If you’re a worship leader, you know the frustration of leading worship for people who aren’t with you.
Besides the noise of your band, you could hear a pin drop in the room – people aren’t singing, lifting their hands, or having a good time.
Most of the time, there is something we can do about it.
As worship leaders we need to be students of our congregation – choosing the songs, sounds, and experiences that encourage participation. That’s what this podcast is all about.
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Notes From This Episode
7 Reasons Why Your Congregation Won’t Worship
1. Your music is too confusing
2. Your songs aren’t singable
3. Your songs aren’t familiar enough
4. Your band is disengaged
5. You don’t connect with the generations
6. You perform your worship set
7. People aren’t ready
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Question: What are the challenges you are experiencing when it comes to engaging your people? What progress are you seeing? You can leave a comment by clicking here!
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I have really been enjoying your blog, and now podcast. I am a relatively new worship leader of a small -medium size church. I have been on praise teams in the past, but this is my first experience being the worship leader. It is for sure a whole new ballgame. My question to you is this….how do I know what keys are comfortable for people to sing in? I have a low voice and have always sung a part and not the melody. Now that I am leading, I am finding it difficult to find a happy medium for myself, my fellow team members, and the congregation. I am trying to stretch myself and sing in higher keys, but then it tends to sound like I am straining and people start focusing on me and they realize that I am not comfortable. In essence, I become a distraction. Right now, I am sharing the responsibility of leading songs with a team member who sings higher, so at least we can get a broader range and not have to sing so low all the time. So, what actually is a comfortable range for a congregation?
Cheryl, that is a great question. I’d love anyone’s input on this! For me, I try not to go above a high E (two E’s above middle C) and below an A (A below middle C). I find that’s a solid range for both men and women. My friend Rick Muchow has a great iPhone app with a “best key finder” feature. You may want to check that out too! Hope that helps! Anyone else with input?
You don’t have to sing to be the leader. If the congregation is more comfortable in a higher key then go with it and have the other guy sing. You could take lessons and expand your range. Many guys can sing much higher when trained. Don’t be discouraged.
David, I was going to add reason # 8, singing in keys comfortable for the leaders, but not for the congregation. Cheryl brought it up. Here are some quick suggestions. You can find a text book for arranging or composing for mixed choir, usually referred to as SATB (soprano alto tenor bass). It should give sample voice ranges. But the most common untrained voices are mezzo-soprano for female and baritone for male. Your average congregation will be present in these voices at 4 or 5 to one of the extended range voices. That range is roughly G below the treble cleff staff , to top space E on the treble cleff staff. Roughly that is about an octave and a half. Most hymn books have about 90% of the melodies written in this range. The outer edges of that, especially the high side might be a little uncomfortable for someone who is timid. If you have a strong low voice like a true alto or bass, the congregation will be comfortable about 3 or 4 half steps higher. Same thing in reverse if you are a true tenor or soprano. Example, Chris Tomlin songs are almost always too high for congregational singing. See if there is a middle school or high school choir director you can talk to for advice.
Also go to your favorite Christian store and look for one of your favorite songs on a CD back up track. They will be in Low, Medium and High voice. Some brands have all three on the same CD. Medium will usually get you closer to the average congregation. Figure out what you have to do to sing with the medium. Apply the same technique, or ratio to each new song. As you do it , you will get better at it.
Don, been there.
Ha – I replied to Cheryl’s comment before reading this. But we basically described the same range. These are some other great tips, Don. Thanks for sharing.
I should have known there was an app for that !
Always 😉 How’s the new music coming along?
David that is a fantastic podcast. You should transcribe it and turn it into an e-book.
Since you’re not working on anything these days :), want to make this for me?
Wow! Most of those points are exactly what I have been thinking for the last ten years. The people don’t sing because the songs are unfamiliar, confusing, in a difficult key or just not relevant.
I keep the songs current by adding to the rotation every four to six weeks, If a new song is unknown to the congregation then I teach it to them, It sounds corny but it is lots of fun.
Donald, I don’t believe that’s corny at all. Matter of fact, it’s very effective to teach songs in a service. Makes it more human and relatable. I’m glad you mentioned relevance – sometimes the songs we choose are not just hard to sing – they don’t have true, solid, or relatable lyrics.
Podcast was great and the points are extremely relevant. I would also like to extend point “7. People Aren’t Ready” a little. Sometime the congregation isn’t ready to worship, being distracted by other things. As worship leaders it is our role to bring our congregation into worship mode, whether by prayer, scripture, music, multimedia or a combination of all. I must admit it doesn’t work all the time. So the steps would be: Prepare as a worship team; prepare the church; Worship!
Very true, Greg. Thinking about “preparing your church” opens up a ton of new possibilities!
David,
Can you post a link to that “best key finder” app?
Here you go! https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/rick-muchow/id615399837?mt=8#
Thankyou David for sharing your wisdom. I lead worship for a wonderful group of 30-50, varying in age from 4-94 years old each Sunday in a “non-traditional” church setting. (HotRod Shop). I use instrumental tracks with lyrics displayed on a 70″ TV via the wonderful SG director App by WorshipTeam.TV. The transitions are very helpful, however I have little flexibility song-wise and I often times use Youtube instrumental worship videos. I am joined by a beautiful woman who worships with flag and dance. In addition to prayer, occasional scripture reading & confession, as a solo worship singer, (not playing an instrument), can you please share some wisdom that may help engagement? Thankyou so kindly.