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- Simplicity Is A Strength
Simplicity Is A Strength
- By Paul Baloche
- Published June 20, 2008
- Songwriting
- Unrated
Paul Baloche
Paul Baloche has written some of this generation’s most compelling worship songs, songs that have become the soundtrack for believers all over the world in times of worship both corporate and private. His approach to his calling is simple, yet profound: “The best worship songs come as a byproduct of worship.”
View all articles by Paul Baloche
Keeping it Simple
A study of the CCLI list shows us
that these successful “people songs” are
simple in harmony. A worship song with
complex harmony will probably not get
established. One reason is that Christian
music publishers aren’t interested in songs
with many altered and extended chords
that the average church band can’t play.
Maybe you have a diploma from the
Modern Jazz Institute and a complete
command of modern harmony and improvisation.
Good! Enjoy it! It will help
you to know how to create beautiful and
moving but simple colors—unexpected
chord changes, pretty inversions, color
tones in the melody, alternate bass
tones, and colorful tones and lines in
the accompaniment —and save the more
complex harmony for other occasions.
Harmony doesn’t have to be complex to
be beautiful. That artsy side of you can do
some damage. If you get too complicated
you’ve eliminated about 70% of the
churches out there that could be singing your song.
Jimmy Owens:
It took practically a deliverance for
me to write some of the simpler
harmonies in Come Together. In
those days I preferred chords with
at least four notes, and sometimes
seven. (Stan Endicott once said, “I
don’t smoke, but those chords almost
make me want to.”) But I had to ask
myself—Which is more important, to
show off my extraordinary coolness,
or to minister to the people?
Jared Anderson
{Rescue, Beauty of the Lord}
Worship songs have one common goal and that’s to help people
worship. If people just think it’s a cool song and you can tell that
they are more drawn to the music or to you than to Jesus, then pitch
it to a rock star. Not all songs have to be worship songs. If you’ve
written a worship song, make sure it’s defined by its results.
Songs for the Common Man
Mark Twain expressed the secret of his success this way: “My books are
water. Those of the great geniuses are wine. Everybody drinks water.”
Paul Baloche:
I like to consider myself a servant
with my songwriting. We are servants
and songs are our tools. If you
really care for God’s people like a true
pastor longs to see his congregation
built up and thriving in their faith,
then you will make musical and lyrical
choices that best serve the church.
Regardless of how much music
education and talent you have, in
your writing you will always opt for
what the average person will be able
to sing, as opposed to writing over
people’s heads. It’s a pride issue that
we all have to deal with. Don’t write
music to impress your music friends.
Strive to serve and inspire others with
music that they can sing.
What Makes A Good Worship Song?
Sir Lew Grade, a major British film producer, said, “I have the blessing
of average taste. If I like it, the common man will like it.” And the common
man did, all over the world, as box office sales of his films proved.
Remember, when you’re writing congregational songs, you’re writing
songs to be sung together by average people, very few of whom have musical
sophistication or training. If you’re a trained musician, you may have certain
cultivated tastes, and it may be hard for you to lay some of them aside to
create songs simple enough for untrained people to sing.
This article is an excerpt provided by GOD SONGS
How To Write And Select Songs For Worship. Visit to Purchase.
Copyright © 2004 by Paul Baloche, Jimmy and Carol Owens
All rights reserved. International copyright secured.
No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form without permission.
A study of the CCLI list shows us
that these successful “people songs” are
simple in harmony. A worship song with
complex harmony will probably not get
established. One reason is that Christian
music publishers aren’t interested in songs
with many altered and extended chords
that the average church band can’t play.
Maybe you have a diploma from the
Modern Jazz Institute and a complete
command of modern harmony and improvisation.
Good! Enjoy it! It will help
you to know how to create beautiful and
moving but simple colors—unexpected
chord changes, pretty inversions, color
tones in the melody, alternate bass
tones, and colorful tones and lines in
the accompaniment —and save the more
complex harmony for other occasions.
Harmony doesn’t have to be complex to
be beautiful. That artsy side of you can do
some damage. If you get too complicated
you’ve eliminated about 70% of the
churches out there that could be singing your song.
Jimmy Owens:
It took practically a deliverance for
me to write some of the simpler
harmonies in Come Together. In
those days I preferred chords with
at least four notes, and sometimes
seven. (Stan Endicott once said, “I
don’t smoke, but those chords almost
make me want to.”) But I had to ask
myself—Which is more important, to
show off my extraordinary coolness,
or to minister to the people?
Jared Anderson
{Rescue, Beauty of the Lord}
Worship songs have one common goal and that’s to help people
worship. If people just think it’s a cool song and you can tell that
they are more drawn to the music or to you than to Jesus, then pitch
it to a rock star. Not all songs have to be worship songs. If you’ve
written a worship song, make sure it’s defined by its results.
Songs for the Common Man
Mark Twain expressed the secret of his success this way: “My books are
water. Those of the great geniuses are wine. Everybody drinks water.”
Paul Baloche:
I like to consider myself a servant
with my songwriting. We are servants
and songs are our tools. If you
really care for God’s people like a true
pastor longs to see his congregation
built up and thriving in their faith,
then you will make musical and lyrical
choices that best serve the church.
Regardless of how much music
education and talent you have, in
your writing you will always opt for
what the average person will be able
to sing, as opposed to writing over
people’s heads. It’s a pride issue that
we all have to deal with. Don’t write
music to impress your music friends.
Strive to serve and inspire others with
music that they can sing.
What Makes A Good Worship Song?
Sir Lew Grade, a major British film producer, said, “I have the blessing
of average taste. If I like it, the common man will like it.” And the common
man did, all over the world, as box office sales of his films proved.
Remember, when you’re writing congregational songs, you’re writing
songs to be sung together by average people, very few of whom have musical
sophistication or training. If you’re a trained musician, you may have certain
cultivated tastes, and it may be hard for you to lay some of them aside to
create songs simple enough for untrained people to sing.
This article is an excerpt provided by GOD SONGS
How To Write And Select Songs For Worship. Visit to Purchase.
Copyright © 2004 by Paul Baloche, Jimmy and Carol Owens
All rights reserved. International copyright secured.
No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form without permission.