Songwriting Toolkit – The Verse-Chorus-Verse-Chorus Structure

Last week I defined the standard elements of contemporary songs: verse (including pre-chorus), chorus, bridge and refrain. Now let’s see how songwriters put these elements together to create the structures of various praise and worship songs.

This week, we’ll look at the most basic, popular structure in 21^st century music: V-C-V-C. Remember as we noted last week, when we speak of the verse (V), it may or may not include a pre-chorus/climb at the end, leading into the chorus.

The first verse begins a story or thesis, introduces the characters and ideas, and leads the congregation (lyrically and musically) into the chorus. The verse doesn’t usually include your song’s title. When it does, the title is often the first line of the verse.

The chorus typically follows the first verse, although songwriters occasionally begin with the chorus. Matt Redman’s “10,000 Reasons (Bless The Lord)” is a good example of this alternative pattern.

Remember, the chorus usually includes your song title and main melodic hook, and summarizes the idea of your song. In God Songs, Paul Baloche and Jimmy and Carol Owens describe the relation of verse to chorus like this:

“The verses develop the theme, and the choruses celebrate it. Each verse sets up the chorus and leads logically into it. The chorus with its repeated hook capsulizes the main point of the song.” [i]

Tim Hughes says, “I like choruses that are quite anthemic – I love to really scream out a chorus.” [ii]

For this to happen, you must do more than just make your melody soar. The lyrics must be simple, and the phrasing should allow worshipers to hang onto words and syllables – short words, long notes.

In an interview with me here at My Song In The Night, Aaron Ivey of The Austin Stone Community Church illustrates this when discussing his song “Love Shines”:

“The idea for this song came from a Valley of Vision prayer entitled, “Love Lustres At Calvary.” Every since I stumbled across the Valley of Vision (a collection of Puritan prayers from the 18th and 19th century), I have been mesmerized by the way in which they describe the gospel.

“So, with this song, my co-writing friend Philip Edsel and I wanted to uphold the integrity of the Puritan prayer in the verses with intricate, hymn-like, and weighty lyrics. But, we also wanted the congregation to be able to belt out an anthemic and simple chorus celebrating the truths of the gospel. Since the verses were a little more complex in content, we felt like the chorus called for simplicity.”

The second verse continues your story, provides additional information and leads back into the chorus. When we get to the chorus, we should understand its message on a deeper level.

Some songs contain a third verse (so the structure would be V-C-V-C-V-C). Indeed, there is no end to the number of verses you could write, although each subsequent verse after the second will decrease the chances of your song “making it” (whether “making it” means your church’s catalog, a publishing deal, radio airplay, or downloads/sales). It’s harder to maintain interest with each verse.

Still, good writers can occasionally write songs that maintain interest through three verses. Jennie Riddle does it in “Revelation Song.” Each verse is only four lines long, and the story develops through vivid scenic description and a melody that makes us want to keep “going along for the ride” as we build to the powerful chorus.

Examples of V-C-V-C worship songs include “Everlasting God” by Brenton Brown and Ken Riley, “Hosanna (Praise Is Rising)” by Paul Baloche and Brenton Brown, “How Great Is The Love” by Meredith Andrews, Jacob Sooter and Paul Baloche, “Refiner’s Fire” by Brian Doerksen and “How He Loves” by John Mark McMillan (this is a three-verse song, although most churches and recording artists only sing the first two verses).

One popular variation to V-C-V-C is “V-C,” in which the first — and only — verse is repeated a second (and sometimes third) time, as in “Shout To The Lord” by Darlene Zschech. Is this bad? No – if you’ve said all you want to say after the first verse, why add a second? Just make sure your verse is strong enough that worshipers will want to repeat it.

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[i] Paul Baloche, Jimmy and Carol Owens, God Songs: How To Write And Select Songs for Worship, (Lindale, TX: leadworship.com, 2004), p. 55

[ii] Matt Redman, Redman Interviews Tim Hughes (2009), http://www.worshipcentral.org/forum/topic/song-writing-interview-with-matt-redman-and-tim-hughes

 

What Does It Really Mean To Offer Sacrifices In The Right Spirit?

“Offer sacrifices in the right spirit, and trust the Lord.” Psalm 4:5 (NLT)

This verse jumped out of my Bible, arrested my attention and demanded my self-assessment of the spirit of my own sacrifices to the Lord.  Do I worship Him (offer sacrifices) in the right spirit?  Do I trust the Lord as I sing out His praises when I’m alone or with the gathered church?  What does it really mean to offer sacrifices in the right spirit?

My first response to this heart probing was “sometimes.”  Sometimes I trust the Lord.  Sometimes I worship Him with a right spirit, acknowledging who He is and what He’s done and praising Him for what He’s promised. Sometimes.

But sometimes I struggle to remember who God is and what He’s done.  Sometimes I fail to trust him.  Sometimes I forget what He’s promised.  Sometimes I offer sacrifices to Him with a spirit of obligation and religious duty.  Sometimes I’m expecting Him to reciprocate, as if He owes me anything and as if He hasn’t already accepted me because of Jesus, my Savior and great High Priest.  Sometimes I withhold worship from the Lord, rather than rejoicing in His presence with a heart celebrating the goodness of God who sovereignly rules over all and has poured out grace to sinners by giving Himself as the ransom for our sins, so that we might be the righteousness of God.  Sometimes.

