Comments on: New Music

By: FredMcKinnon.Com » Blog Archive » Worship Leader Pitfalls #2 - New Music

Fri, 01 Feb 2008 15:26:41 +0000

[…] about this after reading some of the comments on a great post about “New Music” over at MilestoneWorship.Com. Jeremy’s post had to do with the frequency of introducing new […]

By: Fred McKinnon

Fred McKinnon — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 22:56:57 +0000

Hey Gang,
The “old guy” chiming in here (if 37 is considered old). I’m loving new songs, but I’d go in a different direction. I would say that “introducing too many new songs” is probably the #1 mistake of younger worship leaders.

It’s very easy to do, too … because there is so much incredible material out there. But, for the bulk of most congregations (I realize there are exceptions to this rule), your people will NOT be able to keep up with a new song every week.

I would almost GUARANTEE that if you just quit doing a new song every week, picked about 10-15 of the “favorite songs” from LAST YEAR (yep, you heard me … LAST YEAR) and focused on those songs over the next quarter … that you would see corporate participation INCREASE dramatically.

If you back off the mic … can you hear your congregation singing towards you? If not .. you are missing out … big time … and so are they.

Just my $.02.

Fred
www.fredmckinnon.com

By: Jesse Gardner

Jesse Gardner — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 21:49:58 +0000

Hebrew worship had a *lot* of repetition because they wanted the truths to be remembered. i work in marketing, and I know that jingles work because if you can get people talking about / remembering the tagline for your product, you’re sold. That, to me, is an important point that you’re overlooking in an effort to be the cliche-buster. I understand that familiarity can breed contempt; but it can also bring a lot of warmth and comfort. Why do you think people love Amazing Grace so much? It proclaims a truth in an extremely poignant way that many people have latched on to; in turn, it has a profound effect on both the listeners and the singers.

By: admin

admin — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 13:48:25 +0000

Yep. We have about 30, with new songs coming in and knocking out some of the old. Those old songs may make a comeback, but they are typically out of the rotation for a while.

By: travis ham

travis ham — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 13:31:08 +0000

I typically won’t introduce more than 1 new song on a given week, and then will reinforce the song by giving it some additional love on consecutive weeks. As far as how many in a month… some months we might not do any new ones, and some months we may do as many as 3-4. One this I was curious on though: you mentioned a rotation in which songs get played once a month. Just doing some math, I’m assuming you do 5-6 songs per week, which would mean that you do about 20-24 songs per month. If songs get played as frequently as once a month, then you have probably no more than around 30 songs total?

By: Billy Chia

Billy Chia — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 01:28:11 +0000

Right now I’m introducing about 1-3 new songs a week.
Of course I’m a new guy in a new role with a new band even. My church has also been through a lot of transition so in some regards ALL the songs I do are “new” to a large segment of my church.

I should slow down to 1 - 3 new songs per month once things get settled.

By: Jim Henry

Jim Henry — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 01:13:16 +0000

I pretty much stick with the same schedule you do. Do the song 2 weeks in a row, rest it a week or 2 then bring it back. We average out at 2 new tunes every 5 weeks. What I like about this format is that it gives me a good chance to see if the song is really connecting with the congregation.

By: Jenni Clayville

Jenni Clayville — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 21:41:55 +0000

I think what you’ve been doing is great. It gives them time to cement it a bit into their hearts and brains.

I personally try to introduce one or two new songs every month… unless it’s camp (since I work with students), then I introduce 4 or 5 in that month. I pretty my follow the same schedule as Shannon does.

Many times, we introduce a new song as a “special” to take away the pressure of learning it immediately only to bring it back the next week as a song to participate in. We seem to get more participation that way.

By: Chris from Canada

Chris from Canada — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 21:22:02 +0000

Ask the congregation what they think - you may find out that they are saying you are doing way too many new songs as it is and they are finding it hard to keep track of the lyrics on Sunday morning.

We do 3 new songs each quarter (still works out to 1 new song a month but without the tight timeline) and will generally do the song one week, do it again the next, take a break, bring it back the fourth week and then the next time we do the song I make sure that it’s led by someone who hasn’t led it yet. That way it doesn’t get tagged as a “Chris song” or a “John song” or a “Rebecca song” but comes across as part of our repertoire.

By: mandy

mandy — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 19:27:24 +0000

leading at a church that is just getting the hang of contemporary worship songs, i don’t frequently introduce new stuff. we probably do one ever 4-6 weeks. and, when introducing, i use the same repetitive schedule you have posted above.

i think youth groups, college groups, and more contemporary churches can assimilate new songs quicker, though.

it all depends on the group.