TWLL #12: Why You Should Put A Medley In Your Worship Set

One of the great ways to create or maintain a flow in your worship set is by using a song medley.

A song medley is a series of two or more songs where one song rolls right into the next without a stop in the music.

Putting 2 or 3 songs together in a medley format is a good way to maintain or increase the energy and momentum in your worship set, when it’s done right. 

Today I want to walk us through the process of creating and then effectively executing a song medley.

When you decide to put together a medley for your worship set, there are a handful of things you want to keep in mind…

Medley Theme:

You want the 2 or 3 songs you select for your medley to have either the same theme or a similar theme.  Doing this creates a good flow from song to song in terms of the message.  

When you jump into the second song of the medley you want it to feel almost like an extension or continuation of the first song, and having the same or similar theme will help you do that.

A classic example of this would be going from “Worthy Of It All” into “I Exalt Thee”.  The theme of the worth of Jesus is already in place through “Worthy Of It All”, so it’s an easy step into “I Exalt Thee”.

Medley Music

Similar to the idea of theme, you also want there to be as much musical overlap as possible between the 2 or 3 songs you choose.

This means you want to keep the tempo of the songs the same if possible- or just a couple beats per minute (bpm) slower or faster if you have to.  If you’re at 70 bpm in the first song for example, you want to stay at 70 bpm in the second song or close to that.

I think you also want to stay in the same key signature, as this will also contribute to the overall sense of flow.  If the first song is in D, then do the next song in D too.

Yes, maybe that means one of the songs isn’t in the key you normally sing it in.  But as long as it’s still in your vocal range, I think the benefit of the flow you get by staying in the same key outweighs the slight negative of singing it in a little less comfortable key.

Arrangement Options

In terms of how you structure the transition between the songs, a few recommendations…

Go from the chorus or bridge of the first song, right into the chorus or bridge of the second song.  

The chorus and/or bridge is usually the most memorable and familiar part of the song.  So going from the chorus of one song into the chorus of the next song will help those in the room stay engaged.

And then musically, I sometimes like to do a big musical hit/crash at the very end of the first song and then immediately start a build with the second song.  It’s dramatic, and it can really give an energetic boost to the overall feel of the medley.

Conclusion

When it comes to creating, maintaining and increasing the momentum in your worship set, there are multiple things you can do.  Just remember that incorporating a medley into the mix is a solid option.  

That’s it for today.

See ya’ll next week 🙌🏼

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Whenever you're ready, there are 2 ways I can help you: 

1. The Connection-Based Spontaneous Worship Course.  If spontaneous worship has been a struggle, you might want to check out Connection-Based Spontaneous Worship.  It's a self-guided, self-paced course that empowers you to lead spontaneous worship with confidence, enables your musicians to flow with you, and helps your room engage.  

2- Join A Zoom Group.  Every 3 months I host small zoom groups- one focused on worship leading and one on songwriting.  Each group meets once a week for an hour on Zoom over a 12-week period, as we walk through the process of learning to leading worship/write songs out of connection with Jesus.  For more details about the next upcoming zoom group, including schedule & cost, email me at [email protected]