All in a Week

One of many questions I wrestle with each week is which songs and expressions will create a meaningful worship experience. Meanwhile, in the back of my mind are often droning details that tangentially direct my choices-details like which volunteers can I enlist to play, what instrumentation will I prepare for, what are the segues, the prayers, the scripture readings, who is preaching, what is the theme, the staging, the lighting, and even who is mixing the sound that week? All of these details play into the daily psyche of a worship leader. I submit that each detail is important to the whole worship experience as we minister to the artists we lead and the congregations we serve. We must oversee all aspects of our job with prayerful attention. Even the details we wish would be someone else's job, we must persevere. But if we are charged to lead God's people is worship, the job of preparation of congregational song must fall on musicians and musicians alone. Within each song, I have found that even the key and range of a single congregational song is vital to the final outcome of a worship experience. In case you think I am exaggerating, let me encourage you to keep reading.

In the Key of "too HIGH, too LOW, and not much IN BETWEEN."

A common worship practice I see in churches of all sizes and styles seems to be a propensity to merge a useable "canon" of hymns and contemporary songs for our worship services. The issue of what makes an "appropriate" congregational song has been debated for centuries, and I predict, will remain a present topic for many decades to come. This brings me to my primary principle that has prompted this article in the first place. I have long labored under the assumption that a "useable" range for congregational song is confined to approximately an octave-middle C to C4 or one way to remember it is, "from C to shining C." (I love that...) The outer "edges" are generally to be avoided as much as possible, and used for only a couple beats or seconds at a time. However, in recent years I have challenged my own assumptions of what is "average" anymore? The problem has become that so many modern rock-driven worship songs taught in churches today have well exceeded this "one octave rule"....and some by a long shot. Still, churches sing them under the dutiful labor of worship leaders who wish to expose their churches to fresh new songs of praise. What perplexes me even further is when I hear track after track of many well-known "Contemporary-Christian-Artist-Turned-Worship-Leaders" offer their latest CD of worship covers. Given the fact that most worship albums I hear these days are recorded "Live," I rightfully assume that some church, somewhere is singing these songs in the artist's original key? Or do they? Don't get me wrong. I have nothing against wonderful writers like Tomlin, Redman, Brewster, Crowder, Walker, Houghton, Hughes and many others or their churches. It is merely the "sing-a-bility" of these wonderful songs for the church that have often left me scratching my head, or worse I fear, have left the congregation without a clue or a flashlight.

The BAM!! Effect

In light of this topic, it might help to identify the lack of conformity to the "octave rule" by describing a typical rock-driven worship song in terms of the broader melodic quality... and throw in a little golf analogy. Many rock-driven songs I have encountered in churches, and many sitting in my music library begin with a melodically "moderate" verse or sometimes two. By "moderate," I mean the range and overall melodic energy stays fairly neutral. A lot of modern songs for the church, even those with a faster tempo, rarely "come out blazing" right from the first bar. They usually take some time in the verse to warm up a melody in a phrase and win the listener's ear. A "double verse" has become a well-identified contemporary songwriting "trick," and now is in the toolbox of most worship songwriters you can name today. Many times these songs further incorporate a "channel" or "pre-chorus" after the verse(s) to heightening the tension even further building to the much awaited payoff-the Chorus! This major section of the modern rock worship song typically has what I call the "BAM!! Effect." It is the point in the song that kicks the worship team and congregation into a whole new gear-at least one hopes. I liken this to watching Tiger Woods on the tee. The Verse of the song is for the most part the "pre-shot" routine. It has value to the overall plan of the golf shot, but it is not usually the most awe-inspiring part of a golfer's play. The Pre-Chorus, on the other hand, gains excitement quickly because it is the backswing where all the focus and anticipation builds. Then finally,...BAM!! the Chorus ensues in the wake of a crushing downswing! The song screams off the tee and down the fairway! The Chorus is the primary element of a song's appeal. Tiger can rip a drive and Tomlin can rip a chorus! Get the picture? With this in mind, I've discovered that most cutting-edge worshipping churches today based on this "long drive" philosophy have troubles getting their churches to sing and keep singing! It appears the BAM!! Effect works in reverse when we want it to work in overdrive! From personal experience, I have seen the BAM!! convince worshippers to "watch," rather than engage them to actively participate. What is going on? What is further troubling is we often mistakenly underestimate or overlook entirely the BAM!! effect on the average congregational member until its too late. I share in this dilemma and don't presume to have the magic solution to this problem. As I have tried to highlight some of the growing concerns and trends, you may ask the question... so, what can I do about it!? While an ultimate remedy may not be possible, let me try to shed some light on this.

