I’m just gonna say it:

There’s a lot of stuff in modern worship music that doesn’t work well on a Sunday morning.

BUT—there’s enough structure in these songs that can be reshaped and refined to make things work well and keep your congregation singing throughout the entire service.

Here’s where I cut and rearrange things to make the most singing-est experience week after week at my home church.

Fancy Melodies

When it comes to congregational singing, a melody simple enough to sing is absolutely key to ensure successful engagement. If your melody has drastic leaps or switches directions in unpredictable ways, then the congregation will shut down.

Now, if the melody is inherently angular and leaps around, then I usually don’t feature the song. (Don’t worry—there are LOTS of other songs to sing.) But, there’ll be spots in the recorded version of the song that are heavily stylized by the artist, which often shows up in the official sheet music that you’ll find on CCLI or PraiseCharts.

Good news: You don’t have to sing it that way! Stick with a middle-of-the-road melody that strips away the stylings, reducing it back to its fundamental character.

Octave Leaps

When it comes to octave leaps… just don’t do as much of ‘em.

This arrangement device only serves to heighten emotional intensity, which is achievable to through other means that won’t render your congregation mute or at least, halting in their singing.

Most octave leaps are exact replicas of the established melody, so all you need to do is:

If you simply MUST keep an octave leap, then place it strategically. This often looks like saving the biggest dynamic moment for when the octave leap occurs. For instance, in “I Speak Jesus,” I coach leaders to stay in the lower, singable register in the key of C for most of the song, all the way through the bridge, repeating until arriving at the chorus. At that point, we work out a transition in the melody to place us in the upper register for the chorus, which everyone follows with enthusiasm and no break in flow. It’s a bigger moment because we’ve waited to “open the floodgates,” and we’ve saved everyone’s voices from straining in the attempt to sing through a range that too far out of reach for the average singer.

Instrumentals (Well… Kind Of)

Imagine this scenario: You are in the congregation, singing your heart out along with the worship team. You finish a section of lyrics, expecting to take a breath during a few measures of instrumental transition pieces. But then, the band just… keeps going. Meanwhile, the worship leader and other vocalists are improvising melodies that you find hard to follow. By the time you start singing again, you’ve lost that emotional “flow,” and instead, you’re feeling a palpable sense of awkardness.

If a song has an extended instrumental section between choruses and bridges, you either need to:

If you’re a worship team member or leader, then the instrumental section doesn’t feel as awkward to you; there’s plenty for you to actively do in that moment. But for the congregation, they can’t help but twiddle their thumbs and wait for you to be done. Sure, some folks might reflect or vocalize more praise during those moments, but from my observation, I see more disengagement take place when the band “just plays.”

The Guiding Principle

When it comes down to it, much of these cuts are motivated by one thing:

Congregational engagement.

For engagement to be its highest, you must:

Sure, there’s a time and place in “making space” for the longer moments or unique individual expression, but congregational worship is a collective effort. How can you be a collective that doesn’t sing together because there’s: A) hard-to-sing parts or; B) no singing at all?

if you approach your arrangements with maximum engagement in mind, then these cuts come naturally AND you’ll receive more affirmation/appreciation than pushback.

Be blessed 👊✌️