Bob, I'm sorry to say, but this question is as general as 'what songs should we play in a bar?'

There are SO MANY STYLES, that you really can't be prepared ahead of time unless you visit the churches you are trying to get gigs at.

You have everything from full on funky gospel (a Facebook friend, Spiffy Newman on Keys : https://www.youtube.com/user/mtspiffy/videos)

to traditional southern gospel ( https://www.singingnews.com/top-80-southern-gospel-music-charts/ )

To traditional hymms

To modern rock P&W (Bethel Music: https://www.youtube.com/user/ibethelmusic/videos , Hillsongs United: https://www.youtube.com/user/hillsongunitedTV/videos Elevation Church: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xrAdbH28gIg )

To R&B gospel ( Tye Tribbett: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U0TaADfUxPw )

So, there's no way to answer your question, really. You need to visit some local churches that are hiring and see/hear what they are doing.

Our church is mostly in the modern rock vein - where the music is mostly anthemic - guitar driven, almost no horns - I play guitars, bass, or keyboards, on demand, with 5 new songs every week. There's really no fake book.

There's a scriptural reason for this - in the Bible we are called to sing a new song - and the turnover of songs is very rapid. As soon as you get one pretty much down, there's a fresh crop of things to learn.

The good news - you will almost assuredly be provided with a chord chart and pointed to a youtube video to get an idea what is being expected. The tough thing is that lots of those modern rock songs, have a good 3-4, 5 electric guitars, and at least one acoustic guitar part, and often a pre-programmed pad going on. The challenge is sorting out how to make the most of 1 electric guitar.

Visit worshipartistry.com, and the folks there do a great job showing how to pull off a usable small-scale version of a highly produced sound. They have some free intro videos.

A couple of really hot songs in that vein today (2 months from now it will be different):

Waymaker - here are a couple different flavors of that:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cHoGEDQQ67o
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y2m4TgAOBKw

Tremble:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SzZZb6RbLJs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zJ6B0gTiflk


The words are what are important - you can hear how those words, chords and melody are rendered in completely different ways.

You'll also find that unless it's a very unexpressive church, trying to play these songs in a church environment, as just a hired hand - is sort of a non-started.

Many churches follow this model of postures:

1. The audience is God - not the people sitting in the pews
2. The performers are the people in the pews - they are offering a sacrifice of praise and worship to God
3. The band/leader are there merely to prompt the performers, the people in the pews.

so it's not a typical gig.

Last edited by rockstar_not; 05/25/20 04:51 PM.
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