A few months ago I sat through a worship seminar and the topic of key selection came up. It was stated – as it has been many time before – to be smart about your key selection for congregational worship. It was said that certain keys would inhibit worship rather than promote involvement and freedom. The specific comparison to Chris Tomlin was made and it was suggested that while the songs themselves were great, the keys were not congregation friendly.
This made me think, a worship leader who has a range more like that of a castrato than the manly Mac Powell. I have found generally that songs in what would seem to be “congregational friendly” keys tend to be a little low for me to feel comfortable leading.
Now I don’t have the years of experience that this man leading the seminar had but my experience with leading worship in unfriendly keys seems to be pretty good. I rarely change the key on a Tomlin song, I often key up songs, and don’t shy away from falsetto parts. And I have found that the response is just as great as the time we left songs low (to me). The only times I have response to be lacking is when the congregation is unfamiliar with said song.
So does that mean that certain keys are not better than others? Probably not. But I don’t like the idea that we lower our expectations of our congregations. When people are engaged in worship the don’t seem to mind jumping up an octave, down an octave, singing harmony, or even just being silent yet engaged. If Phil Wickham songs are too high for a mass of people to sing then why are so many people at his concerts engaged and singing their hearts out?
Our jobs as worship leaders is to help the congregation engage. If that means lowering or raising the key of a song then do it. But at the same time you have to be able to lead in a range comfortable for you otherwise it won’t be as engaging. Familiarity with a worship song helps. Recently we shifted Shout to the Lord from the key of G to the key of D (better key for me to lead in) and found that the congregation responded just as well even though it was a new arrangement of the song (Lincoln Brewster) that was much higher than the original. They responded great. They were into the song, they allowed themselves to just worship and it was revived from an almost too tired worship chorus to one with new life.
So what do you think? Should we be more conscious of the key for the congregation or more conscious of the familiarity? I believe that you have to sing in a key you are comfortable leading in which for me pushes the range up to places most “professionals” suggest is too high for a congregation.
I don’t think we give the congregation enough credit sometimes.
I probably should have prepared more for this weekend but I mean who really thought Harold Camping would be wrong with his rapture prediction? This was the first weekend with the choir since I came aboard at WCON. Moving from a choir special every single week to a couple choir numbers once a month will definitely be different but as far as preparation goes it’s much less hectic. Not to mention the hope that there will be an overlap of music that both you and your new choir are familiar enough with to feel comfortable. But once again It was an amazing weekend with a wonderful new choir and faith family. The presence of God was thick in that place as we celebrated new life through baby dedications, baptisms, and testimony. Worship together was powerful and meaningful. I love that this is my “job” each week.
