the future of worship music

a friend asked me this week if i had an idea about who the next big worship leader would be.
and it got me thinking about the future of popular worship music. (and usually thinking about the future includes thinking about the past)

i think we have gone through a few phases in the past decade.
in the 90's some bands started writing songs that began what might be called "modern worship". sonic flood, delerious, and some others started writing songs that broke away from the marantha and vinyard sound. songs like i could sing of your love forever and in the secret were emerging with incredibly popular "me-focused" themes. and throughout the 90's bands were popping up left and right with new albums and new songs and many of them were focused on our response toward God. to list a few: light the fire again, hungry, breathe, trading my sorrows, lord you have my heart, in the secret, i could sing,
as i see it, this started to frustrate some people and many started refocusing on the ancient hymns, put to rock band music. passion put out a hymns CD, and many of the big names (tomlin, crowder, redman) recorded hymns, and played them at their shows. this made hymns "cool" again. from this resurgence, came a much needed focus toward the character of God in modern songs. and i think that is where we are at today. there a so many great songs that have been written in the past 3-4 years. songs that start and end with the greatness of God. and other songs that start with a focus on God's character, and end up with a personal response.
so that's the lyrical side.

the musical side is interesting:
worship music is pop music. as much as crowder and hillsong united and i would like to think it's not, the songs that are being written are pop music.
99 percent of worship music follows an ABABCBB pattern. (verse, chorus, verse, chorus, bridge, chorus, chorus). and usually it includes a opening guitar riff that comes in precisely similar places: riff, verse chorus, riff, verse, chorus, bridge, chorus, riff. and to add to that, the penultimate chorus is almost always a break-down chorus that builds back up for the last chorus. (sometimes, the bridge is the breakdown instead of the chorus)
and the reason everyone does this is because it works.
i've been leading worship for a congregation for a couple years now, and i have seen first hand, that this cookie cutter structure works well. especially if it's in the key of C and has a big chorus note of an E. to name a few that follow this: majesty, how great is our God, you never let go, happy day, king of wonders. (of course, not many people can sing them in this key, so i bring all of these down to A or Bb)
i think we are going to get sick of this though.
i love all of these songs, but i dont know how many more of these types of powerful anthemic ABABCBB songs can be written.


the other element in looking at the past decade of worship music is personalities:
first there was maranatha, vinyard. then came sonic flood, delerious. then came passion, tim hughes, and hillsong. that's where we are at now, sorry everyone else, it's: tomlin, redman, crowder, hughes, and hillsong. churches have been looking to the biggest names to create the songs that will define their year. and for the most part, i think the big names have been doing a great job. but i think there is going to be a shift.

thinking about the lyrics, the structures, and the personalities,
what's next

ease of recording and publishing is changing everything.
i think we are seeing and going to see a flurry of small-time artists writing some terrible songs, ok songs, and great songs. and these small-time artists are going to be able to get there songs recorded and out there to some local churches and conferences. everyone wants to be the next big name, but i think we are entering a time where the big names will die down and the local artists will get to create songs for the local churches.
and structurally, i think that some are going to follow the cookie cutter structure, but others are going to try and pioneer some new and fresh creativity. and hopefully we will find some fresh ideas that work really well.
lyrically, my hope is that we have found a good balance. a balance between the rock solid foundation of the character of God, and then responding as individuals and as a congregation. this is the sweet spot for song writing. this is how king David wrote songs. this is how we worship God in life. truth leads to response.

back to blogging.

writing is helpful.

for me.

to express. 

to think externally instead of not thinking internally. my mind shuts off easily. my fingers and hands and feet and eyes get lazy and turn toward things that don't matter. 

eternal things matter. 

my prayer is the prayer of the hymn:

"turn your eyes upon Jesus/look full in His wonderful face/and the things of earth will grow strangely dim/in the light of His glory and grace."

a prayer to Jesus, but speaking to your soul. sometimes, shouting to your soul. like David did in Psalm 42: "Why are you cast down, O my soul. Hope in God."

shouting to my soul, or singing to my soul: 

TURN

SEEK

and thing that don't matter will grow dim.

broken hallelujah 2

wow. sunday night was awesome. the only way i can summarize it is: the sound tech had to turn the band louder because the congregation was singing so loudly. 

the night just seemed to incorporate alot of what Christians should be doing: praising God loudly because they love Him, laying hands on a missionary and praying for Him, confessing sin, taking communion, bringing pants and socks for people who need them in the community, fellowshipping with each other, and singing some more.

i left the night just being grateful that God just seems to do stuff. i mean, we as a band picked some songs and prayed for what should happen and made an announcement, but unless God does something with the hearts and hands of those who come. none of what we do matters. i was just so grateful that God actually moves among His people and changes lives and changes hearts and motivates hands and feet for his work and guides and directs His church.

the night was broken into 3 parts: lifting our hands, opening our hands, and using our hands

here was the setlist:

holy holy holy

let God arise

happy day

mighty to save

here is our King

Jesus paid it all

from the inside out

majesty

You never let go

on our side

i saw the light

how long (pants and socks offering)

(prayer for Costya)

God of this city

hosanna

love is alive

the stand

praise God.

weekly.song project

so. most of my internet/blogging/expressions of stuffs have been rerouted to our family website: www.toneyfam.com because of this little guy.

but i have started a weekly song blog that takes a look at a song we do at GVC. its a fun little project, so you can check it out if you want: www.gvcpodcast.com

Christmas CD 07

the red and green piano’s have united. at last, it is christmas. and that means, a quick recording project that herald our favourite christmas songs. this year, we recorded “o come let us”, complete with trumpet, triangle, guiro, glockenspiel, and holiday bells. followed by, “hark the herald”, back-porch style. the song begins as if you were playing a record and fades into a modern recording. then, there are two originals: a simple acoustic, harmony driven song, and then a lullaby for Isaiah, from Isaiah 9.

check out

www.davidtoneymusic.com

to hear the songs

feet to love

right now, my baby is crying. he has one desire: milk. and soon he'll stop crying, cause he'll get some. he has no idea that the communities around him are crying for much different reasons. this has hit close to home for so many of us. so much destruction. so much displacement. so much uncertainty. so much unbelief. and we are crying with those who have lost homes, pets, and irreplaceable memories.

and through this all we know that God is sovereign over all things. He is ruling as we speak. His vision is bigger than ours. His power conquered sin and death and His grace flows moment by moment. He is active in restoring souls for eternity, and lifting heads for the present. He is beautiful when smoke fills our eyes, or when we can see islands on a clear day. He is the hope-giving, light at the end of every disaster. He never lets his people go, and He is the only giver of infinite gladness, an eternity of joy.

i pray that God would give me and courtney and isaiah and all of us, a heart for those suffering. and hands to lift rubble. and eyes to see need. and arms to hug people. and lips to encourage. and feet to love.

check out gvcfamily.blogspot.com for fire info and ways to help.

hospital days

most isaiah info will be posted on our website, but i'll put a few more posts up.



unreal.
he is beautiful.
God didn't need to make him healthy, but He chose to. our baby did not deserve to be healthy and beautiful. he is already sinful. but God's grace is amazing. already, he is a picture of the grace of God.
i pray that Isaiah would know the saving grace of God intimately at an early age. that he would learn to seek after the face of God and desire to worship Him in everything he does, at an early age

thanks doug and cindy for coming up to see him.


the coming weeks are going to be exciting.
i can't wait