LOOP COMMUNITY
BUILDING CONFIDENCE IN SONGWRITING W / ANNA GOLDEN | Matt McCoy
Anna Golden joined Loop Community Founder Matt McCoy to talk about serving at her local church , building confidence in songwriting and her new music !
BEING PLANTED AT A CHURCH [ Matt ] So you ’ re in the trenches serving at a church , scheduling volunteers , choosing songs . It must be interesting balancing both worlds of serving at your home church and then going out on tour and writing with other big artists . How do you balance the two ?
[ Anna ] I think we were never meant to have one without the other . If you ’ re a worship leader that isn ’ t planted in a house , that ’ s where we can create this celebrity worship culture . We forget that we ’ re just leading our flock of people , we get to pray with people and be in the trenches . I feel so honored that I get to do what I do , but the most rewarding part is hearing the stories . And if I ’ m not able to be in a community where I ’ m hearing stories , I don ’ t know what ’ s feeding me . I think we were created to be part of a house that we get to build .
BUILDING CONFIDENCE AS A SONGWRITER [ Matt ] Do you have any tips for worship leaders who are interested in starting to write ?
[ Anna ] I think the biggest misconception with songwriting is that it ’ s not a craft . I would say songwriting is only 10 % inspiration . As worship leaders we get to be a part of these incredible moments of worship and the Lord will sing this melody over you , but that can live in your voice memos forever . So put in the hard work . Every single day I try to sit down and write something . Songwriting is a muscle , and you want to keep getting better and better at that . Then you can be trusted when the Lord gives you a melody or chorus and you can sit down and finish it .
Then , bring other collaborators in on it . I love in worship music that we get to bring other people in . Sometimes you ’ ll see five writers on a song . You ’ ll get different perspectives and different people on songs . Then keep writing and keep refining . Just because you got something in worship , doesn ’ t mean it ’ s completely done .
Another tip is to listen to really well written songs . I feel like I ’ m so fortunate to be in such an era where the songs that are releasing are beautifully crafted . We also have a “ cheat sheet ” as worshipers , an entire book , the Bible is full of songs . You could sing Scripture and not miss . We couldn ’ t articulate anything better than Scripture , so if you ’ re stuck literally sit down at the piano and take a Psalm and sing it out . Sing it into a chorus or verse and see how the Holy Spirit breathes on that .
Click below to watch the full interview !
Be sure to listen to Anna Golden ’ s latest album Church and get all the Master Tracks to lead the songs at your church on LoopCommunity . com .
Matt McCoy Matt is a worship leader , songwriter and Ableton Certified Trainer from Chicago , IL . He has been using Ableton and tracks in worship since 2002 . He ’ s passionate about creating new products and teaching worship leaders and artists how to use technology in live performance . www . LoopCommunity . com 42 March 2024 Subscribe for Free ...