Arranging Songs Within a Set

We can’t talk about musical excellence without addressing worship sets — so much of your church’s excellence flows from the kind of sets you build. There’s a whole separate set-building course (and an ebook) Alex points you to for depth, but one set-related arranging tip belongs right here.

The goal of a set

Build musically and thematically cohesive worship sets that take people on a journey to see the glory, grandeur, and goodness of God.

You do that by linking songs by theme and by related keys, and by flowing them together with great transitions. And one practical lever for making a set flow is to take into account where a song falls within it.

Don’t copy-and-paste an arrangement

You don’t want to always play a song the exact same way every time. Depending on the song before it and the song after it, you might tweak the arrangement to be more intense or more intimate. Decide how to play a song based on its context in the set — not by copy-and-pasting the same version every time.

Take a mid-tempo song:

• As the second song in a set, you might give it a big full intro and a big full-band first chorus.
• As the third song, you might cut the intro to just piano and shaker, and do a down chorus — light cymbals with a little bass and piano.

Same song, played differently depending on its position. Be context-aware as you build, and adjust each song’s arrangement to fit what comes before and after it.

Why the set matters so much

The strength of your set directly affects how your church responds in worship — because:

Worship is always revelation and then response.

Reveal Christ clearly through a cohesive, well-arranged set, and people will respond passionately in praise. That closes out the arrangements module; from here the focus shifts to leading your band to execute these arrangements.

Application

• Take this Sunday’s set and ask of each song: should this be more intense or more intimate given the song right before and after it?
• Find a song you always play the exact same way. Could trimming its intro or doing a down chorus serve the set better in its current slot?
• Are your songs linked by theme and key so the set tells one story — a journey toward the glory, grandeur, and goodness of God — rather than a playlist of unrelated tracks?