Less formulaic Christian contemporary music?

[rickzjamm]

In CCM as in any genre of music there's something for everybody, just depends on your perspective & what you're looking for.

[marczellm]

Wow, such great responses! My YouTube Watch Later list just grew by around 20 videos CEB I love your response too

[theGman]

^^^^^dittos mak1457...also, listening to many of the above songs, I just wondered if anyone goes to church to worship the Lord and not hear a rock concert composed (almost all) of 2nd rate music?

 

Saturday nights is the time to rock out, to me.

[MurMan]

The OP asked a simple question about less formulaic CCM. Of course the goal is worship. But is it possible to discuss only the music? Or only our instruments? If not, we might as well go back to Gregorian chants.

 

edit: And while we're dropping our contemporary distractions, we need to drop all those hymns that came from bar songs. Ditch the robes because wardrobe is "performance".

 

For me personally, I am very happy to worship while rocking out with a huge smile on my face on any day of the week!

[dje31]

Same for me, Gman. I've got over 3000 rock songs on my phone. When I'm at church, I want organ, maybe the occasional brass or string accompaniment...thanks anyway.

 

My wife likes the new stuff...I prefer the old...so we don't attend church together very often.

 

As long as it gets folks in there, fine. Different strokes and all.

[harmonizer]

I think this is an interesting topic, from a few angles. Regarding new vs. old, once upon a time "Amazing Grace" was new. I'm not sure if all Christian denominations now have this in their hymnal, but for many it is now a staple. How did it become a staple, and was it at first considered too new, or too straightforward in its statement of belief?

 

A second thing is that I (like others here) feel that many of the songs that fit the CCM category just aren't really that good musically. No matter how spiritually inspired a composer might feel, the resulting composition might not be inspiring music. I think that those of use who have some interest in religiously inspired music (from any faith) might have heard many songs in this category that did not inspire us at all. In my experience, the good ones are the exceptions rather than the rule.

 

And the third thing is how do you make a good CCM song fit in a church service....if it's possible at all. Our church has a band made up of high school age musicians which performs religious songs in a more contemporary style. These are usually performed at a second service once or twice a month, and even the adult attendees who may not love the style see the value of helping these young adults get better connected to the church. But these type of songs would not work as well if they were performed every week in the first service, which is more heavily attended.

[larico]

Don't know if this fits your request but a few years back there was a Christian band called Parachute. They had what I thought was a pretty cool song called "Something To Believe In".

[MurMan]

.. a few years back there was a Christian band called Parachute.

Thanks for reminding me about the Parachute Band. We used to play their song "Complete" about 12 years ago. The church loved it and could sing it. The piano part is beautiful.

 

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[marczellm]

.. a few years back there was a Christian band called Parachute.

Thanks for reminding me about the Parachute Band. We used to play their song "Complete" about 12 years ago. The church loved it and could sing it. The piano part is beautiful.

It looks like you are talking about two different bands, both called Parachute. The first one is not even a specifically religious band.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parachute_(band)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parachute_Band

[Markay]

Interesting, I kind of thought this was just a USA thing.

 

Hillsong and Planetshakers are both from Australia. Both are leading edge in contemporary worship music and many US churches use their material.

 

I forgot about the Aussies. In my mind Europe has way older culture than North America I guess I expected everything to be way more traditional. My background is Eastern Orthodoxy and we don't even have pianos in churches.

 

To put Hillsong in context - here it is not a mainstream church, but it does raise a lot of money from its parishioners, has cutting edge studios and is very business orientated. The dominate christian religions here are Anglican and Catholic plus Methodists, Presbyterian etc. Very much like I find it in the UK.

 

And in these the pipe organ is the dominate instrument, possibly supplemented by acoustic guitar for 'youth' orientated services.

[MurMan]

It looks like you are talking about two different bands, both called Parachute.

Thanks for the links. I was posting about the Parachute Band from New Zealand. The song Complete was from their album "All the Earth".

 

Evidently, the original Parachute Band retired in 2006 and a new generation took over. The original band's website used to provide sheet music for their music for free.

[Mike Kent]

Here are some we do at my church with keyboard parts that I enjoy playing. I get to play Piano, E.Piano, B3, Analog Synth, and some Accordion. These are not really in the style of the examples you posted. Maybe they are in the style that you consider formulaic. But these all give me something to play other than a pad.

 

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[Daniel Wade]

 

 

Hey Marczellm, here are some original songs from a cd that my uncle and I did awhile back. Its a mixed bag of songs, but some are praise and still sang at church. Sorry it took so long to respond, but I had to make sure it was also ok with him to make these available for free download.

