WORSHIP LEADERS
FROM SLAMMIN ’ TO SINGABLE : ELEVATION ’ S “ PRAISE ” | Grant Norsworthy
Pretty much all of the CCLI top 25 songs are somehow connected with one of four mega Churches : Bethel , Hillsong , Elevation and Passion . By working with teams of incredible , professional song writers , singers , producers and instrumentalists , these churches ( that also , in many ways , fill the roles of traditional record labels and publishers ) supply the Christian Church with a lot of great songs . Many of these songs then find their way to regular Sunday services for churches of all shapes and sizes all around the world .
But in order to make these songs singable by a regular non-mega church congregation ( and , in many cases , playable by amateur , volunteer instrumentalists of limited ability ) requires considerable and significant changes be made to the songs .
The way a song can be presented in the mega-church context - where the distinction between slammin ’ “ concert performance ” and congregational singing is often intentionally blurred - will probably not work in the context in which the rest of us find ourselves . While the original artist ’ s version makes for a slammin ’ listening experience , we want our team to present a version of the song that is singable by our home church congregation . Changes will need to be made .
As I provide training as More Than Music Mentor , I find that most church “ worship teams ” fail to recognize this need , nor know how to make the necessary changes . As a result , their rendition of the song can leave their congregations struggling to connect - finding it nearly impossible to sing along .
Take Elevation ’ s song “ Praise ” as an example . It ’ s currently # 8 on CCLI ’ s Top Songs in US Churches chart and # 1 in Australia . It was released on Elevation ’ s YouTube channel about one year ago and currently has 95 million views .
Obviously , this is a hugely popular song right now . A lot of churches - large and small - are resonating with the song . Take 5 minutes and 4 seconds to remind yourself of the most popular live version of Elevation ’ s “ Praise ”. Praise ( feat . Brandon Lake , Chris Brown & Chandler Moore ) | Elevation Worship
Slammin ’, right ? This rendition of “ Praise ” is certainly connecting with the Elevation congregation ( audience ?) in the video . It certainly works on YouTube . Love it ! This rendition inspires me to want to add it to my repertoire and have the churches I lead sing it too !
But I ’ ll need to make some modifications .
In order to have “ Praise ” connect and be singable by less-than-mega church congregations - served by regular , non-pro teams - these are the main changes I ’ ll need to make :
1 ) SONG KEY While the original key of A is perfect for
Brandon Lake , Chris Brown and Chandler Moore ( our three , performing soloists - all of them with incredible high tenor voices ) it ’ ll leave a significant chunk of our congregation unable to hit all the notes . Sure , in the key of A most female singers will find themselves right in their “ power ” register . We can hear all the females in the Elevation choir singing the melody right along with the three tenors in the choruses . But no regular guy in the congregation ( especially over the age of 50 ) will sing this melody in that key . To make the melody fall between the most singable register of C to C ( where the men will sing the melody one octave lower than women and children ) I have to change the key to C . Yep , C !
2 ) “ LET EVERYTHING THAT HAS BREATH …” The high energy , drum / percussion driven , chanted intro and outro of the original version works for Elevation . I ’ d say it ’ d work well for any youth event too . But for a regular Sunday morning with all ages represented ? Not a chance . I have to leave those sections of the song out .
3 ) CONSOLIDATE THE MELODY On the original version , each of our solo singers add plenty of vocal embellishment . As solo vocalists are free to do ( and probably should ) they add quite a few , what I like to call , “ oodly doodles ”. In fact , I ’ d say we have oodles and oodles of “ oodly doodles ”! These guys get to express themselves , be creative , modify the melody and sing the song in a way that stamps it with their individuality and impressive vocal ability - especially during the verses ( during which I can ’ t hear anyone else singing , btw .). Check out the multi-note , cascading “ water ” ( 0m49s ), and the end of most lines in verse 2 ( 1m15s to 1m40s ) as examples of “ oodly doodles ”. This vocal approach is wonderful to listen to but screams “ Listen to me ! I ’ m performing .”
To present “ Praise ” in a way that more warmly invites the whole congregation to sing along , I ’ ll need to find a consolidated , simplified way of singing the melody that is within the ability of and can be followed by the congregation . Less will be more . No “ oodly doodles ”!
4 ) “ GANG ” VOCAL MELODY With the song now in C and the melody consolidated , I can have my other vocalists
34 August 2024 Subscribe for Free ...