Getting Technical

The practice of "dropping the key" to an easily reachable one for the congregation is a task that obviously solves a myriad of high range issues. However, it creates other problems that depending on the song can produce less desirable results in many instances. Lowering the key to avoid the high notes as much as possible, or worse, transposing songs into strictly "guitar keys" to avoid excessive sharps or flats, at least in my opinion, can reduce the perceived musical intensity intended for a piece. If a song is lowered too much to avoid the "peaks" (highest notes) in the chorus, for example, then the song's melodic "valley" in the verse will often lack luster and can actually decrease interest in the song making it harder to build towards a rousing chorus. Then how do we keep modern congregational songs out of the "danger zone" and inside "the threshold" as much as possible? The answer is, there is no concrete way to know for certain, but a clue may be found in doing some simple math...and applying some simple physics to our congregational songs!

Simple Math, Simply physics
Consider how a loudspeaker works. A typical loudspeaker has the ability to handle a "peak" voltage of let's say 300 watts. It can absorb this energy for maybe a few seconds without audible distortion, or worse, creating physical damage to the driver. However, the true test of loudspeaker's long term capacity is another statistic altogether. It's called the "continuous" wattage rating. In other words, what a loudspeaker can handle for hours on end is really the condition it can operate, not the maximum output. I wonder if leading modern rock-driven worship songs in church is similar to how a loudspeaker works? It is my conviction that congregations can "handle peaks" as long as we rest in the continuous melodic voltage for the greater length of the song. Therefore, selecting back-to-back "peak" wattage worship choruses, or even repeating peak voltage sections within the same song (you know... the Choruses and Bridges we all love to sing again and again....) may over-extend a congregation's power capacity? Get it? Finding appropriate ranges and keys for worship songs is really a matter of managing the "continuous" melodic output we expect the congregation to give at any given time. If you are confused with the technical jargon, just remember the golf swing metaphor. Remember, the average congregation isn't Tiger. Another tip is to always know the "median" range, or note, of your congregational songs. Kind of like math in school, you can pretty easily add up (maybe not literally, but you get the point) the highest notes and the lowest notes, and come up with the "middle note" of your piece. If the middle note of your piece is around C4, then you need to know that you might have a song that will cause premature fatigue for the rest of your worship set regardless of how well the songs flow together. While C4 is not the ceiling, it is at the very least a gear change for congregations nonetheless.

Final Thoughts

There is no easy solution for the modern rock worship song in my book, but keeping our worshipping churches "in the game" is about keeping ourselves sharp to the task and aware of the game they are playing when singing. We must not overlook this detail in our worship preparation, nor excuse our lack of understanding their struggles because the "artist" in us prefers a key, or two, or three higher than what is better for a singing church. Lastly, let me encourage you in taking great diligence and care. Not all modern rock-driven worship songs need to be transposed, while many do. My philosophy is I typically don't mess with success unless there is a good reason. What I do ask is that we take inventory of our congregational songs, vocal practices and priorities to honestly rate songs on their "sing-factor" first, and "hip-factor" second. We must also be willing, if need be, to part with some songs we really enjoy if the technical merits are too far beyond the congregations ability to manage. However, I prefer a more musical choice, that is, when possible, sensitively adapt a song to a more approachable key. For the record, I aesthetically disagree with the holistic "down-sizing" as I look over so many published arrangements of worship songs. I would prefer key adaptations of modern songs make sense strategically rather than putting most every modern song through the "publisher pitch shifter" that may not be necessary for every situation. To transpose a song that has an upper median range of say a "middle line B" down two steps because the highest note in the song happens to reach a D is quite oversimplifying and overcompensating at the expense of other equally important musical values, in my opinion. Should you just "trust your ears?" Well, maybe.... What I would submit is to learn to read and understand music skillfully to study the actual melodic scheme before we introduce the next new song... and pray it will "score big" with our sometimes sensitive, sometimes not-so-hip, yet hungry worshipping congregations.

Dan Grassi is the Worship Pastor of CrossWinds Church since 2000. Dan has been an active composer/arranger, worship leader, and music educator in the San Francisco Bay Area for fifteen years. Dan graduated from San Diego Christian College with a undergraduate degree in voice with an emphasis in sacred music literature. He is finishing an MA in Music Education from San Jose State University. He has a published song with Worship Today and lives with his wife and two daughters in Livermore, CA.