SoundTheology

VOL065

A Worship hAndbook

deepersound TheologyhAnds onA Worship seT As A river heAds uppAcking online punchFor Worship leAders onlyon resT by briAn doerksen

2 For years, Inside Worship Magazine has been a powerful re-source with a powerful design – dedicated to challenging and enriching today’s worship community. In an effort to simplify our design, expand our readership to include the wider wor-shipping community, and to keep Inside Worship a vibrant resource, we have moved to a new format and concept.

The new Inside Worship is now a handbook, a keepable, resource booklet with compelling content for your shelf, cof-fee table or office – long term. It will come to you in a smaller, digest format chock-full of relevant, enriching, practical ar-ticles and features.

The new Inside Worship will consist of four regular, high-quality segments, targeting both the wider worshipping com-munity as well as the worship-leading community. Here’s what you can expect:

Deeper: A thoughtful article focused on the theology behind the worship experience and creative ministry.

Hands On: An accessible article featuring practical advice on current trends or practices in area of worship activity.

Heads Up: A useful segment featuring resources for worship growth, including training, technology, books, web sites and more.

For Worship Leaders Only: A short, specific word especially for those who are dedicated to leading worship that will bring encouragement, devotional ideas, and/or personal spiritual challenge.

We – the Inside Worship editor, the Vineyard Music team and the Vineyard Resources family – continue to consider our-selves blessed to serve and share alongside you in the King-dom. It is our privilege, and we hope the new Inside Worship will be a relevant Kingdom tool for you.

Dan Wilt – Inside Worship editorCasey Corum – Vineyard MusicCheryl Warren – Vineyard Resources

Welcome To TheNew Inside Worship

d A n W i lT

Creative editor, Inside Worship

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Being wise in the world of music from a Christian perspective means being aware of music’s powers and the way some sound patterns are especially well-suited to drawing us into the purposes of God. One of these powers is the way that music can represent tensions and resolutions.

It is seven in the morning. You are deep in a dream. The alarm goes off, and your head explodes. After much desperate fumbling, you manage to get your sleepy hand on the right button. A tension is resolved.

equilibrium-tension-resolutionEquilibrium-tension-resolution (ETR) is, of course, one of the most basic psy-chological patterns governing our lives – from traffic lights on red to lights on green, from sexual arousal to orgasm, from nerves before an interview to the relief of a job offer. In Western tonal music the dynamic of tension and resolution is pervasive. Tensions are set up that demand some kind of release or rest.

This article is excerpted with permission from the author from Jeremy’s book, re-sounding truth: Christian Wisdom in the World of mu-sic, published by baker Aca-demic (www.bakeracademic.com).

Sound Theology (Part 1)J e r e m y b e g b i e

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Music teaches us how not to rush over tension

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5One of the most important of these tensions is harmonic tension and resolution, easily demonstrated in a chord pattern in which the first chord is expected to resolve on to the second; things cannot be left hanging on that first chord.

This musical structure, which is to be found in thousands of popular songs (like George Gershwin’s I Got Rhythm), consists of the statement of a melody in a home key, fol-lowed by a move away from that key, and then a return to the melody in the home key. The homecoming is not a simple “back to the beginning.” Even if the destination is a note-for-note repetition, it marks the culmination of a kind of sonic journey, so it will be heard as different – as fuller and richer.

relating etr to sCriptureRelating this ETR profile to prominent pat-terns in scripture is not hard: creation-fall-redemption, promised land-exile-return, “orientation-disorientation-reorientation” in the Psalms (as Walter Brueggemann has explained), the journey of the prodigal son to the far country and back again (Luke 15:11-24). The theme of displacement from home and subsequent return has been re-hearsed in the literature, drama and music of many cultures not directly affected by the Christian story of salvation. Nevertheless, it seems reasonable to suppose that theological factors have played at least some part in the development of tonal music. Let us explore three qualities of tonal music that arise from

these patterns of tension and resolution and see how suited they are to embodying some of the dynamics of the Christian gospel.

it Cannot be rusheDIt cannot be rushed: Not only can music not be rushed in the obvious sense – that is, it cannot be rushed through, for it can survive only a relatively limited variation in speed before becoming unintelligible – it also cannot be rushed over, in the sense that it depends intensely on sequences of tension and resolution. Musical resolutions have no power other than that which they possess as the resolutions of tension.

