Sing unto the Lord a New Song

If you and others in your chapter attended Urbana 03, hopefully you returned to campus excited about what God did there. Perhaps you brought back with you some worship songs you’re eager to teach others. Whenever you want to introduce music to a group, it’s important to consider how you’re going to do it.

Many worship leaders don’t actually teach new music. They just sing and play the songs and hope people will catch on. While people may catch on over time, their ability to worship God is hindered as long as there is doubt about how a song goes. No one wants to become an accidental soloist, and so people hold back, unsure of how long a rest is held, or they feel distracted, wondering whether they’re supposed to go up or down or what the rhythm is.

I recently led worship at the wedding of two friends. The bride had asked me to do “He is Exalted” in 4/4 time instead of 6/8, as it is written. We had heard it sung this way at church, and we agreed that the change in time signature gave it a groovier feel.

The instrumentalists and I practiced the song multiple times. We felt confident we could handle the change. But when we stood before the congregation and attempted to lead them into this new arrangement, they all sang it the way they knew it—in 6/8 time—and the result wasn’t pretty. A friend of mine knew the 4/4 arrangement and tried to sing loudly so that those around her would get it. She finally gave up, figuring everyone probably wondered why she was enunciating her words so dramatically. The experience reminded me again why it’s important to make sure everyone’s on the same page as we worship: for the sake of a more satisfying and worshipful experience for all.

Learning new music can be a bonding experience any time, but at the beginning of the school year or term it is especially helpful to teach songs—even those that may be old standards for your fellowship—for the sake of new people.

Before introducing music, help others embrace the very idea of learning new songs. Most of us like to stick with what we know. Perhaps it will help your group if you point out that new music gives us new vehicles of communication with God, and new ways to give God glory. New songs help us see different aspects of God and broaden our perspective of what it means to belong to the global body of Christ.

Now let’s get practical. So how do you actually teach new music? First, consider what the song you want to teach requires. Can people get it after hearing it once? Or do you need to go through it section by section? Maybe it would be best to do it line by line, call and response style. Each song warrants its own approach.

Make sure your worship team knows how you plan to teach a song so they can assist you in the process. It may actually be easiest to use only one instrument (such as a piano or guitar) and a single voice, instead of the whole band, so that people can hear the melody clearly. If you are the vocal leader, but not an instrumentalist, you will probably need to practice with the instrumentalist who’s going to help you teach the song. Practice where you’re going to repeat lines or sections, to avoid needing to stop and start the accompaniment as you teach the song.

Another tip that will ease the process is counting people in to join you after you have sung a line or section for them to repeat. At the very least, use hand gestures or say, “You sing,” to indicate when it’s time for them to repeat after you. Then, after affirming everyone for rising to the challenge of a new song, count off the band and let everyone sing it all the way through. You may want to sing the song again at the end of the meeting to reinforce it in people’s minds. Be sure to bring the song back within the next couple of weeks.

It’s important to consider when in a worship service to teach a new song. Doing so near the beginning works well to draw people together, perhaps after singing a gathering song that everyone already knows. Another option is to sing the song as a performance piece before the sermon or talk, so that people can become familiar with the melody and reflect on the lyrics. After the speaker finishes, you can sing the song together as a response.

Scripture commands us to “Sing to the Lord a new song.” Because the Lord’s mercies are new every morning and he is constantly at work to make us his new creation, we inevitably want and need new ways to express this reality. You can serve the people you lead not only by bringing, but also by teaching, new songs to bless their relationships with God.

—Sundee Frazier and her husband, Matt, led worship at Urbana 2000. They currently live in Los Angeles where Sundee works for an adult education university and is earning her MFA in Writing for Young Adults.