New Music
I’m still working out a policy for presenting new worship songs to our congregation. I haven’t figured out how frequently I should present something new, by my typical approach has been to present at least one new song or arrangement per month.
Typically, we’ll present a new song one Sunday, then we will play it again the next week. After that, we usually lay the song aside for one week, and then we’ll return to it. Then the song becomes part of our rotation, and we’ll use it probably once a month, depending on the demands of the service.
I’m beginning to wonder if perhaps I should be introducing new material more frequently. My reasoning for this is that it is much easier to focus my heart (and I suspect others’) hearts on worship if we avoid the dangerous trap of routine by constantly changing the words and melodies that we are singing.
The disadvantage to making quick shifts in repertoire is that it places a much more difficult task on the shoulders of the band. We already work very hard to accomplish our regular repertoire: it would be incredibly challenging to add a number of new songs each week.
What do you think? How often do you all try something new?
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January 22nd, 2008 at 1:00 pm
I personally think there is no right way. You could do new songs every week or never do new songs and still not everyone would be happy. You can do it this once a month way and people won’t all be happy. I would say that now and then once a month will be really hard because you will have 2 or 3 songs you really feel the need to do, but overall your idea makes a lot of sense.
January 22nd, 2008 at 2:43 pm
That is how I do it with our youth, but I do that about twice a month - every other week. For instance, if I’m introducing a new song it may look like this…
Month 1, week 1: NEW SONG I
Month 1, week 2: repeat NEW SONG I
Month 1, week 3: NEW SONG II
Month 1, week 4: repeat NEW SONG I & repeat NEW SONG II (which, by this time - if a good song - if not longer ‘new’)…
after that I consider ‘NEW SONG I’ part of our repertior, and after a week break and one more re-introduction, I likewise consider NEW SONG II such. I try to keep that up - some months only one new song, but normally two…keeps things fresh…with adults, however, I think it best do only introduce 1 per month, unless you’re bringing new material in as ’special’ or ‘walk in’ music, which gives you other options of slipping new material into the mix.
p.s. - I hope you enjoy the Set on Edge disc.
January 22nd, 2008 at 3:27 pm
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.
January 22nd, 2008 at 5:22 pm
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.
January 22nd, 2008 at 5:41 pm
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.
January 22nd, 2008 at 9:13 pm
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.
January 22nd, 2008 at 9:28 pm
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.
January 23rd, 2008 at 9:31 am
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?
January 23rd, 2008 at 9:48 am
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.
January 23rd, 2008 at 5:49 pm
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.
January 28th, 2008 at 6:56 pm
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
February 1st, 2008 at 11:26 am
[…] 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 […]