And yet for all of my imperfect “sometimes,” the perfect sacrifice of Christ is enough.  His blood is always sufficient to cover me, to wash the vilest sinner clean.  The worthy Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world, the Great High Priest over all creation, Jesus, our faithful Worship Leader, never fails to worship God perfectly in our place.  He always lives to intercede and offer sacrifices to God in the right spirit on our behalf.  So we can boldly come to God’s throne through Jesus, who has taken all of our sin and given us all of His righteousness. I’m learning that to offer sacrifices to the Lord in the right spirit is to remember and trust in the finished (salvific) and ongoing (intercessory) work of Jesus.  To trust the Lord is to place our confidence in the finished and ongoing work of Jesus, not in ourselves or any other person, place or thing.  And it is to receive His grace to help us in our times of need (like when we struggle to trust Him). After meditating on this verse from Psalm 4, I discovered some additional insight from my worship pastor, Mike Cosper, in his new book Rhythms of Grace: How the church’s Worship Tells the Story of the Gospel.  He reflects on Genesis 4:1-8, the story of two worshipers who offer their sacrifices to God in two subtle but very different spirits:

“Cain and Abel are both worshipers. . . . Abel’s offering acknowledges the lordship of God over creation. It flows from a heart that knows its place, its smallness in the scope of creation. . . . [it] says to God that He comes first, . . . that He deserves the best. Abel is acknowledging that all of life is a gift, flowing from God’s generous, creative grace. His offering is a response to that provision. “Cain, by contrast, is just showing up.  He knows he needs to make an offering, but it’s an offering of mere obligation, not of love or humility. . . . Forgetting who God is and what He’s done, Cain reserves the best for himself, ignoring that all he has comes as a gift. He makes an offering and he expects God to reciprocate this offering with acceptance. . . . “Abel’s offering is made in faith, acknowledging the God who created all and promised redemption to Eve, but Cain’s offering, made out of rote obligation and with a hollow heart believes “God owes me,” is rejected.”

Mike goes on to point out that God’s response to Cain (and to all of us who offer proud, obligatory sacrifices to God) is grace.  Although Cain’s offering is not accepted by God, and even though Cain responds with rage that leads him to murder his brother whose offering was accepted by God, Cain receives God’s grace.  (Read it for yourself, the Genesis account and Mike’s book.)

“Instead of executing Cain for his crime, God spares his life. . . . God isn’t done with Cain because He isn’t done with any of us. Ultimately, our future hope of worship rests not on the shoulders of any of us getting the equation right, but on the God who promises to restore it.”

For all of us who only sometimes worship God in the right spirit, who only sometimes trust Him, let’s always remember that God has fulfilled His promise and restored worship through the perfect sacrifice and intercession of His Son on our behalf.

Common Song Elements – Verses, Choruses, Bridges, Oh My!

In the coming weeks we’ll examine the most common song structures in congregational praise and worship music (such as the Verse – Verse – Verse structure and the Verse – Pre-Chorus – Chorus structure). Today, let’s define each element that is involved in one or more of those structures.

Verse:

The verse is the part of the song that tells a story (this might be a plot-driven story or the exposition of a theme, a doctrine or attribute of God or a feeling). A verse provides insight leading to the chorus, which is the main message of the song. Subsequent verses move the story forward or “color” the chorus in a new way, deepening our understanding of the chorus.

Worship songs may have one verse, two, three or even more, as we’ll see when we discuss common song forms. And while the melody and meter of each verse remain the same, the lyrics of each verse must advance your song’s concept. If you write a song in which two verses do the same thing, you don’t need one of them.

Most verses in worship songs are either four lines long (expressed as eight musical bars) or eight lines long (sixteen musical bars). For example, the verses in “God Of Wonders” by Steve Hindalong and Marc Byrd are four lines long, whereas the verses in Stuart Townend’s and Keith Getty’s “How Deep The Father’s Love For Us” are eight lines long. Of course there are many exceptions.

Pre-Chorus:

A pre-chorus is an optional song element that is really a sub-element of the verse.

The pre-chorus is typically a two- or four-line section, in between the main body of the verse and the chorus. Some pre-choruses may have an odd-number of lines, which can increase the feeling that something is missing – something, of course, that you will deliver in the chorus.

Another name for the pre-chorus is the “climb,” because this part of the verse heightens the anticipation of the congregation for the approaching climax in the chorus. Most of the time, the melody will literally climb from the notes in the verse to the higher chorus. Many contemporary worship songs contain a pre-chorus, such as Matt Maher’s “Your Grace Is Enough”:

“So remember Your people
Remember Your children
Remember your promise, O God …”

Sometimes the pre-chorus that follows the beginning of each verse will have different lyrics. Other times, the second pre-chorus will repeat the lyrics of the first. Regardless, all pre-choruses in a song will have the same melody. In the above example, Maher’s pre-chorus lyrics remain constant after each verse. Kristen and I do the same thing in our “Bless The Lord Who Gives And Takes” (which we’ll release soon as a free download). The pre-chorus following each verse says:

“Lord, You gave and You took,
Somehow for our good;
Our eyes burn with tears
But they turn to You …”

Chorus:

The chorus is the part of the song that usually contains the title, the main theme of a song, and the big lyrical and melodic hooks. A chorus is a distinct lyrical section and is almost always a distinct musical section as well.

Because of these things, and because it is repeated several times, the chorus is the part that most often sticks to the listener’s mind. If we compare a song to a political speech, the verses would be the details, and the chorus would be the memorable slogan.

The melody of your chorus should be catchy, while the lyrics summarize the emotion and theme of the song. No matter how many times you repeat the chorus in a song, the chorus melody should remain constant. The lyrics almost always stay the same as well (writers of “story songs” sometimes break this rule to show us how the events described in the verses are affecting the message of the chorus. You’ll find this most often in country music).

The title almost always appears within the chorus, typically at the beginning and sometimes at the end. Sometimes the title appears at the beginning and end, as well as other places in the chorus. When Shannon Lewis, McKendree Augustus, Gary Durbin and I wrote the first draft of “Your Will,” we began the first two lines of the chorus with the words “Your will.” Paul Baloche advised us to end the chorus with those words as well, and it made the chorus much more effective when recorded by Saint Lewis.

Refrain:

A refrain is not the same thing as a chorus. The difference between the two is that a refrain is a line that is repeated at the end of every verse, resolving the verse (often, the lyric of the refrain is also the title of the song). A chorus, as we’ve seen, is a distinct musical section that follows the verse. Most choruses are longer and more thematically robust than refrains.

