Anyone doing originals in church?

[KCKC]

Hi guys,

first post in this forum for me. This is great!

I'm an occasional church player and love to write.

Recently I wrote a song, Come Lord Jesus, that was inspired by the last four words of the Bible.

We used it for the introduction to an evening of intercessory prayer and Adoration.

Would love to see what other folks are writing and using in their services. I've found it to be quite a learning experience!

KC

INTRO: G/ C, G/ G/ D/ Em7, C/ G/ D, G

G C G
Come lord Jesus, A men
G D
Come and heal us, Amen, Amen
Em7 C
All that's mine is my sin
G D G
Take all of me that's within
G C G
Come, Lord Jesus, A men
C9
So I may be filled with you



G C G
Come lord Jesus, A men
G D
Come and heal us, Amen, Amen
Em7 C
So many times___ I have fallen
Em7 D
Off the path, and then started callin’ on You
G C
Hung my head, mad, my acts appalling
G D, D
CryinWhy’m I all alone again.



G C G
Come lord Jesus, A men
G D
Come and heal us, Amen, Amen
Em7 C
Take all of me that's within
Am7 D Em7
So I may be filled with you,
C D G
So I may be filled with youG C G

Blinded by the rising silence
G D
I couldn't see You there with me
Em7 C
When I’s lifted up straight and strong
G D
Praise be to God__ for His mercy


G C G
Come lord Jesus, A men
G D
Come and heal us, Amen, Amen
Em7 C9
All I have is my sin
G D G
Come Lord Jesus I’ll let you in.

(Single Strumming to End)
G C G
Come lord Jesus, A men
G D
Come and heal us, Amen, Amen
Em7 C9
Come Lord Jesus, Please come within
G C G
Come lord Jesus, A men.

[KCKC]

The chords didn't line up write when I pasted the song in! Any suggestions?

tx,
kc

[WallyArms]

Originally Posted by KCKC

The chords didn't line up write when I pasted the song in! Any suggestions?

tx,
kc

In the "advanced" posting section there is an "add guitar tabs" button. I haven't used it, however.

[ChurchPlayer]

The easy way would be to override the font and use Courier since I believe your problem is just spaces getting translated to next to nothing. But, since I can't figure out a way to do that directly, cutting and pasting your text into a TAB section (use the TAB button as mentioned) produces the same effect, albeit in a box.

The one issue you might have is lining things up since it's not WYSIWYG, so copy it directly out of another editor in the courier font and paste it in.

G                          C  G
Come lord Jesus, A  men
G                            D
Come and heal us, Amen, Amen
Em7               C
All that's mine is my sin
G                     D            G
Take all of me that's within
G                            C  G
Come, Lord Jesus, A  men
    C9
So I may be filled with you

[/FONT]

G                          C  G
Come lord Jesus, A  men
G                            D
Come and heal us, Amen, Amen
Em7                       C
So many times___ I have fallen
            Em7                D
Off the path, and then started callin’ on You
G                                     C
Hung my head, mad, my acts appalling
G                    D,			D
CryinWhy’m I all alone again.



G                          C  G
Come lord Jesus, A  men
G                            D
Come and heal us, Amen, Amen
Em7		  C
Take all of me that's within
   Am7          D             Em7
So I may be filled with you,
    C              D             G
So I may be filled with you
G                     C      G
Blinded by the rising silence
G                           D
I couldn't see You there with me
                Em7      C
When I’s lifted up straight and strong
G                                  D
Praise be to God__ for His mercy


G		       C  G
Come lord Jesus, A  men
G		          D
Come and heal us, Amen, Amen
Em7        C9
All I have is my sin
G                          D              G
Come Lord Jesus I’ll let you in.

(Single Strumming to End)
G                          C  G
Come lord Jesus, A  men
G                            D
Come and heal us, Amen, Amen
Em7                                  C9
Come Lord Jesus, Please come within
G                          C  G
Come lord Jesus, A  men.

[Mike Bruce]

So, um...what's the melody? Tempo? Time signature?

Mike Bruce

[KCKC]

Mike,

it's 4/4, moderate, melody will have to be uploaded as I am not a notation guy.

Hope to have it tomorrow.

Are you doing any writing?

kc

[romo]

About 50% of what my band plays at my church is original stuff.

[KCKC]

Wow,

that's alot of original material! That's great!

How do you write? As a band? Individual and then present it?

I tend to get the lyric, melody and chords in a workable format and then present it. Sometimes we stick with it and but it usually evolves as we work it.

It's cool to listen to a song go from inception to the first time you perform it.

kc

[jrm27]

Our worship leader writes a lot of stuff that we sing. When our band goes out and leads at churches we bring some original stuff as well if the setting is right.

[CaptainJangle]

unfortunately i cant get anyone in the church praise band to work on anything original, i'd love to. i have written music that simply just needed the words but heck some people in my praise band complain about being there in the first place so i gave up on trying.