 

 

So if you, or anyone else want to use any of these at your church we would be honored. I can also get the music without vocals and the lyrics for those who sing to tracks. Just pm me if you need these.

 

Here they are:

 

 

 

 

[marczellm]

This concert was put on the World Youth Days in Krakow. Huge variety in the types of music performed. Polish folk, world music, gospel choir, children's choir, full band with orchestra, funk rock. Every track of it is a goldmine of both spiritual uplifting and musical treasures.

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[wd8dky]

P.O.D.

 

Not formulaic.

[marczellm]

Some interesting "adult chords" as well as a fun guitar+synth solo in the middle.

 

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[cp-the-nerd]

Anberlin and Mae are two non-formula Christian bands. Their song catalogs aren't brimming with obvious gospel themes so maybe they don't fit the thread, but I personally can't stand worship music so that's why I like them.

 

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[Stokely]

Huh, I didn't even know Mae was a Christian band.. I just liked a few of the tunes I heard! In particular this one (extra points for a piano on fire!). Actual song starts about 2 minutes in. Nice chord changes.

 

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One of my favorite bands of all time is King's X, I know they are "conflicted Christian" I guess I'm an atheist so I don't give a shit, I just like good music!

[Mighty Motif Max]

I've got some few. As a worship leader and keyboardist, I'm somewhat opposed to the excessive usage of ethereal elements for reasons of my own that I won't go into here, but it cheapens...ah, nevermind.

 

I've found some good ones over time. Not that all of them would work in an actual worship setting, but they're good for variety. Some of these are older and getting obscure now too.

 

Michael W. Smith - Could He Be the Messiah - good old '80s. DX7 spotted.

 

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All Things to All Men - 70x7 Band

 

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Your Name - Hillsong (this is NOT the Paul Baloche one nor "Your Name High" - this is piano driven roots rock from 1993)

 

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Rivers & Robots - Shepherd of My Soul - very unique

 

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Michael W. Smith - Emmanuel - another '80s live video with lots of keys. This is much more of a rock version than the later heavily-orchestrated version (which is also nice but nearly impossible to find without the O Come O Come Emmanuel piece stitched onto it). I've done this one live with a band - lots of fun chords.

 

 

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Downhere - Coming Back Home

 

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For good measure: A Spanish arrangement of "This Is Amazing Grace" by Jesús Molina and Friends (but he plays guitar and sax instead of keys)

 

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[Mighty Motif Max]

Here's a non-repetitive Chris Tomlin/Passion one - Mariachi on trumpet and heavy electric piano usage among other things in this one. "God's Great Dance Floor"

 

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Another Chris Tomlin one, but one that I find to be interesting enough musically to not put it in the formulaic category. "Is He Worthy"

 

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Someone else mentioned Israel Houghton - this is my favorite of his by far. "You Are Good"

 

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Here's an old video from almost 5 years ago of me playing it as a teen with my old church band. We changed it a little into a clavi-driven tune.

 

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Jeremy Camp isn't my favorite singer, but he has a few songs that are a little different from the usual that I like.

 

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Here's a newer one - Tauren Wells, "When We Pray".

 

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[Mighty Motif Max]

If you look into some of the newer synth-heavy material, there's actually some good variety there too. I'm not much of a regular Hillsong fan with the exception of a few songs, but their youth ministry "Y&F" band really has something going sometimes. Here are a few of their songs that I enjoy musically.

 

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Real Love - definitely a little "less formulaic" lol. Hard to follow when learning it in fact.

 

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Substance I/O - Sun Stand Still

 

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A few other ones I like - depends on how you define formulaic but I find these to be above average.

 

 

Jesus Culture - In The River. Practically my favorite "church camp" song as a kid lol. Interesting usage of dulcimer or koto (hard to tell which).

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Tauren Wells - Famous For. Currently one of my favorite current songs getting radio play.

 

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Kim Walker-Smith - Spirit Break Out. This one goes against my usual rules, but the strings help it out a lot. I make an exception for it.

 

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And lastly...

 

Waymaker - the Michael W. Smith version. Just an all-around good song IMO.

 

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[Sam CA]

I've played a lot of contemporary praise and worship songs from the 70s,80s and 90s. Then I made a full circle back to Monteverdi, and friends again so don't know anything about recent Christian music artists. My favorite was a collection called 'Hosanna! Music'. It was one of the first contemporary professional production in terms of arrangements, performance, recording quality ...etc . Major artists such as Ron Kenoly and Don Moen collaborated with them as well. The tapes and song books would get smuggled into the Middle East and eventually find their way into our Church where I played piano.

 

This is one of them:

 

 

[Mighty Motif Max]

Forgot one! This one has dulcimer and some classical piano and strings incorporated into it, though it's kind of a rocking song. The intro is great.

