In order to write a song ascribing the worth that is due god, we must first find out what he is worth. Just because one is a non christian does not mean they should stay away from understanding it, since many american musics be they blues or jazz was deeply rooted in the call and response of spirituals. Additionally, it is quite imperative to study this unique music genre, to see what makes the music powerful to sway a large crowd.

In my eleven years as director of worship development for sovereign grace ministries. Ive noticed recurring tendencies that keep weak songs from becoming good or great songs. Im intimately acquainted with those tendencies in my own songs and ive listed my top ten below. While these thoughts are meant for songwriters, most of them apply to leading worship as well. Aim to write the next worldwide worship hit. does it really matter what words we sing? god thinks so.

If god thought music was the most important aspect of a worship song, wed have recordings of king david singing and playing the psalms. Spend all your time working on the words, not the music. dont be concerned about melodies, rhythms, or harmonies. Really? consider this: great theology set to melodies that are bland or impossible to sing wont be remembered for long. Dont consider the range and capabilities of the average human voice. you may have a three octave range but most people in the congregation are comfortable in the range from a low a to a high d. Also, they probably cant sing the alternate melodies and inflections as well as you can.

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Never let anyone alter the way god originally gave your song to you. why mess with divine inspiration? well, because we see in part and dont always get it right the first time. Make sure the majority of your songs talk about what we do and feel rather than who god is and what hes done. why clutter up our songs with clear, specific, and compelling descriptions of gods character and works? why not just emote and talk about how passionate we are? because an emotional fire that has no doctrinal fuel dies out pretty quickly or ends up trying to feed on itself. Try to use as many scriptural phrases as you can, and dont worry about how they fit together. this is what nick page refers to as fridge magnet poetry. Cover as many themes as possible. unless youre writing 17 verses like some 18th century hymn writers, you probably shouldnt try to deal with creation, the fall, israels history, the incarnation, jesus life on earth, the last supper, the cross, the resurrection, the ascension, the pouring out of the spirit, the church, ministry to the poor, salvation, holiness, the second coming, and heaven all in one song. Great lyricists like stuart townend and mark altrogge can weave numerous themes around a consistent focus. Stay focused during your song, and make sure you have a good reason for one line following another.

Use phrases and words that are included in 95% of all worship songs. you bore my loss/upon the cross you took my shame/i praise your name you came to save/me from the grave my filled my soul/and made me whole thank you for your love/that came down from above. believe it or not, those phrases and rhymes have been used before. Forget about jesus and what he accomplished at the cross. by the way, if youre interested in some tips on writing good worship songs, weve collected mp3s and outlines from some of our past song writing seminars at the sovereign grace website. They include thoughts from mark altrogge, steve and vikki cook, stuart townend, and terry butler. I can tell he knows the path that us creatives need to take, and he is an effective guide in drawing others on to the path while dispelling some of the common misconceptions about what we do. I'm really grateful that david overcame his fear, kept an appointment with himself, and wrote this powerful and punchy little book! brian doerksen integrity recording artist, songwriter of refiner's fire, come now is the time to worship, hallelujah your love is amazing the worship songwriter lays a great foundation for understanding the responsibility of writing songs of worship for the church.

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Through simple, yet thought provoking methods david reminds us what our job is not only as writers but first as worshippers. The worship songwriter will encourage you to fully dive into the seed , the song, god has planted in you and watch as it grows into a song that does far greater things than we could ever expect from ourselves. Great american song contest 149 christian amp inspirational music the great american song contest features prizes and awards in 10 songwriting categories, including a christian/inspirational category for christian songwriters. In a typical year, the adult contemporary ac category receives the greatest number of entries.

The christian/inspirational category receives fewer entries but has continued to grow in popularity since our contest began in 19. music industry judges the christian category features well known music industry judges, including michael anderson, the award winning songwriter and christian recording artist who earned a dove award nomination for his song emmanuel, along with amy grant and michael w. personalized evaluations as with all categories, every songwriter who enters our christian song contest category will receive a personalized evaluation from judges knowledgeable music industry professionals. rules amp entry christian songwriters and lyricists throughout the world are invited to participate in this event.

The great american song contest features: opportunities to get heard by qualified music industry professionals opportunities to win prestigious awards and prizes opportunities to advance your songwriting, promote your lyric amp open doors in the music business. christian/inspirational category prizes amp benefits: the great american song contest offers a total of 45 awards in nine categories, including the christian/gospel category. all song and lyric entries receive a thorough review from music industry pros all songs receive a written evaluation from the contest judges all participants receive a list of the winners and complete lyric contest summary. Open doors in the music business. to enter your songs please go to the rules amp entry link at the top of this page.

why this contest is best! songu.com offers over 40 courses on songwriting and other great opportunities for songwriters, lyricists and composers. Visit their informative website at: songu.com awards and prizes are offered in all categories of the great american song contest. All participating songwriters and song lyricists receive written evaluations from the contest judges! great american song b est of the songwriting contests in part i and ii of this series, we talked about why it was important for songwriters to write from scripture, and how to do it faithfully, creatively and regularly make some goals!. 160 in todays post, i want to list some specific ideas, writing prompts, scripture passages, and examples that might help you get started. Go where other songwriters havent gone: lesser known psalms a quick spotify search of psalm will tell you that there are a lot of contemporary songs written from this book, especially from psalm 23, 51, 63, 118, 121, etc.

160 instead of writing from these and other well known psalms, try writing from the psalms of lament or the messianic psalms 22, 24, 89, etc. the prophets do you know any songs from obadiah? nahum? joel? 160 amos? 160 do you know what these books are about? 160 does the church know what theyre about? other books try to write a song from nehemiah, jude, esther, 2 or 3 john, or even yikes! leviticus. 160 sure, it may not end up on the radio and its probably not going to be commercially viable, but thats not the goal. Tell the full story and dont forget the context: write a song from a well loved verse like jeremiah 2 for i know the plans i have for you says the lord or zephaniah a mighty one who will save, he will rejoice over you with gladness or lamentations 24 they are new every morning, great is your faithfulness , but include the backstory. include the warning of judgment of zephaniah 1 2, and the pain of the exile to babylon in jeremiah and lamentations. These verses are powerful on their own, but just think of the power they pack when they are viewed in context! 3. Play with point of view: write from gomers point of view rather than hoseas or gods, or bathshebas point of view rather than davids.

In this song, sean tells the story of the passion week through the eyes of the disciple john. Write a worship song from a passage thats not exactly worship song material: the gospel coalition and sojourn music did an amazing job of challenging songwriters to do this with songs from the the gospel of luke. The challenge was to write songs for the church from the parables, stories, and miracle narratives in luke. 160 try to write a congregational worship song that pulls from a miracle in the gospels, or a narrative in acts, or a promise of judgment in a minor prophet. Its hard to do! a great example of this is our hearts still burn by matt boswell and d.a. 160 my song breath of god , based on the pentecost story in acts 1 2, might be another example.