[PraiseCaster]

Our Worship Leader has written a few that are regulars in the rotation. Good stuff too. Since our Praise and Worship Team has started playing out now, I'm starting to write some songs, because my songs tend to be riff driven and definitely heavier than what we would play in church, but I can see a few sneaking in every once in a while.

And yeah, I agree with you KCKC:

Its cool to watch the songs evolution, from concept to performance. I'm waiting for the time that one of us comes in with a concept, and after the band starts morphing it, it becomes something completely different. Thats happened a few times with me, and as always, the creative process in it is so rewarding, and the result truly is a band effort.

[hal]

I have done some originals. We have a section after the sermon for a "special". Usually not a sing along. Usually a secular song. I have inserted some of my originals here.

[Beerts]

I often supply "special music" at church services and it's always original stuff. I never really learned how to play other people's music...

after about 18 years of playing with the same music ministry (the MOTEL EARTH band) the drummer and I have co-written about 125 songs. we always try to fit the song to the service and sometimes change things at the last minute but it has always worked for us!

[KCKC]

Do folks do any collaborating on this site? I know there was a recent post in twanger central of a lyric/music & recording collaboration. Is that unusual?

kc

[TxTeleMan]

Along with alot of the contemporary 'standards' both the AOG church where I play now and the non-denom church where I played for the previous six years do numerous originals.

[goldtopper]

We play almost all originals. My buddy and I have written somewhere around 50 songs- mostly bluegrass or flat out gospel.

[romo]

Originally Posted by KCKC

Wow,

that's alot of original material! That's great!

How do you write? As a band? Individual and then present it?

I tend to get the lyric, melody and chords in a workable format and then present it. Sometimes we stick with it and but it usually evolves as we work it.

It's cool to listen to a song go from inception to the first time you perform it.

kc

Our worship leader use to write the songs himself, present them to the band and we would come up with our own parts to fill out the songs. We have on occasion had a worship band retreat where we spend time thinking about what worship looks like at our church and what direction we want to take it in the future. We usually try to write a song or two at these as well. We also have "writing labs" where we may present ideas to each other and write a song around it.

[scooteraz]

We used to, since we had a couple of folks that were pretty good at it. However, since the last one left, not so much. I have tried several times to write stuff, but it seems pretty trite when I get done. Don't know that I will give up, but...I have other skills outside music that keep me busy and so I guess if I can't write a decent song I will just have to sublimate in those other avocations.

Back to the theme of the post, we would, if any of us were any good at writing songs.

[Robbied_216]

We're about 95% originals....

[Wanker]

I have written several originals. We rotate about 4 or 5 of them into our lineup regularly. Our P&W leader and a few other members have written a couple as well. We want to do more.

[Wanker]

Originally Posted by CaptainJangle

unfortunately i cant get anyone in the church praise band to work on anything original, i'd love to. i have written music that simply just needed the words but heck some people in my praise band complain about being there in the first place so i gave up on trying.

Write it and record a demo of your originals. Present the demo to them. Don't let them know you wrote them. If they like them, they will learn them. Many times people can discount the song before they even hear it if they know it's something you or a friend wrote.

[djmcconnell]

To those of you who write:

Have you ever gotten your work published or recorded? Our worship leader has written some great stuff, but she has never taken the time to find the resources to get it out there.

Is there an outlet for writers to share -- and protect -- their work so that others can benefit from it?

[jarrodmichael]

We're fortunate to have a Worship Director who's also a local musician and has a couple CDs of his own already. He's only been with us for a couple weeks now, so I haven't gotten to know him well enough yet to ask about something like that, but I suspect he'd know a fair amount. If I can learn something from him, I'll pass it along to you.

Say, I see you're in St Louis Park...I work in Eden Prairie. Small world :)

-jm

[gibsonjunkie]

Originally Posted by djmcconnell

To those of you who write:

Have you ever gotten your work published or recorded? Our worship leader has written some great stuff, but she has never taken the time to find the resources to get it out there.

Is there an outlet for writers to share -- and protect -- their work so that others can benefit from it?

Personally I have always felt it was worth the $30 (don't know the current rate) to copyright anything that I thought was decent. I know some people think it's a waste of time, but it's cheap insurance as far as I'm concerned. Never got published and never had anyone want to use my songs, but I keep hoping....

Our church was pretty liberal on what we played, including originals, which isn't always common in a Catholic church.

[Dababy]

Our worship leader is always writing songs and sometimes even writes one especially to go with the sermon topic of that day. (which I could never do - I'm strictly driven by inspiration when I write). I've written quite a few songs and we're starting to add mine to the mix of what we do as well. The coolest thing to me is hearing someone's song that's just a melody and chords turn into a beautiful multi-layered musical piece when the whole band just runs with it.

[djmcconnell]

Originally Posted by jarrodmichael

We're fortunate to have a Worship Director who's also a local musician and has a couple CDs of his own already. He's only been with us for a couple weeks now, so I haven't gotten to know him well enough yet to ask about something like that, but I suspect he'd know a fair amount. If I can learn something from him, I'll pass it along to you.

