A song that, when sung, causes one to think about something to the extent of moving one’s heart to worship it.  The problem is that we, as worship leaders in Christian, evangelical churches need to narrow the definition.  After all if the broad definition applies, then “I Love Rock and Roll (or I love Rocky Road, in Weird Al’s case)” would be a worship song about rock and roll music (or ice cream, in Weird Al’s case).  You could easily turn many, many “secular” songs into worship songs.

We need to narrow the definition.  A Christian worship song could be defined as this:  A song that, when sung, causes one to think about God (The Father, Son and Holy Spirit) to the extent of moving one’s heart to worship Him.  Now, what makes one of those great?

Biblical Pictures of Worship

In looking at what makes a great worship song we need to look at the history of the “worship song.”  Worship songs (as defined above) have been happening for a long time.  Moses led the Israelites in one after escaping the grasp of the Egyptian forces.  David, Asaph and many others penned multiple worship songs in the Psalms.  What made these songs great?  Moses praised God by reminding the people that He was the one who delivered them from the Egyptians:

The Horse and its rider He has thrown into the sea…Pharoah’s chariots and his army He has cast into the sea.” Exodus 15:2, 4

Moses also included in His song many things about who God is:

The Lord is my strength and my song (15:1)…a warrior (v3)…right hand is majestic in power (v6)…who is like You among the gods (v11)…in Your lovingkindness You have led the people whom You have redeemed (v13)…shall reign forever and ever (v18).

The psalmists do very similar things – constantly reminding through the lyrics of who God is and what He has done, but then taking it a step further and emotionally responding to those things.  If they tell of God’s mercy and love, they rejoice.  If they tell of God’s justice and wrath, they tremble.  But even after trembling at God’s wrath, they rejoice at His mercy yet again.

What Makes the Song Great?

Looking at what made the worship songs of the past great, I see two common themes:  A remembrance and reminder of what God has done and who He is, and a personal emotional response.  These songs that we see in Scripture are indeed great, as every time I read them I am moved to worship.

A great worship song communicates truth about who God is and what He is done and allows time for an emotional response to those things.  A great worship song speaks clearly about what it is that is intended to be worshiped and offers universal words used to worship.  It is narrow enough to speak of who we are worshiping, but broad enough to let every person of every walk of life worship through it.

One thing that is much harder to see in the examples of Scripture is what a great melody can do for a worship song.  I am guessing the songs that Moses and David and others wrote in Scripture had melodies that the people of the time could remember.  A well-written melody that fits the mood of the lyrics will enhance any song, but a well-written melody in a worship song helps people be able to put truth to music and remember the truth a little bit easier.

Another instance of why the Scriptural examples are so great is the fact that they were almost always born out of a personal experience that caused the writer to worship God and write about it.  Moses was led to sing out of the fact that His God had showed His power by saving him and his people.  David was often led to write out of painful experiences (hiding from his own son (Psalm 3), often fleeing from enemies, wrestling with his sin (Psalm 51).  A good worship song is born out of a personal worship experience as well as, in Moses’ case, a congregational (if you will) worship experience.

This is What Makes a Great Worship Song:

What makes a great worship song is its ability to cause one to think about God to the extent of moving one’s heart to worship Him, it’s born out of personal or congregational experience, it emotionally responds to who God is and it has an easily singable melody.

In For Worship Leaders
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Nashville Number System *Update*

Ryan Egan —  August 8, 2008 — Leave a comment

Hello all!  I just wanted to give a special thanks to Matthew Daniel who so graciously stopped by and added some thoughts and things I was missing and/or mistaken about with the Nashville Number System.  In my haste to do a comparison post I didn’t research as much as I should and wanted to give a huge thanks to him!  I’ll revisit it again in the future and please see Matthew’s comments here and here.

In For Worship Leaders, Music
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Nashville Number System vs. Roman Numerals (continued)

Ryan Egan —  August 8, 2008 — 14 Comments

Wednesday we looked briefly at the Nashville Number system. Today I’d like to talk about the Roman numeral system equivalent and touch briefly on the benefits and disadvantages of each.  The NNS system basically works like this:

Comparison

C – D – E – F- G – A – B – C
1 – 2- 3 – 4 – 5 – 6 – 7 – 8

The Roman Numeral Equivalent would be:

C – D – E – F – G – A – B – C
I – ii – iii – IV – V – vi – vii° – I

Another comparison that needs to be made is how each system handles chord inversions. Inversions are so important to helping the overall sound of the music and shorthand ways to notate them are needed.

The NNS notates inversions as using the first number as the chord and the second number behind a slash as the chord degree (note) that needs to be played on the bottom.  So, in the key of C, a C (1) that is in its first inversion would be notated as 1/3.  A C in second inversion would be 1/5.

Roman Numeral system notates inversions quite differently.  The same example above (C in first inversion) would be written as I 6 (the 6 being in superscript next to the I – sorry, couldn’t find the superscript button!) and the second inversion as I 6/4.  (This is really hard to explain in a blog post, so when you’re finished reading the next section, come back and visit here for more information about inversions.)

Benefits and Disadvantages to Each

The major disadvantage to the Nashville Number System is that you need to already know if certain chords are major or minor.  Whereas, in the Roman numeral system, an upper case numeral always indicates a major chord and a lower case numeral always indicates a minor chord.  There are several symbols in the Roman Numeral system that indicate different types of chords (augmented, diminished, etc.)  In the NNS, the type of chord always has to be written out (aug, dim, maj7, min7, etc.)

One advantage, however, to NNS is the ability to notate measures quickly.  I found the use of parentheses as a means to notate measures particularly helpful.

One disadvantage to the Roman Numeral system is that the figured bass used for inversions can be difficult to understand.  Inversions in NNS seem very easy.

Conclusion:

While I myself am not extremely familiar with the NNS, it’s starting to grow on me.  If anyone has any other tips about it, please leave a comment!  Also, why do you like one system or the other better?  Have you had experience with either?

In For Worship Leaders, Music
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