The refrain is part of an older music tradition than the modern chorus, a tradition that includes hymns, sea shanties and other folk songs. Most songwriters in the modern American pop tradition who have used refrains are those who are also fluent in older folk music traditions. For instance, at the end of each verse of Simon and Garfunkel’s “Bridge Over Troubled Water” they repeat the line “Like a bridge over troubled water.” And Bob Dylan ends each verse of “Blowin’ In The Wind” with “The answer is blowin’ in the wind.”

Hymns that include refrains include “All Creatures Of Our God And King” by Francis of Assissi. Each verse ends with:

O praise Him! O praise Him! Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!

Other examples of hymns that use refrains include “O Come All Ye Faithful” and “O Come, O Come Emmanuel.”

Bridge:

Modern worship songwriters often write bridges (containing lyrics and music). When they do, the bridge usually follows the chorus (as we’ll see later, some worship songs place the bridge between verses, and leave out the chorus altogether). It is shorter than a verse and differs melodically, lyrically and rhythmically from both verse and chorus.

Unlike a chorus, a bridge leaves us hanging, harmonically (and often lyrically). Like physical bridges that run across rivers, the bridge is not a destination – it’s the way we get from one point to another. The bridge provides a melodic contrast, and it provides either new information or a new perspective before leading us back into the chorus (or verse).

Many of Chris Tomlin’s songs are known for their emotionally charged, melodically high bridges. Think “How Great Is Our God,” “I Will Rise,” “Not To Us,” and “Whom Shall I Fear (God Of Angel Armies).”

• Photo above by Frederic Bisson, used via Creative Commons license

How Should Christians Worship In The Aftermath Of Violence And Terror?

Our nation was jolted last week by the tragic, civilian “war zone” created at the Boston Marathon after two terrible explosions killed 3 people and horribly wounded nearly two hundred others.  The news media photos depicted bloody carnage on the streets of Massachusetts, terror rarely witnessed on U.S. soil in modern times.

These acts of violent terror against humanity happen every day around the world.  No matter how it happens, or where it happens, the heart of God weeps with all who weep in the aftermath.  And His righteous anger is stirred against the wicked.  He is not sleeping.  He is not deaf.  He hears the bloody cries for justice.  And He has promised to righteously judge the wicked.

How should Christians respond to the rampant evils, oppression and injustice of this world as we live to trust, obey and declare what is true about God?  What should our worship of God sound like in response to such evil?  Consider this Psalm of David, which he sung to the Lord as his own cry for justice in the face of great persecution and violence:

“Arise, O Lord, in anger! Stand up against the fury of my enemies!

Wake up, my God, and bring justice! . . .

For You look deep within the mind and heart, O righteous God. 

God is my shield, saving those whose hearts are true and right.

God is an honest judge. He is angry with the wicked every day.

If a person does not repent, God will sharpen His sword; He will bend and string His bow.

He will prepare His deadly weapons and shoot His flaming arrows.

The wicked conceive evil; they are pregnant with trouble and give birth to lies.

They dig a deep pit to trap others, then fall into it themselves.

The trouble they make for others backfires on them.

The violence they plan falls on their own heads.

I will thank the Lord because He is just;

I will sing praise to the name of the Lord Most High.”  — Psalm 7:6-17

David doesn’t mince words in crying out for God to bring justice.  Neither does he neglect to focus his attention upon the character and trustworthy reputation of God.  He vehemently declares:

• who God is (our Shield and Savior, an Honest Judge who is angry with the wicked every day; God is Just)
• what God does and why He does it (searches the minds and hearts of men and saves the upright in heart, but prepares and shoots His deadly weapons at the wicked and unrepentant).

David acknowledges the wickedness, the violence and evil all around him, but he moves to remember the sovereign and just rule of God over everything. He petitions the righteous anger and perfect justice of God as his defense.  But he also gives a warning to the unrepentant as he vividly describes their fate in the hands of the Living, Jealous and Holy God.

And he declares God’s mercy (a call to repentance) by reminding all of us that God is a shield for those whose hearts are true and right (who have repented and turned to God).  David’s song declares God’s vengeance, His justice and His mercy.  God punishes the wicked, but He saves those who repent.  And this salvation for sinners is made possible only by the justice of God demonstrated as He poured out upon Himself the wrath reserved for sinners.  He punished Himself for the evil sinfulness of the world!

Yes, God is angry with the wicked every day.  But He is also merciful to repentant sinners every day.  So as we respond to the violent evil surrounding us every day, including the horrible tragedy in Boston, we should join David in crying out for God’s justice, remembering His mercy and salvation, and giving thanks and praise to the Lord who is Just, to the Lord MOST HIGH.

Museo Diocesano de Santiago Apostol photo used via Creative Commons license

Should Worship Songwriters Be As Inspired By Creation As By God’s Word?

Since all of creation declares the glory of God, everywhere you go can inspire a song. And our churches are full of songs that praise the God of beautiful sunrises, waterfalls, snowcapped mountains and other natural wonders. Perhaps the most famous current worship song of this nature is the anthem “Indescribable,” which Laura Story wrote after being inspired while driving her car through a mountain range:

“It was one of those moments where the sun was setting and the leaves were falling. It was gorgeous, and I just began to think about creation. I think it’s Psalm 19 that says, ‘The heavens are declaring the glory of God.’ It was like that – as if the rocks were crying out. It was this glorious moment of looking at creation and thinking ‘Wow, there are still people in this world that don’t believe in God, people that think this was an accident.’ I didn’t have any words to describe God’s splendor at that moment; I was thinking, ‘You are truly indescribable.’” [i]

Story’s first verse and chorus came in that burst of inspiration, but she labored over the second verse. And of course that meant turning to the Bible. In this case she used God’s response in Job 38 that begins “Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation?”

