So how do you write a worship song?

“Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?”

“That depends a good deal on where you want to get to.”

“I don’t much care where –”

“Then it doesn’t matter which way you go.”

~ Lewis Carroll, Alice In Wonderland

Like Alice if you don’t know where you want to go, then you will have a very hard time trying to get there. You have to begin with the end in mind. Have a starting point for the song. If you have no reason for a song to exist then you won’t have the motivation to even begin to write it. Songs don’t just appear on your doorstep packaged ready to go (unless someone writes for you). So the question you have to start with is why do you want to write a worship song? What is it that you envision by a song coming out of you to others? If you want to write a worship song because it sounds cool then your starting point is all wrong. You need to make sure you write a song that you are passionate about writing. Don’t try to write a song because someone else wrote one and you want to copy it. If you try to write a song without a passion and drive you will probably come up short. Make sure that you have a “why” you want to write the song. It doesn’t have to be complicated, but it does need to be compelling. The best songs were written out of a great starting point. A starting point of passion, a question, a struggle, a desperation, a message burning within. Write a worship song that has life to it. And the way for a song to have life to it is if you, the writer, to have life within you. If you are stale in your spiritual walk you will have a hard time letting life come out of you. You do not have to be perfect to write a worship song, I am just saying that you need to make sure you are inputting life into you, so it will come out of you. Once you have life in you, as a writer, you will begin to approach songs that will have life. The first step to writing a worship song is to start right. If you don’t start right, you can finish very wrong.

In order for a song to have life it has to have a conception phase. Sometimes this conception can happen in a moment sometimes it takes days, weeks, months. I have found that there are several approaches to starting a worship song. So here are some ideas on HOW TO WRITE A WORSHIP SONG..

1.  Worship Song or Praise Song?

This question is a great guideline to help you get started about the feel and emotion of the song. Many times a writer will envision a group of people in a worship service. They picture them dancing, clapping, and shouting out to God with excitement. This gives them the inspiration to theme the song as a celebrative, praise type song. Other times they may envision people on their face crying out to God in a personal intimate way as heart felt worship. When they begin to picture this it steers the theme of the song. Approaching a song this way helps get your bearings right. You can determine the “feel” of the song before you begin to write. Based on that “feel” you can have a starting point to work from. Songs have emotion and feeling, especially worship songs, so nailing down an emotion to the song can be a great place to start.

2. The Big Idea…

Some approach writing with a big idea for the song. Meaning they have a theme they want to rally behind. Maybe there is a word or phrase that has been in their heart for a while and they want to unpack that thought. Take the word surrender for an example. The writer has been thinking and meditating on this word, “surrender” and feels led to write a song about surrendering to God. So they take a piece of paper out and write surrender on the top of the sheet then start writing down all the words and phrases that come to mind as they think about this specific theme. This is the collective phase where they are not writing yet, just compiling all the thoughts about surrender for the song. This helps the writer get a load of concepts and thoughts about the theme before they try to start writing. Starting this way gives you much ammunition to put the song together when it is time to write. The easiest part of writing a song is writing it if you have done all the hard work of collecting your ideas for it in advance. This is a great place to start for those that are very methodical about the content and message of the songs.

3. The Music First

Some writers will pick up a guitar or pluck on the piano and get a chord progression they like first. Some writers can’t begin to even think of a theme or the “feel” until they begin to play through some chords and chart out some musical parts first. If you are wired this way it is best to start out with a chord progression and maybe a melody that is developing. Once those chords and melody are in place you have a start of where the song is going. Some writers prefer to sit down and map out the music and melodies before they even think of writing the lyrics. As a guitarist I prefer this approach. I love to pick up a guitar and just pluck around till some chords and melodies begin to flow. I have heard of artists that arrange the entire song musically, then begin to put lyrics and melodies to it afterward. Those that are very musically gifted prefer this approach to song writing.

The method of which you approach a song is not important as long as it works for you. There is no right or wrong way to write a song. Everyone approaches songwriting a little different. These are the basic most common ways of getting started when writing a worship song. The important principle to learn is…make sure you find what is more natural for you. None of these tips may seem natural to you at first but ask yourself if you had to pick the one that is your fit which one would it be? Now you need to begin to make time for this approach. Most songs die before they are ever conceived. The old statement, all is well that finishes well, should actually be, “All is well that begins well.”  But, if it doesn’t begin well, it doesn’t always end well. Make sure you approach a song with a pure conception. Don’t start to write just to write. Write because there is something stirring in you wether that is a vision or people connecting with God, a big idea that is in you, or music and melodies that are flowing from your heart. When you have a good starting point you have a high chance of finishing strong.