8 Steps to Write a Hit Worship Song

By Eric Herron 1 Comment

Wouldn’t you like to write a hit worship song?

You know, the kind that hovers near the top of the CCLI song chart. The kind that
you can start playing in almost any church and strangers will join in the chorus. The
kind of song that—even though it’s just a worship song—keeps the royalty checks
coming and your bank account full. Want to write that kind of song?

Sorry, that’s not what this blog post is about.

A Song for Your Church

The “hit” I’m talking about writing is not at the top of any chart—except maybe your
church’s list of favorites. It is not internationally, or even nationally known. But,
it is known and loved by the little ‘ol congregation from which it emerged.

Though I don’t know much about writing the former kind of hit, I do know a little
about writing a song that speaks well to a local congregation.

Here are my 8 steps to write a “hit” worship song—one that is powerful & meaningful
for your church. tweet this

STEP 1: Choose your topic.

In chapter 7 of “The Art of Curating Worship,” Mark Pierson claims that one of the
most critical questions one can ask when beginning to design a worship event
is,What do I want to say? The critical question for a writer about to compose a
worship song is exactly the same.

You’ve heard the romantic notion of the troubadour who opens his mouth as the
perfectly complete song rolls off his tongue. This happens… hardly ever! The truth
is, without first considering what you want to write about, you’ll only end up with a
disjointed and unfocused ditty—if you get that far.

So, how do you choose your topic? Base your choice on the community. I
always start by asking myself two questions:

1. What does our community need to say/sing to God right now?

2. What does God want to say to our community right now?

If you answer these two questions with your community in mind, you will have a
very good idea about the topic for your song—one that will become deeply
meaningful for those in your church who learn to sing it. A song from your
people,for your people.

STEP 2: Research it.

For most of us, research is something we left behind with college term papers. But,
when it comes to writing a worship song, research is important! What kind of
research, you ask? This kind:

1. Explore your topic. If it’s based on a scripture, what are the related
scriptures you can find? If it is a general theme, what are some synonyms
for the key word? (Trick: Use a thesaurus, the indispensable song-writing
tool!)
2. Locate a metaphor. What word-pictures or symbols represent your topic?
Are their some that already exist in the scripture text? Can you create a new
one?
3. Journal about it. Write a page or two in prose form about your topic.
Dispense with poetic sensibilities for the time being. Don’t worry about
rhyming or meter. If it helps, imagine you are writing a personal journal entry
about whatever aspect of God or spirituality that you happen to be
exploring.

Once you’ve researched your song topic, you’re now ready to begin actual
composition.

STEP 3: Develop your chord progression.

It’s finally time to work on the music! Get out your instrument (guitar or piano work
especially well) and start noodling. Often, I already have a chord progression that
I’ve been messing around with for a while. I work on that. Other times, I’ll just shut
off my brain and see what my fingers do.

Though this is a musical exercise, you’ll want to keep your topic and the research
you’ve done in the back of your mind. Ask yourself:

 Is the topic happy? Sad? Calm? Longing? What does this label mean for the
music?
 What tempo does the topic warrant? Fast? Slow? Medium?
 Is there a particular time signature that would help convey this topic? 3/4
(waltz)? 4/4 (rock)? 2/4 (country)? 6/8 (anthem)?
 Speaking of styles, which style best fits the topic?
 Which musical style best fits the people who will be singing the song?
Don’t think too hard about this stuff, but do allow your answers to inform your first
attempts at stringing together some chords.

STEP 4: Write some lyrics.

Once you’ve got a chord progression—not for the whole song, but maybe what
feels like about a chorus’s worth—it’s time to add some words to your music. If
you’ve done your research, you probably already have a line to start with. Pull
some phrases from your journal writing. See if you can come up with four lines that
describe your topic or that summarize your scripture.

In this step, keep the following ideas and questions in mind:

 Now you’re writing poetry! Unleash your rhyming skills. Broaden your
language palette. Pay attention to the meter (rhythm of the words).
 Is this to be a corporate song or a individual song? A “we” song or a “me”
song? (Base your decision on what your community needs. Which kind of
songs are you mostly lacking in your repertoire?)
 Is your song about God or is it a prayer, sung directly to God?
 To whom specifically is the song sung? To a particular person of the Trinity?
Or, is it one of those songs that is to be sung to the rest of the community—a
song of encouragement or exhortation for the body?