To draw out the resonances between this and the Christian gospel, we might pause to consider Holy Week – Palm Sunday to Easter Sunday – and the way it is celebrated in worship. As the Roman Catholic and Or-thodox traditions have known for centuries, and many other churches have discovered too, the only way that this extraordinary nar-rative will yield its meaning is quite simply if we play the events at their original speed – God’s speed, not ours – living in and through the events day by day: the grieving farewells, the betrayal and denial, the shuddering fear in the garden, the stretched-out day of tor-ture and forsakenness, and the daybreak of wonder, color and tomb-bursting newborn life. By refusing to skip over these days, with all their dark shadows and turns, we allow ourselves to be led far more profoundly into the story’s sense and power.

6Music is remarkably instructive here, be-cause more than any other art form, it teach-es us how not to rush over tension, how to find joy and fulfillment through a temporal movement that includes struggles, clashes and fractures. The temptation is to pass over what needs to be passed through.

not an art of straight linesIt invites us to live on many levels: Music is not an art of straight lines. It is never simply a string of ETRs, one after the other, on one level. If it were, we would soon lose interest. Music’s ETRs work at many levels simultane-ously, and this is one of music’s strongest powers, one of the prime ways it gets under our skin and holds us. We see this most clear-ly if we delve into the world of meter. Meter is the pattern of beats underlying music.

Metrical beats are grouped into bars (or mea-sures). In a waltz there are three beats to a bar. These beats are not of the same strength – as anyone who has tried to dance a waltz will know. The first is strongest, the second is weaker, and the third is weaker still, moving toward what will be the first beat of the next bar. A wave of tension and resolution is set up, repeated bar after bar.

Meter does not operate only at this one level. The successive downbeats of each bar are themselves of a different strength. In many pieces they are grouped in twos or fours – the first is strongest, the last beat of each group the weakest. Together, then, they build up another wave of tension and resolution at a higher level. And the downbeats of that

wave are also of a different strength, and they make up another wave and so on. The process continues up, level after level, higher and higher, until the whole piece is covered.

This can be a highly complex process, but this basic multileveled pattern is present in one form or another in virtually all types of Western music, from Bach to Brahms, R. E. M. to Eminem. It will be seen straightaway that music built around these patterns will not (as is so often thought) be Linear. Nei-ther is it circular. Indeed, music subverts the common assumption that there are only two types of time: linear and circular. Although directional, musical time is neither linear nor circular, it is multistoried. Making sense of music means perceiving many levels of ten-sion and resolution simultaneously.

live on more than one levelEspecially important for our purposes is the fact that every downbeat kicks forward a wave on another level. The momentum of the upper waves is dependent on the ten-sions and resolutions of the lower waves. One level’s return is always another’s ad-vance. Every return closes and opens, com-pletes and extends, resolves and intensifies. Music holds our attention because as long as the piece is running, we are aware that there is at least one wave at a higher level that is not yet closed. And so we expect – and usually want – more. In this way, we are pulled forward by the music and pulled in – kept in the story, so to speak. (Try singing “The Star-Spangled Banner” and stopping after the words “through the perilous fight.”

Music is not an art of straight lines

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7The musical phrase has ended on a lower level, but there is a sense of incomplete-ness because many upper waves still have to close.)

Put differently: there is always hope if we live on more than one level. The God of Jewish and Christian faith moves not just in mysterious ways but in mysterious waves. This God invites people to live on more than one level; that is how God keeps them hop-ing, keeps them in God’s story. Frequently in scripture a promise is made, and the first fulfillment that comes, though genuine, fails in some way to match up to expecta-tion. Take the promise of Genesis 12:1-3 – the promise to Abraham that he is about to be shown a land, that he will be blessed and be the first of a great nation, and that in time he will be the one through whom all the families of the earth will be blessed. Within Genesis, of course, this only partly transpires. The blessing of the nations, for example, starts, or is foreshadowed, when Jacob brings blessing to Laban, and Joseph to Potiphar, and indeed Jacob to Pharaoh. But all this is very partial. “The theme of the Pentateuch is the partial fulfillment – which implies also the partial nonfulfilment – of the promise to or blessing of the patriarchs” (Daniel Clines).