Story’s verse parallels this chapter to great effect. This moves “Indescribable” far beyond a pantheistic celebration of the natural world, and gives us a proper theological framework for being awestruck by our natural surroundings. So, go ahead and let the many wonders of creation inspire you. But remember to think biblically. As Story continues,

“It is scary to think of worship songwriters not being determined to use the Word. When you put biblical truth to the songs used in churches, you’ll have the congregation leave singing the sermon. You’ll have God’s thoughts, things that are God-breathed, stuck in their heads. It’s sad to think about a really catchy tune paired up with bad theology because that could, honestly, do a lot of damage in church.” [ii]

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[i] Laura Story as told to Jeremy Armstrong, Song Stories: The Stories Behind Worship’s Best Loved Songs, (originally published as a series of columns under the title Worship Leader Magazine), San Juan Capistrano: Worship Leader Partnership, 2012), p. 48

[ii] Ibid.

• “ValleyFire” photo, top, by Sojourn deacon Chuck Heeke

How And Why To Worship In The Midst Of Suffering And Pain

In the 5 months since we buried our infant son, Parker, Bobby and I have experienced tremendous grace to daily endure the pain of living here without our child.  God has helped us to know and remember what is true and to praise Him for what He has done and what He has promised.  He has shown us the power of His perfect strength in our weaknesses when we struggle to discern and deny the lies of our enemy, and when we grapple with the Truth.

We have been challenged more than ever to trust and praise God at all times because our sorrow is heavy and often dims our eyes.  But no matter how sad we are, or how malicious our enemy is, Christ’s victory over death daily confronts us as a witness to the trustworthiness and praiseworthiness of our saving God.  The Ruler of Everything is who He says He is. He makes good on all His promises.

We’re not alone in suffering or in waging daily battles against a relentless foe.  We’re not the only Christians tempted to remain silent and leave unsung the praises of our most worthy God.  We’re not the only grieving parents who are tempted to be envious of other parents enjoying their children here.  We’re not the only ones who sometimes have a hard time rejoicing with those who are rejoicing to receive their healthy babies delivered safely into their arms.  We’re not the only people who wrestle with a growing desire to have children [insert your own good desire here] and constantly fight to keep this good desire from becoming an idolatrous desire.  We are ALL challenged to trust and praise God at all times.

And yet we are all still commanded by God to praise Him because He is forever worthy to be praised.  He is flawless in His words and ways.  His nature is perfect.  He is good, kind, holy, righteous, loving, faithful, longsuffering, merciful, just, wise and true, among countless other attributes.  God alone has the right to rule over everything.  He is great and greatly to be praised.

However, in praising God we are not expected to forget our suffering or ignore our pain.  We can worship Him in our suffering, with our pain.  When I am gripped again with the sharp pains accompanying my awareness of Parker’s absence here, I have the opportunity to express appropriate praise to the Lord who has saved Parker and allowed my son to be present with Him in heaven, safe forever.  And I can praise Him for adopting me as His own child and giving me life beyond the grave and a home forever with Him in heaven!

Yes, when I’m bowed low with physical pain, I have the opportunity to praise God for His promise to return and free us once and for all from every harmful effect of sin’s curse on our dying bodies and this dying world.  I can praise Him for the new body He has promised to give me and for the new heavens and new earth He has prepared.  And I can praise Him for bearing immeasurable pain in His own body when He bore the wrath of God reserved for my sins.  As I bear physical pain, I will praise Him because I am healed by His wounds!

Brothers and sisters, I know you understand what it’s like to endure a barrage of lies from our vengeful enemy.  We grow weary as we endure his attacks.  But our Father will shut that liar up when we call upon the name of Jesus and cry for help.  And He will NOT hand us over to our enemies.  He has already defeated our enemy and will silence Satan forever.  Our trust in the Lord, our boasting in Christ alone, our praise of His worthy Name is a powerful weapon against our vanquished foe.

In this world we have many troubles.  We are sad and bear heavy hearts.  But we are also joyfully expectant because we bear a Hope that will never be disappointed.  We have the promises of Christ who has overcome the world and left us His gift of perfect peace.  It is fitting for us to praise the Lord in the midst of our suffering.  Satan wants all of us to curse God and die.  He wants us to buy the lie that God is holding out on us.  But this wasn’t true in the Garden and it isn’t true now.  God has given us everything we need in Christ Jesus.  This is another reason to praise Him!

So, I will not curse God and die.  I will bless the Lord who gives and takes.  And when I think of my son Parker and the countless other little ones that God has redeemed, I will continue to be overwhelmed by God’s goodness.  How great is the redeeming love of God!  How WORTHY He is to be praised!  As we persevere through suffering on earth, let us join the hosts of heaven belting out the praises of God, singing the triumph of His blood, and silencing that condemned old serpent.

The Father of Lies is no match for the Father of LIFE.

Our Father, and Jesus the Son He gave up making us His own, and the Holy Spirit He gave as our Comforter, Counselor and Intercessor, should be praised now and forever!

• Top photo (Great Suffering Jesus) by Thomas Quine, used via Creative Commons license

My David LaChance Interview: MusaicWorship, Songs For The Book Of Luke

David LaChance (pictured) is the founder of Musaic Worship and staff Worship Leader at Christ Memorial Church in Vermont. He’s also a big part of The Gospel Coalition’s Songs for the Book of Luke worship record: songwriter, musician, vocalist and arranger. Get the inside story on the creation of Songs for the Book of Luke, and learn about the goal of Musaic Worship in my interview with David (full version below — an excerpt appears at TheGospelCoalition.org, entitled Go Behind The Scenes Of Songs for the Book of Luke):

Bobby Gilles: You wore several “hats” in The Gospel Coalitionʼs Songs for the Book of Luke project. One of them is “songwriter,” which weʼll talk about in a little bit. But first, tell me about some of your other roles, and how you came to be involved in this project?

David LaChance: I met Mike Cosper, who produced this project, in 2008. We interacted over the years and in 2011 I came to Louisville for a yearlong project, and attended Sojourn Church. This was around the time that Sojournʼs newest campus (J-Town) was beginning to hold services, and I informed Mike that I was available to lead worship and work with the worship teams while the campus became rooted. Throughout this time Mike invited me to be one of the musicians on Sojournʼs The Water and the Blood album, for which I did a little arranging and co-wrote the title track with Neil DeGraide. The album was a very positive experience that paved the way for my involvement in the Songs for the Book of Luke project.