STEP 5: Compose a melody.

Next, take your first stanza of lyrics, open your mouth, and start singing. This skill
comes with practice. Then again, it is not a skill that ever needs to be perfected.
Unless you are co-writing, you will be the only person in the room to hear your
vocal experimentation. So, go for it, you have nothing to lose!

Even when I’m free-singing and experimenting with a lyric, I still adhere to some
foundational ideas about good melodies:

1. Let the words dictate the shape. Spoken language is very rhythmic and
some have even said melodic. Seek out the melody that is inherently
present in the words you have written. Follow the inflection up or down.
Flow with the natural rhythm of the syllables.
2. Emphasize the right words. Land or pause on important words like “God”
or key topic words. Do not land or extend the length of less significant words
like “the.”
3. Interpret words with your melody. Make your melody go up for words like
“light” or “hope.” Make it go down for words like “sin” or “pain.” Make it stay
on the same note for words like “rest.”
STEP 6: Discover your structure.
By now, you may have a viable chorus. Or, is it a verse? The primary action in this
step is to decide which part of the song you’ve been working on. So many times
I’ve started writing a new song, thinking I was working on the first verse. Instead, I
usually find that my first lyrics and melody really have the makings of a chorus or
refrain. But how does one know the difference?

Most of us know intuitively that a chorus functions to provide the clearest

statement of the topic or theme of the song. A good chorus leaves no doubt what
the song is about.

In comparison, verses support the theme. The first verse often starts off a little
vague, revealing more and more as it goes, building up to the chorus. Verse two
and beyond are typically identical in structure to verse one, however, since they
come after the first chorus has already been sung, they function to expound on the
theme rather than to expose it.

It’s not uncommon for a worship song to also have a pre-chorus or a bridge.
Thepre-chorus helps connect a verse with a chorus when it can’t quite get there
on its own, either musically or lyrically. The bridge distills the lyric down even
further than the chorus, becoming the simplest statement of the topic. A bridge can
also create musical interest by introducing new harmonic and rhythmic textures.

Discovering the structure of your song will make clear what you still have to left to
do to finish your composition.

STEP 7: Finish your song.

Write additional lyrics and music for whichever parts are missing. Did you
determine in Step 6 that you now have a chorus? Write a verse that builds up to it
and a another one that expounds on it. Or, is it a verse that you’ve written, so
far?Then, write the chorus that will be the culmination of what your verse builds up
to.

It is important in this step to revisit your research to make sure that the parts of your
song yet to be written maintain a focus on the topic. Revisiting your research is also
important because you may have forgotten about a metaphor or nicely turned
phrase from your journaling that could serve as the center of the bridge or another
verse.

STEP 8: Refine your song.

It’s time to go back over what you’ve written and fine-tune. This goes for both music
and lyrics. Share your song with trusted critics. I choose to have my songs
reviewed by two friends, a poet and a theologian. If my lyrics can be improved,
these experts have the insight I need to go there. I also gather opinions about the
music from a number of diverse musicians.
Here are some of the specific ways I refine:

 Scan for better possible word choices. I might decide to use “grant me”
instead of “give me” or “laud” instead of “praise.” Again, the thesaurus is
indispensable.
 Try some alternate chords under your melody before settling for what you’ve
got.
 Make sure the melody of each verse matches the others in rhythm and
shape.
 Check your theology. Make sure your words are saying what you mean them
to say.
 Sing it through for feel. Are there any words that feel uncomfortable on your
tongue? Are there notes of the melody that are too difficult to sing?
 Revisit the key. Does the key put the melody low enough to invite
participation? If not, choose a better key now before you get too used to the
one you started with.

I’ll Get Write On That

It is certainly possible that if you follow these steps to write a worship song for your
local context, you could also be writing a “hit” on the order of whatever happens to
currently be #1 on CCLI. Wouldn’t that be great?!

Whether that happens or not, it’s fairly certain that with hard work and attention,you
can compose a song that becomes a channel of spiritual connection between
God and those who gather for worship in your church. So, get write on it!

Your turn: What unique steps do you take when writing a song for your
community? 1 Comment.