But does this kill the hope? By no means. The incomplete fulfillments spur on God’s people to hope all the more; indeed, the Abrahamic promise of blessing for the nations is picked up elsewhere in the Old Testament. Resolu-tions at the lower level kick forward higher waves.

the God of Jewish and Christian faith moves not just in mysterious ways but in mysterious waves

Jeremy S. BegBie is Thomas A. langford Research Professor of Theology at duke divinity School, north Carolina and Associate Principal of Ridley hall, Cam-bridge. A notable pianist, he has lectured widely in the uK, the uS, and South Africa. Begbie’s website, Theolo-gy Through The Arts (www.theolarts.org), probes the question, “What can the arts give to theology?”

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The WoRShIP SeT AS A RIveR

(Part 1) m A r k y o u n g

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9floW like a riverHere is where the term “flow” comes in. The goal in leading worship should be to create a seamless journey from start to finish, with one song flowing smoothly into the next. Don’t think of each song as a separate element – think of your en-tire set as one seamless piece of music.

The worship set is like a river, the Holy Spirit is the wind, and the congregation is in a boat. We don’t want any obstacles in the river that could put the boat in danger – rocks, boulders, or rapids. Our job as a worship band is to remove any ob-stacles so that the journey will be smooth for the boat.

Here are some possible obstacles:

Instruments are out of tune•One or more instruments are too loud•Poor transitions between songs•Lack of dynamics•“Dead” silence•Mistakes by the band (which is why rehearsal is impor-•tant)Playing parts that are not stylistically appropriate for the •songSongs done at the wrong tempo•Lack of a connection between the songs (either musically •or thematically)A musician drawing attention to themselves (showing off •his/her chops)

helping the river to floWContinuity, or flow, is clearly extremely important in a wor-ship set. We’re going to look at some practical ways to de-velop flow in our worship times. When we’re talking about flow, we’re talking about having a smooth, seamless worship set – like a river – from beginning to end with no distractions or interruptions.

The main goal of worship leading is to lead people into the presence of god. We want to meet and experience god. matt redman says that the worship time is like a pilgrimage, or a journey. people come from wherever and whatever things are happening in their lives – work, worry, anxiety, family issues – and they desperately need to meet with god. our job is to get them from the place they are in, to a place where they can worship god freely. it will help us to see the worship set as a river to understand how we can get people safely to this place.

The WoRShIP SeT AS A RIveR

(Part 1) m A r k y o u n g

10The Planning StageWhen you put together a CD, it’s fine to jump around between slow and fast songs, lyrical themes, or in the relationship of the keys between songs. CDs are made this way, but our worship sets should make a little more sense if we want to create a sense of flow and journey.

Here are some practical things we need to keep in mind:

1. Is the musical style compatible between songs?Prevent musical whiplash, i.e. fast to slow, to fast, etc.

2. Are the keys compatible?There are certain keys that go together, and certain keys that do not. While this idea is a strictly musical dynamic, keeping it in mind will make for smoother transitions. Here is a guide – from easiest to hardest:

Keep songs in the same key•Make your next song up a 4th•Choose the relative minor for the next •songMake your next song up a whole step•Make your next song up a ½ step•

Here are the difficult ones for the human ear to process:

Up a fifth•Down a whole step•

Now here are some practical ways to get around this:

End on the 4th: In the key of A, end on your 4th chord (D), and the next song is in G.

Modulating: To go from a song in D to one in A – modulate the D song up to E, then transition.

Creating musical interludes: This involves creating a chord progression that will get you from one key to the next. For example, at the end of a song in E, use C#m (6th) and move it to A (4th), then transition to a song in the key of D.