For the Luke project, Mike invited me to again contribute as one of the musicians but also to arrange most of the selected songs. I played the piano on the album and sang lead on one track. I arranged a majority of the songs, including the choir arrangements. (We had a recording session with a select choir from Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, and that was a project highlight for me.) The arrangements were designed to be structural placeholders that would allow the musicians to improvise efficiently and give them a “finished” starting point. Some of the arrangements remained intact while other arrangements took on a whole new personality as the musicians began to improvise and infuse their own style.

Bobby Gilles: A lot of people may be unaware of the journey a song can take from “rough demo” to “finished project.” Can you describe that journey a bit, using the example of some of these Luke songs?

David LaChance: There are preliminary questions that I am asking as I begin an arrangement. First and foremost, I want to know what the Producerʼs vision is for the album and then for the individual song(s). Other questions are: Who is the demographic? What is the instrumentation I have available? Who is singing the song, as this determines not only the key but also what instrumentation best serves the vocal tone?

Even though problems with the arrangements are often fixed in the mix, Iʼm trying to achieve proper balances and dynamics in the arrangement as this gives the most natural sound. I connect emotionally with an arrangement that would work in the context of a live performance and so Iʼm assuming others do as well. This is how weʼre wired.

When these questions are answered then itʼs time to face the infamous blank canvas. Musically and lyrically, the song is already leading you to a specific end and itʼs often a matter of simply letting it lead you, while at the same time resisting and going your own way. For instance, you can choose to be impressionistic when painting a landscape, but in the end it still should look like a painting of a landscape. I want to be original, but I want to serve the song and I donʼt want to alienate a critical mass — especially if the music is intended for a broad demographic, which is essentially the demographic of all worship music. This is a challenging balance to maintain and itʼs not always possible.

This project was especially challenging, as it required many different genres to retain their individual identity and yet remain a cohesive unit. Mike and I missed the mark a few times starting out but eventually found the right balance. When we accepted that we were not going to realize every idea we were hearing then we got into a nice rhythm, but this is the very point of the project. We did not set out to make a worship compilation but to work as a worship coalition. The contributors are separate in culture and preference but the end result is unified in its essence. So, it has to be accepted on this basis without any preconceived preferential hopes or expectations about what the music should sound like. Again, itʼs not a compilation album.

This challenge was made easier by my background in film scoring. I am comfortable as a musical chameleon. If the song needs to be framed in bluegrass, traditional or go the route of CCM I find it fairly easy to serve the song, and this is essential in order to avoid what I call the “ouroboros effect” (discovering that youʼve “painted yourself into the landscape”). Your own musical personality will, necessarily, be “seen in the strokes”, but a project that is not your own requires that you be intentional to avoid making yourself central.

When you make your final arranging decisions and begin “putting paint on the canvas” itʼs just a matter of filtering your ideas through the overall vision, using musical and compositional rules as boundaries and working within these creatively. Einsteinʼs rule helps at this stage: “Everything must be made as simple as possible but no simpler.”

As far as arranging with other musicians, when you have the right “heads” two or more are always better than one. The musicians on Songs for the Book of Luke are top notch. It is amazing to watch your “finished” ideas metamorphosize into their second and third forms as different artists interpret your work. The artistic process is fluid. The “finished” product is merely a single frame that is framed and sold as the work itself, and from here many churches will take these songs and continue the artistic process to fit their own context. My hope is that in processing the album Christians donʼt get bogged down in stylistic preferences and miss the forest for the trees.

Bobby Gilles: Tell me about the recording process for this record. What was it like to work with a variety of worship leaders and pastors from around the country? Did they all come to Louisville to record live, as you did?

David LaChance: The recording process happened in two phases. In the first phase all of the musicians traveled to a studio in El Paso and spent a week working off of my arrangments, coming up with variations, deciding to keep the original in some cases and in other cases coming up with entirely new arrangments. In the second phase the singers and some of the musicians traveled to Louisville for a week to track the vocals.

It really is a joy to work with like-minded brothers and sisters in Christ who have the first priority of abiding in truth and then of feeding Christʼs sheep. The body of Christ is a mosaic of different preferences, styles, methods and callings and yet the world knows us by our unbreakable unity despite these broad preferential differences. Because our piece of the mosaic is music, I refer to our group as a musaic.

I appreciate the variety of contexts and age groups represented in the contributors to this project. A group of elitist hipsters or the Nashville machine didn’t make this project; traditional and contemporary contexts that included older and younger generations of men and women serving their local churches were all working together without an attitude that implied their way is really the right way. This is the definition of loving the brethren. This is the love the world witnesses, wonders about and knows us by.

Bobby Gilles: You wrote a song for this record called “Song of Zechariah,” (sound sample here) arranged and inspired by Zechariahʼs song in Luke 1:67-79 (a hymn of praise commonly known as the Benedictus). What drew you to that section of Scripture?

David LaChance: Well, the passage is a well-known song … so I figured there must be an advantage to working with a proven “lyricist.” Joking aside, I like the idea of connecting musically with something in our Christian history that originally contained music.

For the most part, we sing the same notes today as 1st Century Christians so I feel like in some way we are speaking the same language even though we are worlds apart. In a way, music has that power to reverse the confusion of Babel. Itʼs just a little more edifying knowing these very words were also sung, and these are words full of prophetic, gospel truth. Also, I was surprised that I was unable to find a contemporary treatment of the Benedictus and I thought this was a good reason to choose this text.

