how important are song transitions?

We spend what I consider to be an inordinant amount of time in our practices trying to do smooth, no stop transitions between songs. I am of the opinion that you can end a song, pause, change key if necessary, do a intro to establish the new song, and begin singing again without losing momentum. I don't think the congregation notices or cares whether the songs are tied together or whether there are pauses in between. I would like to focus more practice time on dynamics and cool arrangements which I think are WAY more important than transitions.

There's my bias, I'm open and willing to be convinced otherwise.

Cheers
Matt

completely. There is nothing wrong with transitioning from one to another, some songs work very well for that, but no need to force it. The only part of the service where we sing more than one song at a time is the beginning, where we generally do two opening songs back to back. We rarely uses transitions, and we usually change keys between songs as well. I think the vocalists appreciate the break to catch a breath, and if the song is in the hymnal the time is well used to announce the page number. We occasionally link two or more songs together - For example, we once did "There is Power in the Blood" and "Are You Washed in the Blood" straight through with a short transition, and I put together a medley of The Battle Belongs to the Lord, Awesome God, and Humble Thyself In the Sight of the Lord that worked pretty well.

Bottom line - in my opinion - the practice time is better spent elsewhere, but some praise teams feel that "seamless transitions" make for a more "worshipful" experience.

I would agree that sometimes too much effort can be placed in the wrong places.

However (if you have ever read my ramblings, you know that there is always a "however" coming :lol: ), it is all about mood and careful planning. Yes you can stop a song and then start another in the same or different key. Folks may never notice the difference. But there are those pregnant pauses that folks want to avoid. It can break the mood.

Consider this, if one moment everyone is praying, then the next moment there is a group of 15 kids walking up to the front to start a skit, then do you think everyone is still focused on that prayer at that moment? I would say that most have redirected their attention to the next event.

Having said that, I think that the effort of transitions is to keep people focused on the moment of P&W (in the zone). This can be a huge challenge for a song leader. If not done well, then the effort can be chaulked up as experience this time, but we will do better the next. The hope is that every P&W moment will not be a distraction from praising Him. Continuous and flowing music is very helpful, but it takes everyone on the P&W team to focus and make it happen smoothly.

We will work up a simple transition if it is possible and sounds good, or we will end the current song and the keys player might vamp on an intro while some appropriate scripture is shared. It doesn't always have to be seamless, but it shouldn't detract from the spirit of Worship either. Too much talking can detract (guilty of this one).

But there are those pregnant pauses that folks want to avoid. It can break the mood.

The pause I'm talking about is end song, count 1-2-3-4, new song. I don't think that generally breaks the mood. Yes pregnant pauses are bad, we get those beginning video clips all the time.

Cheers
Matt

.......

ditto to all that he said. just because transitions aren't important to you, doesn't mean they're not important to others. and there are times where a transition is simply stopping a song and starting it up again.

my wife and i are looking for a church now (after having moved to a new area). last week we visted a nice "small" church of about 125 and they had a pretty good singing/musical team. but there were no transitions. after every song there was a slight pause with someone then counting off to start the next song. for me, not a big deal cause to me worship is about so much more than a transition. but for someone who gets distracted easily, or who is new in there faith and relys heavily on the mood of worship for growth, it could be a big deal. shoot, even for a visitor looking for a reason to not go to your church.

so how much time should you spend on transitions? here's what i know, if you start a song strong and you end it strong, generally what you do in the middle is forgotten. so personally, i like for everyone to practice at home and learn the song. then come together, play it through once to make sure there are no tricky parts, and then practice the beginnings and ends and transisions. just personal opinion.

But there are those pregnant pauses that folks want to avoid. It can break the mood.

The pause I'm talking about is end song, count 1-2-3-4, new song. I don't think that generally breaks the mood. Yes pregnant pauses are bad, we get those beginning video clips all the time.

Cheers
Matt

that's funny. you hadn't posted this by the time i was typing my reply. i'm not a fan of the 1-2-3-4 count, but hey, we're playing for God so it doesn't really matter if i even like the song :)

We don't do any "counting off" to start the song. We do fill the space between songs with an announcement of what the next song is.

Just as there are many worshippers who would find excess space between songs a "distraction", there are just as many who find extensive repetition, extended songs, and excessive "preaching" by the worship leader (over and between songs) to be a distraction. I am convinced that a lot of the opposition to Praise and Worship music is based on these things and not just a dislike of the style of music. Not trying to get an arguement going, just making the point that people have different ideas as to what is conducive to worship.