You could also transpose one of the songs to make the keys more compatible. Say you have a song in Bb. You can choose to do it in A instead to match the following song in your set – and it’s only a half step different.

Transition from a fast song to a slow song: In order to get from a fast song to a slow song, you can repeat the chorus acappella, or do a slowed down version of the bridge or chorus.

the exeCution stageHere is where everything comes together.

Particularly, let’s talking about how to cre-ate room for the Holy Spirit to speak in spontaneous, flowing worship. Matt Red-man says about band rehearsals: “It’s good to rehearse being spontaneous – i.e. get them prepared to flow from one song to another so

Good silence can leave room for people to sing spontaneously

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11that when you’re doing it in the worship set they’ll be with you.”

Here are a few practical things we can do with transitions to allow for this:

1. Extended endings. You can have a huge “trashcan” ending, but have the acoustic gui-tar or the keyboard hold on to the note to create a platform for spontaneous worship. Or, you can repeat the final chorus, or the bridge softly and slowly. The main thing to remember is you don’t want to cut off the flow. Leave a bed of something musical to keep the sections together.

2. Extended intros. Sometimes, instead of beginning a song right away, you can start by playing the first several chords for a while – softly and slowly. This can allow the Holy Spirit to start ministering to the worshippers until they’re ready to focus on the message of the song. It also gives room for a spontane-ous word or song, or a prayer.

3. Specific chord progressions. Sometimes if we want to open hearts for the Holy Spirit to minister, a simple chord progression will work great. For example, if we’re in the key of D, just playing a bar of D, a bar of G, and repeating will be really effective. This is also called a “vamp”.

4. Silence. There is a good kind of silence and a bad kind silence in worship sets. Good silence is when those moments occur that make us want to linger in the presence of the Lord. The Spirit is ministering to people,

and the last thing you want to do is to fill that space with more music. Silence can be a great transition between songs. The bad kind of silence is that “awkward” or “dead” si-lence, where nobody knows what’s going on and the worship leader forgot his words, or is shuffling around on his music stand to find the next song – or the drummer was sup-posed to count off the next song and forgot.

Good silence can leave room for people to sing spontaneously. Sometimes the congre-gation likes to hear themselves, without the band.

mArk yOung leads worship at the Franklin vi-neyard in Franklin, Tennessee, uSA. he is also a pro-ducer, audio engineer and recording studio owner (www.markyoungmusic.com).

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If you visit the new www.In-sideWorship.com, you’ll find a fresh world of resources for strengthening your lo-cal worship experience. For years we became one of your favorite resource websites – now, we’re at it again!

The Inside Worship Podcast focuses on emerging songs and song stories “from the Church, for the Church”. Each podcast features a new song, an exclusive interview with the songwriter and a downloadable PDF chord sheet of the featured song. In addition to the song and song story highlight, each podcast will address various issues in our modern wor-ship culture – from the very practical to the deeper issues of the heart, as well as theo-logical discussions and a bit of humor thrown in from time to time.

The Inside Worship Podcast is hosted by Casey Corum (worship leader and execu-tive producer) and Robbie Reider (worship leader and associate producer).

The Inside Worship Podcast is brought to you by Vineyard Music – a non-profit, church-based worship ministry. By imparting the heart and ac-tivity of worship through music, events and resources, we encourage people every-where to pursue a deeper re-lationship with God.

As well, click on the “Re-sources” tab, and you’ll find a treasure box of liter-ally hundreds of Vineyard worship articles, teachings, videos and other worship re-sources.

www.InsideWorship.com is once again aiming at fur-thering the privilege of wor-ship around the globe.

PACKIng A PunCh: neW WeB ReSouRCeS

inSideWOrShip.cOm: The neW pOdcASTWWW.inSideWOrShip.cOm

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The Institute Of Contemporary And Emerging Worship Studies at St. Stephen’s University is at it again. Not only have they developed the world’s most innovative and powerful university-level courses for lead worshippers and artists – now they have taken that training to your doorstep – online.

