Start thinking about songs in sections…

I want to challenge you to change your thinking on song structure. What if we stopped thinking about songs as linear creations, and started considering them as prayer sections.

What do I mean by this?

It is rare in a liturgical setting to have the time and space to play a song as written. We often find ourselves doing a small subset of the verses, and maybe a chorus.

The musicians on our teams may challenge this idea with "why can't we play the entire song"? Time, space, hurried liturgies, the preferences of the celebrant, views on the role of music, etc.

How can we maximize the time we do have?

Start thinking about the songs in sections. Verse, Chorus, Bridge.

Abandon the idea of doing the song as structured. Example... intro, verse 1, chorus, verse 2, chorus, bridge, etc

There's an old saying in songwriting. "Don't bore us, get us to the chorus"!

Don't be scared to start with the chorus and sing it several times. Our gathering songs are very short in my parish, and I often use just the chorus of a song to get us all singing. I do the same thing at offertory...

You don't HAVE to do a verse. You don't HAVE to do the song in the order of how it was recorded.

Songs that can be done as great worship Chrouses...

How Great is Our God by Chris Tomlim

Holy is the Lord by Chris Tomlin

Our God is Here by Trevor Thompson

Glory and Praise to God by Dan Schutte

Here I Am, Lord by Dan Schutte

I Will Choose Christ by Tom Booth

Great Are You, Lord by All Sons and Daughters

Lord I Need You by Matt Maher

What are your favorite song sections that you could use as an entire song during Mass?

Catholic Church