But there are those pregnant pauses that folks want to avoid. It can break the mood.

The pause I'm talking about is end song, count 1-2-3-4, new song. I don't think that generally breaks the mood. Yes pregnant pauses are bad, we get those beginning video clips all the time.

Cheers
Matt

I shouldn't have typed 1-2-3-4. What I meant was a 4 count pause. I should have said: end song, pause 4 beats, new song. We only do count offs if absolutely necessary and they're not counted 1234, it's the drummer's sticks.

Cheers
Matt

Some songs lend themselves to transitions and some don't. A carefully placed "pregnant pause" can be used effectively as a very reflective/prayerful/vertical/powerful moment.

......

i think you make a good point. it all kind of reminds me of what my "mentor" in P&W said. what he always told us was... "it's not our job to lead them in worship. it's our job to worship. if they want to join in, great. if they don't, it won't matter what we do. it's their heart. BUT, it's a lot easier for others to join you in worship when you are actually worshipping."

not sure if that makes a lot of since to y'all but it spoke volumes to me. as much as i hate count offs and what not, they don't really mater. some of my best times of worhsip have been with some of the "worst" worship bands. so i guess this is a fun topic, but we can't worry every time if someone likes everything we do. we just got to worship.

What you say makes perfect sense. But it is contrary to the approach that our team always cites. That is, 'that we are in charge of "leading" the congregation to worship'. They are not going to lead themselves. Therefore, we must do our best to arrange the music and "FEEL" the worship.

Ever since I was a very young boy, I realized that moods are extremely contagious. If our mood is strong worship, then others will catch the mood. If someone is aggitated and it shows in front of the congregation, then they will become worried then aggitated. If I get very confused and panic, then everyone will loose their concetration and begin to feel my anguish. Therefore, every time I make a mistake (and there are plenty), I chuckle it off, the result is that I appear to be having a lot of fun, and everyone appreciates it.

Back to transitions, I like to arrange smooth transitions, because it helps me worship. If I am truely worshiping, then everyone else will worship as well.

The most difficult transitions are going from a jangly 4/4 song to a mellower 3/4 song. Sometimes it works, but most of the time there is a little distortion in the flow. So, those types do warrent a meditative pause (and perhaps a 2 sentence prayer -"God help us to be drawn into Your worship . . . . Let us sing with open hearts and praise You").

Paul Baloche has produced some very good DVDs about P&W presentation. One of the volumes deals specifically on how to make your presentaion flow and seem natural. I highly recomend all of these DVDs. It makes transitions seem like an easy task at hand. These are the same lessons that Paul teaches at all of his clinics.

We will work up a simple transition if it is possible and sounds good, or we will end the current song and the keys player might vamp on an intro while some appropriate scripture is shared. It doesn't always have to be seamless, but it shouldn't detract from the spirit of Worship either. Too much talking can detract (guilty of this one).

We do so many songs where the whole band comes in after the song is going so we don't stress transitions much. We have a great keyboardist and it's usually up to him to fill and he does a great job. We work on dynamics most of all and it's made a differrence but often as not by the time Sunday morning comes (we paractice on Tuesday) the song has changed. It even changes from first to third service sometimes.

The fun thing is we've all been playing together for awhile now and we've gotten pretty good at rolling with the changes. Live music IS better. It still drives the vocalists nuts though.

I think it really does depend on the P&W Leader. And I believe there has to be a balance: Too many smooth transitions, and the vocalists get tired, the guitarists, bassist, keyboardist, etc, get tired too (not to mention the possible guitarists fingers feeling as flexible as concrete road abutements [stiff fingers/cramping]). Now it'sa just my opinion, but I think, that if there are too many, back to back transitions, it would start to feel like more of a performance, than Praise and Worship. and the key here is "back to back transitions". That's just my opinion though

And rather than a "pregnant pause", how about a "reflective pause". This is where the P&W Leader comes in, and helps lead them in reflection, on what was just sang. You dont know how many times I've heard someone say to my P&W Leader: I never knew, I just mechanically sang those words, but now it means so much more!

And I like the reflective pauses too: it gives me a chance to praise Him even more. I might be so awe-struck with Him at the end of a song, I just need to lift my hands up, and give all Glory to Him.

I would just add, pray, pray, pray, pray, pray. And when you feel that God has marked the time (or maybe he wont) for you to approach the P&W Leader, approach in meekness, kindness, humility, and in Love.