Offered twice yearly, these five-week, introductory university cours-es are offered via the technology of iTunes U, Facebook, YouTube, Talk-Shoe, blogs and more. Worship lead-ers and performing music artists can take a course personally with other worship leaders from all over the world, as a group in a local church (with special group rates), or even solo.

Essentials Blue: Online Studies In Worship Theology And Biblical WorldviewTrinity. Creator. Savior. King. Along with N.T. Wright and media from worship influencers around the world, come discover a world of the-ology deep as the ocean and wide as the sky (blue) – that speaks to a postmodern world.

Essentials Red: Online Studies In Worship History And Creative VocationTime. Space. Symbol. Story. Along with writers on the history of Chris-tian worship, discover the creative passion and devotion (red) that has formed the worship life of the Church across millennia – and en-gaged the creative leader.

Essentials Green: Online Studies In Worship Leadership And Spiritual FormationIntimacy. Integrity. Expectation. Formation. Along with worship in-fluencers from today, and spiritual wisdom from the ancients, discover the values and pathways that should guide our living acts of worship – as lead worshippers in a changing world.

Led by worship leader and artist Dan Wilt, M.Min., and with over 100 international students who have already done Institute work, these powerful Institute courses are being hailed by artists and worship leaders from around the world as the most defining worship studies they have ever experienced.

Visit www.essentialscourse.com or www.theworshipleader.com to dive in this year.

PACKIng A PunCh: neW WeB ReSouRCeS

Two new resources from the vineyard world are enriching worship leaders around the globe through innovative resources and train-ing opportunities.

eSSenTiALS OnLine WOrShip TrAining cOurSeSWWW.eSSenTiALScOurSe.cOm

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I often wonder if God rested on the seventh day not so much because He needed to, but because He wanted to set something in motion

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15Rest is one thing human beings can-not survive without! (Just try not sleeping for a few days!) I often won-der if God rested on the seventh day not so much because He needed to, but because He wanted to set some-thing in motion; not just our nightly need for rest, but the weekly rhythm of Sabbath rest.

When we think of our desire for qui-etness and rest (which I believe is a godly desire), I realize how impor-tant it is for us as worship leaders to be in tune with that desire! It is inter-esting that most worship gatherings happen weekly, and in that sense our worship music should contribute greatly to our sense of Sabbath rest.

I have a simple mission statement as a worship leader: “To create a safe place for people to worship God intimately.” When I think of a “safe place”, I think of a place where I am not adding my own burdens to the people, but inviting them into that place where they can lay their burdens down at the foot of the cross and find true rest for their souls.

Practically, this is one of the reasons why I often start worship times with a gentle invitation into worship. I long for all of us to experience the deep peace of knowing God, and I want our worship music to be cen-tered on that goal. There is no musi-cal formula to make that happen,

because we all respond in slightly unique ways. There is something to be said for music, however, as its very melodic and chordal structure can speak of rest and peace.

Let’s keep our hearts open to the cry of the people who have gathered, many of whom feel ‘harassed’ by the frenzy of life, and remember that sometimes they don’t need another “exciting, loud and up-tempo” wor-ship set. Maybe they all need to drink at the deep well of peace that Jesus offers to all of us.

Maybe some of the pastors who usu-ally say to their worship leaders, “We need some more up-tempo songs!” can also remember that the sheep need something more than excite-ment – they need rest. Real rest.

BriAn dOerkSen is a seasoned worship leader whose roots are in the vineyard move-ment. his music and leadership have always resonated with both a deep love for god, and for the people of god. This call to rest was shared with the Canadian vineyard worship community, and is a call to remember the ways of fruitfulness in long-term ministry.

For Worship Leaders Only: On Restb r i A n d o e r k s e n

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PublisherVineyard Resources USA

Creative EditorDan Wilt

Copy EditorWild Pear Creative

Art DirectorMarkus Frehner at fortissimo.ch

PhotographyJimmy Abegg, Markus Frehner, istock

Inside Worship E-mailinsideworship@vineyardmusic.com

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