Ask the Expert – Is it OK to make a worship song our own, or should we follow the original recording?

Ask the Expert – Is it OK to make a worship song our own, or should we follow the original recording?

 

Steve E Weeks asked a question in our recent live Ask the Expert session:

“If we’re performing a modern worship song, is it permissible to use our own voice as if we had written it? The actual author may sing as if he is slightly in pain to emphasise the passionate lyrics, and the guitarist will use delay to create a grandiose scale (and conceal his timing) but if we were to dispense with those, would our rendition be “wrong” or is it OK to adopt the song as written, while ignoring it as originally performed? Mostly I’m wondering how the audience will feel about it.”

Andy Chamberlain, Musicademy:

Great question and a massive issue Steve. Nailing my colours to the mast I have to say that embracing ‘unique contribution’ in all areas of church and especially how the band embraces the song is vital to growth, both as a musician and as a Christian. Everyone needs to do a certain level of ‘copying’ parts and arrangements to understand the craft of music but to me if we stop at just copying are we really giving our ‘own’ expression of worship as we play or is it just blindly resiting someone elses ‘prayer’?

BUT – if we are to embrace uniqueness it requires skill and most importantly listening skills from the musicians, time invested in rehearsals, building teams and bands and most importantly a moving away from a leadership thinking that if we just have cool kicking music like Hilllsong or Chris Tomlin then people will come flooding through the church doors.

Also if you are going to embrace uniqueness and your own approach to a song do make sure it blends with what the rest of the band are doing. I.e if someone’s jazz chords arrangement sounds amazing, but only they can play it, they have to fit to what the rest of the band are capable of rather than expecting the band to bend to them if they simply aren’t capable!

Ultimately try to educate your whole team to play what the song ‘means’ to them. Does it make them happy, sad, reverent, ant to cry, want to laugh, bow down, shout, shut up? The hardest part is of course getting people to want to do that! It can be scary!

Brad Schlievert:

Lolz (create a grandiose scale (and conceal his timing) kinda sorta true,heh heh heh!!! I personally say, make it your own!!! I change up some lead parts (guitar w/delay) because it sounds better or is easier to make fit. I say go for it!!!

What you said on Facebook:

Unusually this question has created a lot of discussion on Facebook. For those of you who would prefer to read it here, I’ll copy out the thread (note – as this is a graphic copied from Facebook you won’t be able to “like” or interact with it here):


    • Scott Pruitt Rush Make every song your own!

      21 hours ago ·  ·  1
    •  

      Justin Teh Respect the songwriter but I’m sure God allows some originality on our part?

      21 hours ago ·  ·  1
    •  

      Kent Henderson Either way. Sometimes the original works, because everyone can listen and prepare via the recording, so when you come together you’re on the same page. BUT, doing your own version can be much more tailored to your own instrumentation, setting, congregation, etc. Besides, every time I hear the original, I inevitably hear some other recording or even a very different version by the same artist, sooo you really just have to do what works for you.

      21 hours ago ·  ·  2
    • Musicademy Thanks for all your comments people. We’re experimenting a little with putting up articles at the weekend when people perhaps have a little more time to read and comment.

      Works for you?

      Keep ’em coming.

      Marie

      21 hours ago · 

       

    • William Kunkel I think we should be able to personalize the song to fit in our context of worship. If we want to record and sell what we are doing, I think we should respect the copyright holder by asking permission to change and reasoning behind it.

      21 hours ago ·  ·  1
    • Jennifer Schmidt Taylor I ask our band members to learn it like the original recording. Then, when we come together for rehearsal, I’m open to changes that make it our own, but at least we are all working from the same frame of reference, at that point. I don’t ever want “making it our own” to be an excuse for lack of preparation at home.

      20 hours ago ·  ·  1
    •  

      Joshua Miles Our job is to lead our congregation in worship. Not perform a concert. Though the two may seem similar at times. If we need to change a song to fit the needs of our congregation, the it is our responsibility to do so. Not providing our people with what is best for them is wrong.

      20 hours ago · 
    •  

      Quintonbevjosh Kippen Hi, i think using the song in worship is respect to the group or song writters and singers. Making it your own allows you to display your gifts and allows musicians to stretch themselves and be creative…my thoughts and what i always recommend to our musicians as the sound engineer….

      20 hours ago · 
    • Jo Ann Neal Ooh. Gonna have to go the other way on this one. To a degree. Perhaps it depends on how well known the song is? Whether it’s the first time leading the song, etc. When I’m out in the congregation worshipping, it can be a slight hindrance if you know and love a song one way – and then the worship band sings/plays it differently. Make sense? It shouldn’t be that way, I suppose, but it can kind of distract. Sometimes momentarily, others not. Save the creativity for an original. I think some churches should spend *some* more time doing this! Including my own! :)

      20 hours ago · 
    • Paul Foster I don’t think it’s a case of your own in a proprietary sense but of adaptation to your particular worship as on individual, band or congregation hopefully all the songs are offered to God both by the authors and players so its more a case of just .putting your stamp on it in interpretation.

      19 hours ago · 
    •  

      Kelly Elder I would say stay the same melodically, allow freedom tonally, voicings, and the general roadmap through the song and be totally free to follow where the spirit leads…

      19 hours ago ·  ·  2
    •  

      Christopher Michael Short Have you ever heard an artist play their song say after 10 years of playing it? Most time it’s MUCH different than the original. As a worship writer I understand 2 things:
      1)They weren’t & never will be in my head at the moment I wrote/recorded it so their own passion for the song has to be found.
      2)differing styles and contexts in individual worship settings make an openness necessary. I have even taken a song that was played up tempo and rockin in one part I the service and played it again later slower or even a cappella with different emphasis because of where we were in that moment with God.

