How to write a great worship song
Maybe some of you saw this parody of worship songwriting when it came out in 2013. If you haven’t, go watch it right now. It’s spot on. While writing a worship song like the one in the video is easy, writing an excellent song is hard. Even if you take the time to ask, “What is Great Songwriting?” writing for worship is different than writing other genres of music. Below are three thoughts on how to write a great worship song.
Write a song that’s not cliche
Great worship songs walk a fine line between familiarity, and fresh new material. While creative lyrics are always a must, great songs balance familiar sounds, with fresh perspective. This is why old hymns paired with a shiny new chorus were so popular last decade. (Rolling our eyes at you Chris Tomlin!)
The trick is to give the worshiper a fresh way of communicating with God, and with their fellow worshipers, (in the case of corporate declarative songs.) As Ecclesiastes says, “there is nothing new under the sun.” But that does not mean it has to be sung in the same way forever.
Roll out a worship song with a reference to Amazing Grace, and everyone’s eyes may roll at you.
Great worship songs find a proper balance between timelessness and cliche. Strike that balance and you are on your way to a writing a great worship song.
Write a song that’s simple
Yes, great worship songs are simple. They are simple in music, in lyric, and in subject matter. In the years of my music ministry, I have reviewed many overly ambitious songs. I once was asked to review a song that had over eight verses and attempted the cover the whole Bible in three minutes!
The truly great songs are simple, limited in scope, and stay on point. There is no reason to bring up God’s justice if the song is about God’s love. There’s no point in adding a phrase about the return of Christ, if the song is about the Holy Spirit.
Don’t limit the scope of your song because the other subjects are not important. Limit the scope of your song because your subject IS important. If you want to write about other subjects, DO IT, but give each subject its own song; if not, your listener may end up confused.
Write a song that’s easy to sing
Fantastic worship songs are easy to sing both in range and melody. Unfortunately we are in an era of Christian music in which many popular songs feature a baritone in the higher end of his range. While I like to give Chris Tomlin a hard time, you can actually thank Michael W. Smith for this.
High baritone parts are tough to match if you are a bass, alto, or lower baritone. In the end, the only ones really happy with this type of athletically written music are first sopranos and tenors.
Great worship songs on the other hand are written in the lower ranges because this is where the majority of people sing. The average worshiper doesn’t care what part they sing, and they certainly don’t care about key. All they know is that your song is unsingable, (whether this is actually true or not.)
Conclusion
So there you have it, three thoughts on what makes a great worship song. Avoid cliches. Keep it simple. Make sure it’s easy to sing. Doing these three things will not guarantee you’ll write a hit song, or become the next Chris Tomlin. (Can I insert one more jab here? No? Ok.) But it will give you a leg up to writing a great worship song.