When choosing a passage, I also keep the corporate application in mind, and in this case it was the ʻalready/not yetʼ tension of the Christian walk. I have attempted recently to convey this tension in my lyrical content, not from the viewpoint of the struggle with our sin (guilt-wrought groveling), which I think is often an inverse of the “me-centered” worship songs, but between the struggles with suffering that results from sin being in the world and of our certain promises of all things being made new in Christ. Because of Christ, we are able to offer praise amidst trials without any doubt that God has saved His people once and for all. Yet we are aware that we are a people who are being saved through defeat in this world, and will continue to groan along with creation for the consummation of Christʼs Kingdom — even in the afterlife (Revelation 6:10).

However, we are not without a firm hope, and this is what I attempt to convey in the song. Even after Christʼs declaration, “It is finished” our song remains a saving plea and a song of praise, or “Hosanna in the highest!” This is summed up and restated in the bridge of the song: “We sing a song of faith, we sing a song of hope, we sing a song of love, and for the sake of love we are saved.” (John 3:16, Romans 8:38-39)

Bobby Gilles: Of course songs in the Bible donʼt rhyme, and they arenʼt structured the way we typically structure our modern, Western songs. How do you decide which (and how many) scripture phrases to quote, which to paraphrase, and how to include new words and phrases in the spirit of the passage?

David LaChance: My lyrical treatment of this passage in Luke is a paraphrase and does not include the second half of Zechariahʼs song explaining the role of his son John. Although I use straight Scripture whenever possible, I think there is a way to say what the text is saying in a way that fits the chosen meter of your song lyrics without having to worry about conveying every detail in the text. In “The Song of Zechariah,” my verses are really a paraphrase of a paraphrase, pulling trigger words out of Zechariahʼs song but living at the macro level, linking his themes structurally with broad redemptive themes.

This macro level writing is most observable in the chorus where I link the content of the verses with Jesusʼ triumphal entry into Jerusalem (Luke 19) using the worship phrase “Hosanna in the highest!” (Mark 11).

And to avoid the situation of a congregation singing something without knowing itʼs meaning, the pre-chorus essentially explains the meaning of Hosanna, “This is all our song or praise; this is all our saving plea”. This is a way to breathe new life into a phrase that borders on “Christianese.”

Keeping the lyrics simple, accessible and loyal to the profundity of the text is the hardest part about writing good worship lyrics. Iʼm coming from a Christian Contemporary Music background and so Iʼm leaning towards a less-is-more approach in worship music, while trying to avoid pragmatism that waters down the gospel or makes the worship service all about the individual experience.

For me, worship with music is about preparing the heart and that is done through stirring the affections. The path to the heart is through the mind (Godʼs Word), but, as a Film Scoring major, I wholeheartedly believe that there is a musical setting for each song that is the most efficient conduit for the truth being sung. A text that is inappropriately underscored musically can achieve diminishing returns; at least this has been my own experience over the last eight years as a worship leader. I have an almost paralleled priority of underscoring the text with the right music. In other words, Iʼm not thinking about the lyrics apart from the music.

Working within a traditional context the last few years, I have grown to truly appreciate the classic hymns, but my CCM background causes me to still shrink away from using archaic pronouns and stuffy terminology. I avoid them when possible because they can come off as “contrived” (if youʼre a hipster) or “out-of-touch” (if youʼre in the traditional vein), but complex terms can be useful vessels to carry a lot of information in a small space. So, if I need to use a term that I think would alienate a majority of the congregation (e.g., Ebenezer) I will explain the meaning of the term in the song itself when writing or within the readings between songs if singing another writerʼs song. Itʼs not an either/or scenario but our aim should be alienating the least amount of people and bridging the gaps where there is potential for alienation.

Some questions Iʼm asking as I go through this process are: 1. Do I have the Scriptural context correct? Am I saying what the author is saying? 2. Have I watered it down for the sake of pragmatism? 3. Do the words sound natural when sung, when read? If not … keep going. 5. Am I using clichés in a clichéd way? 6. Does it initiate a response of worship from me, the writer?

Bobby Gilles: At your site MusaicWorship.com, youʼve posted the demo mp3 of “Song of Zechariah.” Although the melody is the same, the arrangement on the Songs for the Book of Luke record goes in a different direction than some would have expected. How did you light on that arrangement?

David LaChance: My song was one of the only songs we went into the studio with that retained the original arrangement of the submitted demo. So, when we went to record the song, we essentially started out with a blank canvas. At first, we went the CCM route of the demo, but this direction wasnʼt ideal for all of the musicians. Dan Phelps, who played lead guitar on this album, starting playing a Motown style guitar rhythm. The band immediately went in that direction and the arrangement fell into place. The end result is a lot different from my original vision, but the song ended up adding a flare of energy and fun on the album.

Bobby Gilles: Letʼs talk more about your new website. What can people expect to find at MusaicWorship.com?

David LaChance: In the initial phase you will find free MP3ʼs and chord charts of original worship music and a few related resources, some original materials and some links to other material I find interesting or helpful. Iʼve worked on many music projects over the last few years but only one has primarily consisted of my own music, and I see things a lot differently now. I have many worship songs that have been proven in worship services but have yet to be recorded and published.

One of the central goals of Musaic is to get my own music to as many churches as can benefit from them. Each month I will be posting at least one of my songs as a quality demo. These demos will be free to download and will come with a free chord chart. At some point, I will initiate a Kickstarter campaign and will choose either an EP or full- length album format that will consist of the songs that have been introduced at Musaic. Songs will be chosen based upon the most positive response. This album will then be available for purchase at a low price. Then, God-willing, I will start the process over again and hopefully build upon the first stage of Musaic Worship and expand itʼs depth and breadth.

Bobby Gilles: Your bio talks about how youʼve been worship leader of a California Acts 29 church, youʼve been at Sojourn, and now youʼre at a Baptist Church in Vermont that uses a pipe organ and sings from hymnals. How have these experiences shaped and formed you, and how do you bring each of them into play with what you do at MusaicWorship?

David LaChance: In my early days as a worship leader, I had my own vision for how my ministry career would unfold. Thank God it did not happen my way. I took my timeline into my own hands early on, Moses “killing the Egyptian,” and so God graciously “sent me into the desert” so that I could eventually be useful.