 

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[allan_evett]

You could try this approach:

"People Get Ready" is a wonderful piece of gospel music. It's my wake up alarm on my phone, too. I love the key change mid-way through.

 

 

Three years ago I suggested this one - plus a couple other similar songs - to the pastoral staff at the church where I directed music. Apparently my choices weren't hip enough (nor did I wear flannel shirts, cigarette-leg black jeans and a hat ). The youth coordinator even said, after I played some recordings: "That's something that reminds me of what my parents, or even grandparents would listen to". The epitome of their worship music was 'Oceans' or anything structurally similar. I like U2, but I wouldn't go to one of their concerts weekly to hear similar set lists. And a lot of live worship music comes across to me as a concert event, to put butts bucks in the seats vs bringing a community together.

 

I'm now an accompanist for three Catholic masses a week. While we occasionally do a current, mega-church type of song (some of which I do enjoy playing), the majority of songs are either liturgically-based or written by an eclectic group of artists (most having roots in a variety of church denominations) whose lyrics and presentation appeal to me much more than some of material I'd done previously in either the Methodist Church or other non-denominational communities. Quite possibly my preference is based in part on my roots; I was raised in the Episcopal church, around the time that a mix of liturgical music and guitar mass folk rock dominated. But the director and musicians I work with are very focused on serving their church community; I don't sense a need to perform or entertain from them. It very much reminds me of my unfortunately short lived experience of playing in a northern Colorado original band that covered retreats based in both yoga and mindfulness. I picked up a much stronger core sense of soul and purpose there, as well. A lot of similar intent to what I sense from my current music team.

[Tom Williams]

I like a lot of the above, and have played most of the MW Smith stuff.

 

Like the OP, I am not a Pad fan.

 

I remember the old Hosanna cassettes -- learned a ton of those songs -- but at the time I thought "this is unrealistically overproduced." By current standards those were simple and intimate. I get Elevation Fatigue Syndrome pretty quickly nowadays.

 

I am personally bothered by the fact that the contemporary worship music scene is so, um, dynamic, that nothing seems to be able to grow roots and become part of the culture.

 

I don't mind if it's a little repetitive, as that helps newbies learn quickly -- like hymns did. What I do dislike greatly is songs that are so melodically, rhythmically, or structurally complex that the congregation has little or no chance of joining in the singing.

 

A few that have been around and still work IMO:

 

• "Indescribable." The structure of the song is simple enough that first-time hearers should be able to join by the second verse.
  I like the Laura Story version -- nice keyboard riff... (and it's the first arrangement I heard).
   
  
• "Revelation Song". Kari Jobe might not have written it, but she nailed it.
   
  
• "In Christ Alone." Don't tell the Contemporary worship folks -- it's a secret -- but it's a hymn.
  

[nursers]

Forgot one! This one has dulcimer and some classical piano and strings incorporated into it, though it's kind of a rocking song. The intro is great.

 

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Hey Max here's the original which I've always loved:

 

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[RABid]

I have to laugh at the irony some music directors display in my area. Their music production on Sunday mornings are so controlled and formulistic. Same pads, same mood, same builds, same song with slightly different lyrics. Because they think that is the way it is supposed to be. That it is what is popular. Yet, they all invite my cousin to come perform at their church and his sound is much more singer/songwriter. He records with a full band but can play any song with just an acoustic guitar or piano. Totally opposite of what the music directors are doing, yet the congregations keep asking for my cousin to come back an perform. You would think they would get the hint, but they don't.

[allan_evett]

I have to laugh at the irony some music directors display in my area. Their music production on Sunday mornings are so controlled and formulistic. Same pads, same mood, same builds, same song with slightly different lyrics. Because they think that is the way it is supposed to be. That it is what is popular. Yet, they all invite my cousin to come perform at their church and his sound is much more singer/songwriter. He records with a full band but can play any song with just an acoustic guitar or piano. Totally opposite of what the music directors are doing, yet the congregations keep asking for my cousin to come back an perform. You would think they would get the hint, but they don't.

 

Yes, this . Ties in well to what I stated earlier.

[b3keys]

Check out the Jason Lovins Band who performed at Yamaha"s Night of Music at Winter NAMM this year. Good stuff!

[Tom Williams]

Check out the Jason Lovins Band who performed at Yamaha"s Night of Music at Winter NAMM this year. Good stuff!

I've been fascinated for years by the fact that Yamaha, in an essentially Buddhist country, has been in tune with the American Christian church market for decades. They literally wrote the book on church sound reinforcement. I wouldn't be surprised if that has generated in excess of $1e9 dollars for them.