on the platform with microphones - male and female - sing the melody with me . That sound of the whole “ gang ” singing a consolidated version of the melody ( females on a higher octave , males one octave lower ) is the best way to let every man , woman and child in the congregation hear the notes we want them to sing and have them follow us .
We may add some harmony vocals ( for the choruses and maybe for the second time through the bridge ) but I ’ ll insist that we always have at least one male and one female voice singing the melody and that both are prominently in the mix . Any harmony vocals should be mixed lower in the room in order to avoid the congregation becoming unsure of the melody .
5 ) SIMPLIFY THE INSTRUMENTATION The Elevation band on this “ live ” recording is super high caliber . Their abilities are way beyond most instrumentalists at regular churches . And there ’ s a lot going on in this arrangement too . Elevation ’ s drummer and percussionist ( I suspect enhanced by more percussion on backing tracks ) are creating a wonderfully choppy foundational rhythm . But this is likely to be beyond the ability of most church drummers to reproduce - or at least , reproduce well . This and other elements - like the swirling brass / synth / guitar counter melody lines in the choruses ( 1m0s to 1m15s ) - might need to be simplified and maybe even left out altogether .
To help our congregation sing , our arrangement will need to be clean , uncluttered and never crowd the melody . It ’ ll be far more important that our instrumentalists are operating within their abilities - simply playing the right notes , in tune and in time - rather than trying to emulate every element from the Elevation pros .
There ’ s perhaps more we could talk about , but those are the five main things that I believe need to be changed to really get your congregation singing with you , rather than listening to you .
Have you already added “ Praise ” to your repertoire ? How does your version compare to what I ’ ve described ? If you give what I ’ ve suggested a try , your team may not sound as slammin ’, but I am confident that you ’ ll notice an increase in your congregation ’ s level of connection and participation .
And that ’ s what we really want after all , isn ’ t it ?
Grant Norsworthy founder of MoreThanMusicMentor . com
MoreThanMusicMentor . com
36 August 2024 Subscribe for Free ...