Picking Songs with Your Team in Mind

OK—so you're getting ready to pick songs for an upcoming service. There's a lot to consider, like the sermon topic, the singability for the congregation, the "flow" of each song... the list goes on. 

The final consideration is one that, while not above prioritizing what I just mentioned, bears a lot of weight in your set list—and it could make or break how well things go. 

Consider Your Team

The scenario I opened with checks off all the boxes, regarding what you should prioritize when choosing a set list. But one thing that could throw the whole thing off is this:

The capability of your team. 

When it comes to your team's capabilities, consider these factors:

• Their strengths

• Their weaknesses

• Their preferences

• Their adaptability

• Their open-mindedness

What do they do well? What do they need to work on? In which sort of style do they really thrive?

For instance, if you choose a set list that has a lot of mid-tempo, modern anthems (think "Holy Forever" or "What a Beautiful Name"), and your rhythm section players are used to gospel/R&B/funk stylings, then making those songs sound like the record will take a bit of work—that is, if your players are seeing those songs for the first time. 

This is not a bad thing, but if your expectation is to replicate the style of the recording, then you need to accept that some variation will occur. (However, this doesn't excuse wrong notes or missed cues, all done in the name of, "Well, that's just my style!") Rather, you should adapt the arrangement to reflect what your team does well while being faithful to the existing structure of the song.

On the opposite end, there are times when you want to reach for higher levels that your team currently can't quite reach—and that's OK! I see this mostly with vocalists who have a hard time harmonizing and also have a limited range. In cases like these, you might have to take your song with an octave leap (think "I Speak Jesus" or "Battle Belongs") and keep things within a one-octave range. 

Consider these options: Do you want high-energy vocals that are REALLY out of tune because your singers couldn't hit the high melody notes and also couldn't find an alternative harmony, or do you want mid-range vocals that are in tune? If it were me, I'd take the second option—but I'd also work with the less experienced singers to help them meet a higher standard. (It just doesn't need to happen during rehearsal or sound check.)

I remember in my first days of playing guitar on our church music team, we sang "Lord You Are Good" a lot, and that bridge—WHEW!—it totally psyched me out every time we came to it. At the risk of being technical, there was more than just plain ol' syncopation going on; the chord hits in the rhythm section were utilizing a polyrhythm (superimposing one time-feel against another i.e., "3 against 4") that I just couldn't get. I kept stepping in holes all over the phrasing, and eventually, I just sat out when we came to that part. I worked on it at home, though, and after a few weeks, I finally got the hang of it. It was better to let the other players cover that cleanly than for me to join in with mistakes, muddying up the waters for everyone around me. 

Get Your Hands Dirty

To that end, considering the wide range of abilities and styles on your team requires you to put extra creativity and thought into your arrangements, and it will also require you to come alongside team members who aren't as familiar with what is required to pull an arrangement off. 

Expect to make compromises, but never settle for anything less than what your team can best achieve. If that means making a complex rhythmic groove more simple, then do it. If melodic range needs to be tempered down, then bring it down. It's better to deliver a clean result that is simple in nature than over-drill a complex arrangement that ends up sounding chaotic. 

Even then, continue to find spots where a breakthrough and growth can occur for your team. Sometimes, it'll look like a melody-only singer improvising a harmony for the first time, or an instrumentalist nailing a lead riff with a simplified phrasing. The key to remember is that you are all there to worship God and bring Him the best of your abilities as an offering, holding nothing back in that pursuit and encouraging each other in the process.

Be blessed 👊✌️