Leaders, Singers, Vocal Team, Worship Leading, Worship Planning
Act Your Range! (Show #58)
#Overwhelmed (Video Below)
4 min read
Singing should not be overwhelming.
After the service, you’ve heard the complaints: “The music is too loud.” “You don’t sing enough Hymns.” “We can’t hear the voices.” While all of these comments have some truth to it, there maybe something else that your church is not telling you. Having to unify everyone in the same room is a difficult task.We can pick a new song or traditional hymn, and each person will sing it their own way. However, the bottom line question: are they singing? One of the top reasons why people do not sing in the church is not based on what you sing, but how you sing. We’re talking about key and range.
What you think you know about the Mp3
For years I have taught this truth among our workshops and mentoring sessions: you need to sound like you. Granted, the recording is fantastic and dynamic, but there are two major deals you may not know… Number 1: You will not be able to replicate the recording. The song and story needs to come from you. If you’re too busy trying to sound like somebody else, you’re not being true to yourself, God and your church. The recording is produced either in a studio or live setting with better quality equipment than your church.
At the same time, the artists on the recording are professional players/singers. Your church is made up of volunteers. Being on a road-tour is not their 60 hour work-week. What do you do? Be who you are, serve your team and church, and do what is reasonable for the setting you have.
Number 2: Most churches do not sing in the original key of the recording. Why? First off, the recordings are pitched a bit higher for several reasons. Higher pitched keys promote a bit more energy. They sound better on a recording. Lastly, the professional singer of that recording has no problem singing in high ranges.
Your common church member cannot sing in high keys and pitches. You need to think of average Jane who loves to sing, but can’t keep up with a high male voice leader.
Also, think of average Joe, who does not sing much, and likes to keep things simple. If you pitch the song too high, not only will the church stop singing, but your vocal team (mainly your female leaders) will find it frustrating.
Lead the song and make it enjoyable for everyone. This means it is better to lead the song in the way that is comfortable for your band as well. Worshiping well is also praying well.
To sing without ceasing is also to pray without ceasing.
Find the right key for the right song.
Here on today’s video, we will refer to the song “Overwhelmed” by Michael Weaver and Phil Wickham.
How do you find a good key for people to sing?
A. Know your church’s voice.
B. Find the songs they like to sing. C. Locate the song’s key and check if it’s either too low or too high.
D. Song Example:
“Overwhelmed” Chorus: I delight myself in You Captivated by Your beauty I’m overwhelmed, I’m overwhelmed by You God, I run into Your arms Unashamed because of mercy I’m overwhelmed, I’m overwhelmed by You
E. Steps to adjust the Key and Range:
- Select any song: go through the actual lead sheet or piano score to find the highest vocal note in the melody. You may find that the highest note in the song is located in the Chorus or Bridge sections.
- Identify the note names: on the treble clef. Choose a new key that’s more comfortable. Move the highest note down (or the lowest note up) to bring it to a more comfortable range.
- For our example, the words in the Chorus: Delight, Captivated and Overwhelmed – are the highest points.
- Sometimes in higher songs: you can get away with using the E register notes (Eb, E or E#), just as long as the vocal line doesn’t stay too long in the stratosphere.
- Determine the new note names: and what scale they form to give the new key.
If we look at the original key of “Overwhelmed” we are in C. If you play the highest notes in the Chorus section you will have: F, F, F, E, D… these notes repeat in a sequence throughout the Chorus. You’ll also discover there is a huge skip in the last line: “I’m overwhelmed, I’m overwhelmed, by You… (Look at the first two words here). The melody skips by a 7th: G natural up to F. Not only is this skip by a seventh difficult for non-singers, but it still reaches the high note ‘F’. If we move ‘F’ down by a third, then the highest note will be ‘D’. Given this move down by a third, this places (transposes) the entire song down to the Key of A – which still leaves ‘D’ as the highest note. Now that we are in the key of A, the range of the song is much easier to grab.
The female singers in your team and in the church, will thank you. Also, don’t be surprised if they ask to move it down further to ‘F’ 🙂
“To sing with the church is to be the Church.” @BranonDempsey
Act your range
Don’t be like the Mp3 or a well-known worship leader, just be you. Don’t appeal to a certain sub-group or age in the church. Simply, engage the age of the church and sing in their range. “I will sing to the Lord all my life; I will sing praise to my God as long as I live.” Psalm 104.33 The truth is, God gave each of us a voice: to speak, pray and sing. As leaders, we are to encourage the usage of our voices and to praise Him in song. Singing is good for the heart to release our emotions, and good for the soul to petition our prayers.Theme of the week:
#Overwhelmed
Base the key and range of your songs according to those in the room. If you have a younger crowd, then higher keys are fine. However, in most churches across America, you have a wide range of ages. In order to get everyone in the same room sing, you need to be in the same range.
Don’t cater to certain groups in the church, strive to reach all across the age-demographic. Worship needs to be available to all, not a selected few. Therefore, the keys we sing need to be easy for all to sing. If singing is something that is this important to God, then singing should also be important to us.
@BranonDempsey @worshiptt
WATCH SHOW #58!
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