I started in a CCM worship context, with the stage, the lights, the productions and from there God lead me to a missional A29 Church in North Hollywood. This context was reacting to the context I was coming from and I learned a lot about the full spectrum of ministry forms in America, the attitudes involved and what I thought was needed to bring the pendulum back to the middle. I wanted more than the centrifugal ministry of Church Growth, but the missional vein was all about centripetal ministry at the expense of the foundation already laid. My summation was that Church Growth built a wall to the outside world (four of them) and the missional movement dismantled the walls, drew a line in the sand but seemed to be crossing the line, confusing cultural relevance with worldly like-mindedness.

From here God lead me to Sojourn, which was challenging at first. Sojourn did not fit into any mold I was comfortable with, yet through my time there I learned how to adapt, how to subordinate my preferences and in the end I came to understand, appreciate and be excited about what Sojourn was doing. Sojourn is an example of bringing the pendulum back to the middle, re-uniting modern worship culture and our Christian music heritage, including the use of creeds, hymns and liturgical forms. Sojourn isnʼt afraid of being associated with a Church Growth model and yet they are unapologetic about the gospel, cultural relevance and pursuing the people in their local communities.

From Sojourn, God decided that I had not been stretched enough and lead me to Christ Memorial Church, a traditional Baptist Church in Williston, VT where my job description was essentially “to make everyone uncomfortable.” I came to help modernize their worship music program within a context of Baptist tradition that uses a pipe organ and hymnals and performs Handelʼs Messiah at Christmas.

I was not brought to VT to fundamentally change anything, not to achieve my own worship vision, but to be faithful with anotherʼs work and adapt to their culture while providing an opportunity for them to lay down preferences for the good of the community. I did not grow up singing hymns. Using a pipe organ without an aim at hipster irony seemed archaic at first. However, this was yet another way God was teaching me to adapt. I have come to appreciate the traditional vein of Christian worship music and, ironically, I now see tradition as a necessary tool for cultural relevance.

Itʼs all of these very different ministry experiences that have shaped the ideas behind Musaic Worship. I have seen the different colors of the spectrum up close but still see too much contextual separation. When all of the colors of the visible light spectrum are combined they create white. True unity in our diversity is the blazing white light of the gospel.

In America, where we are a melting pot of post-Christian racial and political cultures, to attempt ministry that is focused upon one particular context has the potential to dismantle what we are trying to build. We are not facing the same pre-Christian contextual issues as Hudson Taylor did as a missionary in China, and I donʼt believe we have to be this narrow in our contextualization.

In an effort to be inclusive we end up being exclusive. Where the gospel seeks to heal the division at Babel, uniting every tribe, tongue and nation, itʼs easier to keep the separate camps intact. But when we base our ministry context around one particular cultural preference then we promote cultural unity rather than Christian unity. We necessarily end up with a community full of people who look and think the way we do. This is not a peculiar people. This is not triune and transcendent culture. This is secular tribalism.

The world knows us by our love for each other. This love should not occur at a distance, but we are a peculiar people because we are truly united in our diversity. This should be our aim within our own corporate contexts, and through my own experience I believe a transcendent Church culture is possible but extremely difficult, requiring nothing short of the very Spirit and humility of Christ.

Bobby Gilles: I love some of the art (specifically vintage album covers) that youʼve included on the site. How does that represent or maybe play into what youʼre trying to do with MusaicWorship?

David LaChance: Thatʼs a great question and Iʼm glad you noticed this because it has everything to do with the broader purpose of Musaic Worship.

While creating the branding for Musaic I stumbled across an old picture of a formal theatre attendant playing music from a trumpet- horn turntable for a Native American chief. I was immediately struck by the image and thought it is illustrative of the struggle worship leaders face. Yet it is a picture of what leaders and congregants alike should simultaneously pursue and avoid in a corporate context. We should pursue unity in our differences within close proximity and we should also be sensitive to differing preferences and avoid a separatist elitism, always looking for the teachable moment that demonstrates how corporate worship should manifest itself. Depending upon our position on this spectrum, this picture is an exhortation or a warning.

At the heart of Musaic is a call to unite cultural preferences that have become “sanctified absolutes” in the polarized traditional, contemporary and racial church contexts. I understand that our preferences are different, and that these preferences will necessarily guide us to a particular ministry context, but the false dichotomy I am reacting to is musical preference that has become dogmatized, functionally anathematizing the church cultures with which we disagree. And so our striving for unity at a distance, with these attitudes present, makes us guilty of double speak.

My question as I push Musaic forward is this: What does true Christian unity look like, specifically in corporate worship? Again, I think diversity within close proximity is key but I also think that musical preference is at the front lines of our battle for Christian unity.

Luther said that when Satan fell from Heaven he fell into the choir loft. This is why we need to be violently intentional to create a corporate culture encouraging different musical preferences within close proximity. In other words, donʼt have the contemporary worship service apart from the traditional worship service. Again, there is nothing peculiar about this to the world, and where is the opportunity to show true forbearance and love? Itʼs easy to love our own preferences and the people who think and look like us.

In an effort to be contextual, we assume that we should reflect the musical culture of our spiritual music heritage or of our neighborhood. No, we should reflect the diversity of Christian musical culture and within our neighborhood, not assuming that itʼs the job of some other minister with a particular bent to reach these people. (Again, thinking about our neighborhood as a melting-pot of culture).

If the attendant in my picture were pointing the trumpet horn towards another well dressed attendant there would be nothing interesting or peculiar about the picture. Itʼs the merging of the different cultural contexts and preferences that makes this particular picture interesting. So, seeing albums by The Faith Tones, The Rappinʼ Preacher, and the Christian punk band The 77ʼs (on my site) presented as complimentary as opposed to being merely different options seems unnatural, peculiar, and this is the point.

