TIP #4: CONSIDER DYNAMICS
This goes right along with considering tempo.
Nobody wants to hear five fast songs in a row. No one wants to hear a string of slow ones together either. You got to mix it up.
Note the sample list in Tip #3. It starts upbeat, works its way down to slow, then rises back up slowly.
This formula might not work for your church. Maybe your pastor wants you to end slow to encourage prayer. Or, maybe in your church you start slow and end super upbeat.
Whatever your format, there is always opportunity to take the congregation through the highest highs and lowest lows—a full range of emotion. That keeps them engaged and worshiping. God created us with a vast spectrum of emotions. Why not let your congregation experience a few of them during your worship journey?
TIP #5: CONSIDER KEY
You’ll want to figure out in which key you will play each song as you put your list together.
There are a few rules I like to stick to when it comes to key:
- Don’t play more than two songs in a row in the same key. You lose people after about five to six minutes in the same key. The songs start to drone together. Change that third song or change its key to revitalize people’s attention spans.
- Try not to go down in key from one song to the next. For instance, if you have a song in A, don’t go to a song in G for your next song. If possible, change the next song to A, or better yet, to B.
- Use the circle of fifths. Certain keys go better together than others. A surefire way to transition is to pick songs in keys that are next to each other on the circle of fifths. It works both ways. Going to the right, you’re going up to the fifth note in the scale. Going left takes you to the fourth note in the scale. Either way works well. So a good key change series would be C, G, D, A, E, then B. Transitioning up one key—from C to D for instance—also works well. However, don’t be chained to this method. With a little creativity you can transition
Sample worship set list with smooth key changes
