Worship leaders, have you ever realized in the middle of a song that you were taking an invisible set of pliers to your congregation’s vocal cords? Well, I’ve been meaning to link to this post by writer/worship leader Bob Kauflin, which has some very practical suggestions for finding singing-friendly keys for your worship set.
Here are a couple of excerpts:
Slower songs with a narrow range (less than an octave) can work fine in lower keys because they don’t require as much energy. So “Here I am to Worship” (range of a 5th) could be done in C, D, or E. On the other hand, uptempo songs naturally require more energy and people can often belt out the higher notes without a problem.
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The widest range a song will go is usually an octave and a fifth, the same range as The Star Spangled Banner. In those cases, I opt for a range of G to D or A to E. Shout to the Lord is an octave and a fourth, so A is a good key, although it can also be done in Bb.
One of Kauflin’s readers pitches in the term “tessitura” (Italian for “texture”), which refers to the average pitch of a melody. So a song might have a very narrow range, but if the pitches are consistently on the higher end of someone’s vocal range, it can be a strain. Even the sound of “tessitura” is soothing. Incorporating the concept into your worship planning could really bring relief to your congregants.
Are there any other factors that should decide what key a worship song must be in?