I think we need to make more of an effort to hold this tension in the balance at close proximity in our corporate contexts. This is the very tension of Christʼs nature. We are His literal Body and He is simultaneously the Lion and the Lamb, and when we try to separate groups based on what seems most natural (separating the lion from the lamb) then we separate Christ; and instead of a peculiar people, we form cliques at best and functional cults at worst.

Itʼs a theological aim but is it a practical aim? How does this tension look corporately? Iʼm still fleshing this all out but I see it in action every week in my own corporate context. We have Christian contemporary music and traditional organ/hymnal worship within close proximity. The opportunities for forbearance are bountiful and there is occasional tension but you know what, it looks peculiar to the world and is peculiarly powerful.

I will be saying more about these ideas on musaicworship.com as the project unfolds.

Bobby Gilles: How do you balance the needs of your local church with projects like the website and recordings like the TGC project?

David LaChance: I do a lot of my website work and music work in my spare time, but there is overlap as well. I can be writing a song and making a demo and chart that will be used on the site and used to teach my worship team the song for use in services.

My leaders have also been very gracious in allowing me to work on projects like the TGC album. They see the value in these projects that bless the Church. They see these opportunities as God-given and also as an overlap in what I do for my church community as a worship leader and as the music and media coordinator for the NETS Institute for Church Planting.

Bobby Gilles: What are your long-term goals for Musaic Worship?

David LaChance: I want to make my worship music available to the Church and to have the ideas Iʼve gained through my broad experience be presented so that other worship leaders starting out can avoid common mistakes. I want to hone their sights primarily on feeding Christʼs sheep and exemplifying the humility of Christ to those they serve through laying down their preferences and heeding Paulʼs exhortation to “think of others as better than yourselves. … Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.” God knows what will come of this effort. If just these two objectives are served it will be fruitful.

•  Follow David LaChance on Twitter @MusaicWorship
• Follow Bobby Gilles on Twitter @BobbyGilles

 

We Cannot Be Silent About This Great Evil

Every minute of every day, two children are sold or pressed into slavery. We think of slavery as an evil that has long since passed into the dustbin of history but there are 27 million slaves in 161 countries today, including our own. Download a Slavery Facts PDF here, and watch the video below:

Join Bobby and I in being “in it to end it.” Visit EndItMovement.com to learn more!

• No more sex trafficking
• No more child labor
• No more forced labor
• No more slavery

 

A Quick Primer On Hymn Lyric Writing And Classic Hymn Text Revision

A few days ago I played around with my MacBook Pro web camera in my kitchen, reciting some things I’ve written about hymn text writing and how to revise the lyrics of old hymns. I uploaded two short videos to YouTube and decided to share them here. So, these videos will interest you if:

1. You want to see what my kitchen looks like.
2. You only know me through my written words, and you want to see if I look and sound goofy.
3. You’re interested in how to write and revise song lyrics, and especially Christian hymns.

Video 1: A short primer on writing song lyrics, hymn-style:

Video 2: Reasons for revising classic hymn texts:

How To Please God And Bring Out The Best In Everyone Around You

Is it fitting to acclaim the skill of those who serve the Lord? Or put another way, is it right to honor and encourage them regarding the skill they display as they serve the Lord?

The Bible records that King Hezekiah

“encouraged all the Levites regarding the skill they displayed as they served the Lord” during the Passover festival where “each day they sang to the Lord with all their strength, accompanied by loud instruments” (II Chronicles 30:21-22).

God wants us to hear His encouraging approval of our service in His name.  King Hezekiah was not silenced by the Lord when he encouraged the Levites as they served the people by leading them in worship during the Passover festival, using the skills God had given them to sing praises and play instruments with all of their strength.  God did not disapprove of this encouraging approval of His servants.

Let me be clear: it is not right for anyone to covet the praise that belongs to God alone.  We’re all tempted to desire acclaim and fame for ourselves, even those who serve as worship leaders commissioned to use our skills to point others to Christ, leading them in worship of His great name.

If we’re honest, we’ll admit we usually like it when people tell us we are great and gifted.  Oh yes, sometimes we servants of God forget the source of our strength and skill and think for a minute (or more) that we can take credit for God’s giftedness.

But God in His goodness and love responds to our arrogance by convicting us through His Spirit, teaching us again that all praise, glory and honor belongs to the One who has given us all that we have, and empowered us to do all that we do.  Praise God for disciplining us in His love when we need it. He is good to humble us and give us wisdom by teaching us to fear Him.

But He is also good to encourage us as we persevere in the work He’s called us to do.  He is not an unkind or ungracious taskmaster.  He knows that we are prone to grow weary in well-doing.  He knows our human nature and the frailty of our frame.  And our Good Shepherd is faithful to meet all of our needs, including our need for affirmation and encouragement.

Remember what the Psalmist and worship leader David said about God’s thoughts toward him and us? They are precious and outnumber the grains of sand on the shores of the seas. They cannot be counted (Psalm 139)!  Our Father delights when His children do what is pleasing to Him, including faithfully and skillfully serving Him and His people.  He is pleased when we prepare to serve Him and His people with excellence, by cultivating the skill and ability He’s given to us.  We honor Him when we steward well His strength within us.

I also believe God is pleased when we, like King Hezekiah, regularly share His encouragement with our brothers and sisters, fellow servants of the Lord.  I believe it honors the Lord when we say to each other things like,

• “Well done! You have served beautifully with the skills [list them] that God has given you.”
• “Thank you for taking the time to study and practice and prepare to serve the Lord with excellence.”
• “Thank you for being faithful to willingly serve the Lord and His people.  Be encouraged that God is displaying His beauty and strength through your life of service to Him.” 

These are just a few examples of how we can appropriately encourage one another as we serve the Lord together in whatever roles He’s given us.  Our encouragement should simultaneously direct our hearts to worship the One who has gifted and empowered us to serve Him and His people.

So, let me end by expressing encouragement to all of you: Thank you for faithfully and excellently serving the Lord and His people by seeking to honor Him in stewarding well the gifts He’s entrusted to you.  May you press on to know the Lord who has strengthened and skilled you for service!