HELP YOUR CHURCH SING (10 TIPS)
This past week I had the chance to be part of the congregation while one of our teams led worship without me on stage. It's one of the great joys of leadership when you have the opportunity to watch the team you have trained and cared for lead with as much excellence and power as if you were on stage with them. I had been standing in the back row worshipping until it was time for me to come forward to do the communion meditation and prayer. When I got to the front row it hit me- The church was singing out LOUDLY! There are few things on earth that I love more than to hear the church sing.
Backing up a bit, I was having a conversation with an elder at another church recently and he mentioned that he has noticed a growing trend of people standing and watching the band and vocalists during worship instead of singing along with the music. He then asked me if I thought that was okay. I told him it was not only NOT okay, but that there were some simple ways to make it easier to help and encourage the congregation to sing with joy.
These are some of the tips that I've found that have helped unleash our church to sing with joy during worship.
Lyric Presentation- Lyrics are poetry, and unless you're reading a children's book for little tiny kids, very rarely are there only two lines of verse per page. I know that there are reasons to put only two lines of lyrics when you're overlaying them with video from IMAG, but I'd like to make a case to consider another option. People are better able to visualize, understand, and internalize the meaning of the words they are singing if the words are presented as a complete thought. I know some people don't want words put in their mouths unless they have a chance to process it for themselves and decide they agree BEFORE they sing. It also helps to have the lyrics split into phrases when there is a rest or break between singing. This is a visual cue so that people know when to stop singing between words.
Vocal Range- I ALMOST NEVER do the song in the original recorded key. I've gotten more pushback on this than on most of the other tips I'm going to share, but here are my reasons. The original recording is in the key in which the original artist sounds best singing, which means that they can sell their music better. However, your average person’s voice is nowhere near the range of Chris Tomlin’s or some of those other guys. Do your congregation a favor and transpose it down. Here is an article by Jamie Harvill that does a great job of explaining it. My only addition is that the bell curve applies to voices. At the bottom left of the curve there are very few real basses and on the right there are very few real tenors and sopranos. Right in the middle is a giant group of baritones and altos, so find the keys that comfortably fit the majority of voices.
Simplify- I heard someone say one time that when something is hard, human tendency is to try and make it easier. The same can be said for complicated melodies and rhythms. People in your congregation are going to go ahead and simplify what they sing, so you might as well make it simple for them. Go ahead and have your vocal teams sing the songs that way in the first place. For example, if the second verse of a song is different than the first, but it can be sung the same way as the first, chances are your congregation is going to do it that way.
Teach it- The first time I saw someone do this, it was so simple that I felt stupid for not thinking of it myself. Take time in the service to teach a new song to the congregation. Tell them that you'd like to teach them a new song. Explain that you'll sing the verse first with just a piano or guitar, then you will have them sing it along with you. Repeat the process with the chorus or the bridge or any other part of the song that is unfamiliar. More times than not, I remind them that they are the choir and we're the accompanists and we're having an impromptu choir rehearsal. Then after we rehearse it I will say something like, “Great job choir. now let’s sing the whole thing together for our Father.”
Repertoire- One of the biggest lessons I've learned in the last couple years is that it's important to keep and manage a list of a variety of songs that will be presented to the congregation. There should be a concise list of new, well known, and classic worship songs in your repertoire. There should be just enough new songs to keep things fresh, several well known songs that people already are familiar with and connect with, and classic hymns which I will call hymnody. Hymnody songs are timeless and most average people know them. CHECK OUT THIS RESOURCE TO LEARN MORE. For our congregation, not everyone comes every week and we've grown a lot in the past couple of years, so there are always quite a few new people. This means that it is all the more important for new people not to have to learn a ton of new music before they can begin to engage in worship. I whittled down a whopping song list of over 120 songs we had done over the course of 7 years down to about 70 songs.
Subliminal Programming- Okay, so it's not really as devious as it sounds. Basically, if there is any way to put the music you're going to be doing in front of people out in advance, they'll pick it up quicker. I put together a worship quarterly playlist in itunes that consists of all the new music we're more than likely going to introduce over the next 4 months. The list also includes any new music we have introduced over the past 4 months. We then play this as pre and post service music. By doing this, we insure that people are hearing the music consistently for a while before we ever sing it. On our Facebook page, I'll also post video links of a song that we'll do on the next Sunday in order to get some additional people listening to it. It's also a great idea to post each Sunday’s setlist with the name of the songs and the artist. If people want to purchase it for themselves and listen throughout the week, they can.
Volume- Can they hear themselves singing? If not, the music is too loud and it is covering up one of the main reasons we have music in our services. However, if the music is too soft, people will feel self conscious and worry about whether other people are paying attention to their voice and judging their ability. The volume needs to be loud enough that people feel safe, yet soft enough that they can hear themselves just above the music. There is no perfect number for decibels. A bad mix will stink even at low decibel levels, so you will need to figure out what fits your room, instrumentation, and congregation best. For us, when the music is mixed well, we've found that we like it between 88 decibels during the soft parts of songs and up to 92 decibels during the loud parts.
Sing With, Not Over- Sing along with the congregation, not over the top of them. I've seen worship leaders who continually jump up fifths and octaves over the melody line at the ends of phrases. Or they ad lib their own phrases before the lyrics have finished and consistently tag a "whoah" or "yeah". There are times for individual expression, and if you're in the middle of an instrumental or a with congregation that is used to spontaneous song, then go for it. However, if everyone is singing the same thing, go ahead and join them.
Let the Scripture Inspire- God is the one who inspires our worship, so let him speak to your congregation and encourage them himself to respond they way he designed them to. Use a scripture right before you sing that speaks to the heart of why you're singing. You might also use scripture during an instrumental, before a particularly powerful section of song. Scripture combined with the music focuses people's hearts on our savior even more.
No Talent Required- Encourage the congregation by letting them know that God is the one who gave them their voices and he doesn't care whether they can sing or not. Singing is about our hearts responding to who God is and what He has done for us. Singing in church is not about winning American Idol. There is no Simon Cowell waiting to smash them with criticism during worship. One of my favorite moments in worship was hearing a man with Down syndrome sing at the top of his lungs. He was completely tone deaf, but didn't care how he sounded. As he said, “Jesus is awesome and singing for him is fun!"
I know there are other tips that are working in your churches. I'd love to hear what works for you!