Say, I see you're in St Louis Park...I work in Eden Prairie. Small world :)

-jm

It would be great to learn about how your leader has gotten "published." Small world indeed! My dad grew up in Eden Prairie and our worship leader served at Prairie Lutheran a few years back.

[jarrodmichael]

Originally Posted by djmcconnell

It would be great to learn about how your leader has gotten "published." Small world indeed! My dad grew up in Eden Prairie and our worship leader served at Prairie Lutheran a few years back.

Neat. I'll ask David when I see him Sunday! He's served at Wooddale before too, on Shady Oak, if you've ever visited there.

-jm

[Telenate]

our pastor mike wrote a song that we played at church one time, I wasn't in the worship team back then though.

[justapasinthru]

Originally Posted by gibsonjunkie

Personally I have always felt it was worth the $30 (don't know the current rate) to copyright anything that I thought was decent. I know some people think it's a waste of time, but it's cheap insurance as far as I'm concerned. Never got published and never had anyone want to use my songs, but I keep hoping....

Our church was pretty liberal on what we played, including originals, which isn't always common in a Catholic church.

I know i may risk becoming a wet-blanket on the excitement here of "Originals"...but i just HAVE to say....

Shouldn't someone speak up when we begin to say....

"Hey I feel I have an "original worship song" from my heart that will especially bless the people..."..but i want to "protect it"....you know i don't think that is what happened when they gathered in the church in 1-20 AD ..just looking for inspriation and fellowship....

I like many have dabbled in attempting to sell Originals but....you know..we give a hard time to preachers attempting to market themselves....and their "current WORD from the LORD"...."...call me OLD fashioned...but i have learned that HE feeds me best when i FREELY give what I"VE freely recvd....

Trust me..It's the BUSINESS of music..particlulary GOSPEL/comtempory-Christian music that has more than stifled many a great would-be aspiring singer-songwriter who actually had something to say worth publishing and to be heard publicly....

If you feel GOD himself has given you a "new-song" to be appropriately shared with others at a corporate gathering of born-again believers....and someone gives you the permission to share it..assumably you WILL for the appropriate reasons..and count yourself blessed to be used by GOD himself to bless HIS people....

Don't you worry about "protecting HIS word...or your interests."....HE is MORE than able to take care of that.....

If your are focusing on primarily YOUR interests.....well....you may be in front of people....but it's not going ANYWHERE....don't worry...

If You Have a NEW SONG....Let It appropriately bless someone....if GOD lets it grow....He'll feed you.....it works.....

We're musicians we should be close to HIS heart...Lets endeavor excellance..and strive to GET IT RIGHT.....

ON EDIT....i Didn't mean to neccessarily get on a soapbox about it...I'm sorry if this has seemed harsh to some...I just really feel like to offer originals may be quite normal if your are where you're supposed to be doing what you are gifted to do...make the most of it...your are blessed for doing so...as others will be for your efforts...IMHO of course.

[Wanker]

from the copyright website

When is my work protected?
Your work is under copyright protection the moment it is created and fixed in a tangible form that it is perceptible either directly or with the aid of a machine or device.

Do I have to register with your office to be protected?
No. In general, registration is voluntary. Copyright exists from the moment the work is created. You will have to register, however, if you wish to bring a lawsuit for infringement of a U.S. work.

[jb12string]

justapassinthru,
I see your point, but just because you protect your work doesn't mean you have to charge for it or that it will hinder its ability to be used. In fact, you could look at it under these circumstances, say you write something, don't protect it, then I record it and sell it on an album, I am now profiting off your work and have taken your desire for something to be used by God and turned it into my own personal moneymaker (I wouldn't do this, just a hypothetical). I see it as an issue of stewardship, much like I lock my house and car when I am not in them, I do it because God has given me things and expects me to take care of them.

[jb12string]

To answer the OP's question, we occasionally do an original. Our WL/Youth Pastor wrote one that I really like, If I can figure out how to host it, I'll post it here

[jb12string]

Here you go, try this.
http://www.blackswater.com/In_Christ_11_22_08.mp3
let me know what you think

[gibsonjunkie]

Originally Posted by jb12string

justapassinthru,
I see your point, but just because you protect your work doesn't mean you have to charge for it or that it will hinder its ability to be used. In fact, you could look at it under these circumstances, say you write something, don't protect it, then I record it and sell it on an album, I am now profiting off your work and have taken your desire for something to be used by God and turned it into my own personal moneymaker (I wouldn't do this, just a hypothetical). I see it as an issue of stewardship, much like I lock my house and car when I am not in them, I do it because God has given me things and expects me to take care of them.

There are songs I'd be happy to profit from and others I'd just be down-right flattered if someone wanted to use them. When it comes to my religious music, I wouldn't care to profit from it, but, on the other hand, no one else should either. If someone were to record and profit from one of my tunes, I think I'd be entitled to something for the effort. I'd probably donate it to charity, but property is property and that should be my choice.