I’m going to be listening to and evaluating (whether formally or casually) a lot of songs written for congregational singing soon. To prepare for that I’ve been keeping some notes about various ways to evaluate songs. It’s always a good idea to solicit feedback and think critically about our work and the work of others if it is done in a spirit of love and humility. We want our songs to be the best that they can be, both lyrically and musically. This involves a life-long pursuit of growing in the craft of songwriting.
So here’s my list of categories so far with minimal description. These reflect some of my values for congregational singing like the participation of all, theological depth, application to all, etc. I don’t believe that every song that we use must excel in all of these areas (except in having Biblical lyrics!), but my hope is that the song diet of my local church as a whole would rate well in all of these categories.
Rate each on a scale of 1-5, 1=Poor / 2=Needs Improvement / 3=Neutral or N/A / 4=Good / 5=Excellent
- Music
- The music fits and enhances the lyrics
- The range of the melody is singable by a congregation
- The tune is easy to learn
- The tune is “catchy”
- The melody is strong on its own
- The chord progression makes sense, sounds good, and works well with the melody
- The music is adaptable to different styles and instrumentations
- The music is accessible to musicians of various skill levels
- The music is creative
- The Lyrics Are…
- Biblical
- God-centered and Gospel-centered
- Creative
- Clear
- Faithful to the original lyrics
- Good poetry (rhyming, structure, prosody, etc.)
- Applicable to a general audience
- Summed up by an appropriate and memorable title