      18 hours ago ·  ·  1
    •  

      Tim Nevell I think bands or worship leaders can sometimes put themselves under unneeded stress, trying to emulate a recording. Some arrangements, with instrumental breaks, bridge, repetitions etc can be difficult to reproduce, and may be unsuited to non professionals playing live for sunday worship. I don’t even like some recordings, even though the song is basically OK. The song is bigger than a recording of it. The recording can be a useful starting, get-to-know-it point, but I think a music group/band should be free to find its own voice. Then they can be free to tackle a song, without necessarily radically changing a song too much.

      18 hours ago ·  ·  2
    • Carol Ann Vaughan It entirely depends on what God wants to do / or where he wants to go,with the song!

      17 hours ago · 
    • Carolyn Seward Hawkins I think it would be very nice if we would follow the actual MUSIC, not just what we hear on a recording. A recording is that artist’s interpretation of the song and like Tim said, we often can’t imitate it and it doesn’t work. Also, if we followed the music, we would know the song when we go to other churches ….

      17 hours ago · 
    • Michael James Kennedy nothing is more boring than a song played the same way twice.

      17 hours ago · 
    • Musicademy Thanks so much for all your comments. We were originally asked this question on one of our “Ask the Expert” panels. This was Andy’s response at the time.

      Great question and a massive issue. Nailing my colours to the mast I have to say that embracing ‘unique contribution’ in all areas of church and especially how the band embraces the song is vital to growth, both as a musician and as a Christian. Everyone needs to do a certain level of ‘copying’ parts and arrangements to understand the craft of music but to me if we stop at just copying are we really giving our ‘own’ expression of worship as we play or is it just blindly resiting someone elses ‘prayer’?

      BUT – if we are to embrace uniqueness it requires skill and most importantly listening skills from the musicians, time invested in rehearsals, building teams and bands and most importantly a moving away from a leadership thinking that if we just have cool kicking music like Hilllsong or Chris Tomlin then people will come flooding through the church doors.

      Also if you are going to embrace uniqueness and your own approach to a song do make sure it blends with what the rest of the band are doing. I.e if someone’s jazz chords arrangement sounds amazing, but only they can play it, they have to fit to what the rest of the band are capable of rather than expecting the band to bend to them if they simply aren’t capable!

      Ultimately try to educate your whole team to play what the song ‘means’ to them. Does it make them happy, sad, reverent, ant to cry, want to laugh, bow down, shout, shut up? The hardest part is of course getting people to want to do that! It can be scary!

      17 hours ago · 

       

    • Caroline Langfeld We try to stay consistent from group to group so songs aren’t confusing for the congregation. But we often find the lead sheet is written differently than the sound recording, so we stuggle with which way to go. We do make them our own by changing up instrumentation depending on who we have to play on a particular Sunday.

      16 hours ago ·  ·  1
    • Rob Roberts Love Andy’s post. Worship is both a personal and community activity. It therefore needs to reflect the passion, joy, grief, thankfulness, hurt, unity, etc that we have in our lives. Every expression of worship is unique, and i try to lead from where we are at right now, rather than copy where someone was at on a recording. We still have so much to learn though: finding a new intro or link, or a different piano riff is often helped by the inspiration of a recorded track. So my view is that we should do our own thing, based on our own heart for worship, and use the techniques we learn from the writers and recorded leaders.

      16 hours ago ·  ·  1
    •  

      Jonny Coleman Sometimes following the original recording can work when you are learning/introducing a particular song, however adapting the song to suit the situation is a far preferred way in my opinion. Following the “set” way of doing the music could be completely inappropriate for the situation, and following Spirit and reacting to what is happening by not sticking to the original arrangement can enhance worship no end

      15 hours ago · 
    • Daren Allder Really stimulating stuff, this. There’s a tension between: 1) the recording that some (but certainly not all) of the church might know – which can often be more extensive or complex than is right for your context; 2) the sheet music or lead sheets we might use, which is a necessary reduction of the original, and just a sketch of the song (in most cases), and 3) the varied musicianship that exists in the church. Much like your church, I’m sure, we have musicians at all points across the reader/improviser spectrum and therefore needs to meet for our musicians as well as our congregants. One project I’m getting started on is making some accessible arrangements of worship songs we’ve worked on available to the wider church to use. Contact me if you’d like to know more.

      14 hours ago ·  ·  1
    • Susan Ann Hancock we have to adapt them to the availablility and skills of the musicians leading

      14 hours ago · 
    • Scotty Brown Yeah, I believe we need to keep the itegrity of the song, meaning that it should sound and flow the same. However, we need to be able to adapt the song to better fit the group being “lead”. That could mean changing the key, re-singing a chorus, or making minor arrangement changes that will allow for smooth flow between songs. We’re all aware of songs that are recorded in a key two high or low for most congregations. That’s a technique used by even the best known worship leaders/ performers. David Crowder even admits to moving to a higher key at large youth events to encourage load singing.

      11 hours ago ·  ·  1
    • Scotty Brown ‎…. and “loud” singing too!! OOPs!

      11 hours ago · 
    •  

      Claudine Songbird George Learn the original first…then improvise.

      11 hours ago · 
    •  

      Steve Ripley I tend to try and come as close as possible to the original recording as possible at first. Over time, though, we either inadvertently make it “our own” by gradual changes to tempo, dynamics, increasing or decreasing repetition, etc. A couple of times I have even added an extra bit of lyric in the same vein as the rest of the song, but always make a note of it on the chart and Powerpoint slide.

      8 hours ago · 
    • Frank Genus I agree with Scott Pruitt Rush… Leave your fingerprint on every song you do!

      4 hours ago · 

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