Today's Praise and Worship Tips for Guitar and Keyboard at Essential Worship

"THE ART OF THE CHART”

by Sandy Hoffman

On Broadway, it’s a big brown book full of little black dots. Nashville? Numbers; each representing a chord built on a degree of a scale in the perfect key for the singer’s voice. For guitarists, there’s tablature. Violinists: a melodic masterpiece of mellifluous obligato. And for the worship team, usually just chords and lyrics, which necessitates a very good ear!

SO WHAT IS A “CHART?”

The definition of “chart” is broad, and encompasses many communication forms. There are lead sheets (lyrics/melody line/chords), chord charts (chords with rhythmic notations), full music scores (usually piano parts or full orchestration) and the ever-popular chord/lyric sheet (chords/lyrics/miscellaneous info).

For our purposes, let’s define a chart as “a document consisting of a series of musical symbols, giving detailed information which allows for the correct interpretation of a piece of music.” Any of the aforementioned chart types can meet this criteria. But only one of these, the chord/lyric sheet, seems so easily to facilitate worship team participation without the ability to actually read music notation.

THE CHORD/LYRIC SHEET

OK, if we’re being honest, the chord/lyric sheet is seriously lacking something in the way of musical detail; specifically the melodic line of the song it exists to present. Since the chord/lyric sheet includes no actual music notation, let’s agree that in order to use it, we must be willing and able to learn the melody of the song by ear; either through listening to others sing it live, or practicing it with a recording. That being said and agreed upon, the chord/lyric sheet seems most often to win out as the favorite mode of communication in many of today’s worship contexts. It’s fast and easy to create, and doesn’t require years of formal music training to read.

TEN ESSENTIAL PARTS OF THE CHART

From the perspective of the chord/lyric sheet, let’s take some time to examine the essential elements of chart anatomy. Properly applied, these will enable the worship team to learn the song, play it together, then hopefully forget about the chart and get down to the real business of glorifying God. This is the art of the chart!

1- LEGAL STUFF

Certain elements of a chart are required by law. When creating a chord/lyric sheet, or any other type of chart for that matter, be sure to include the song title, name of the author, copyright information including the word “copyright,” or the symbol ©, followed by the year of copyright and name of the publisher. Also include the letters CCLI, followed by the license number of the church or organization where you’ll be using the chart.

2- ROAD MAP

The road map of a song can be communicated with a series of capital letters which are the first letter of each section heading. I = Intro, V = Verse, C = Chorus, and so on. In what order do we play the chart sections if the road map is as follows: I - V1 - C - V2 - C - O? This would be played: Intro, Verse 1, Chorus, Verse 2, Chorus, Outro.

3- TEMPO MARKING

The tempo marking is usually a single word such as “fast,” “medium” or “slow,” or in classical music language, “allegro,” moderato” or “adagio.” It can also be communicated numerically as “a quarter note=112” which means to play the song at a tempo of 112 beats per minute.

4- KEY SIGNATURE

When using a chord/lyric chart, the key may be represented simply as: Key of C, Key of E and so on.

5- TIME SIGNATURE

There are two parts to a time signature. These include the top and bottom numbers. For example, in 4/4 time, the top “4” tells us that there are four beats in each measure. The bottom “4” indicates that a quarter note receives one beat. Some other time signatures we might encounter in worship are 3/4, 2/4, 6/8, 3/2 and 5/8.

6- LYRICS

The lyrics of a song are embodied, line by line, in a chord/lyric sheet.

7-CHORDS

The chords of a song are also included in a chord/lyric sheet. These are lined up above the lyrics, syllable-by-syllable, to facilitate the correct timing of the chord changes.

8- SECTION HEADINGS

Section headings coordinate with the road map (see #2) to help the worship musician to always be in the right place at the right time, musically speaking.

9- REPEAT SIGNS

Repeat signs [|: :|] are a handy little device for cutting down on printer’s ink. By using repeat signs, we allow the eyes to read a particular section more than once during the playing of a song; without having to print it again.

10- ADDITIONAL DIRECTIONS

Usually bracketed [ ], additional directions such as [repeat chorus] or [to outro] are included in the chord/lyric sheet format to help the worship team to move together smoothly from one section to another, or to interpret the music correctly.

*FREE* CHART SAMPLE

Charts have always been the great unifier of musicians. I’m sure the earliest charts must have been scratched on cave walls. Since then, of course, technology has advanced just a little. Now you’re invited to download this *FREE* SAMPLE of the chord/lyric chart we’ve been discussing; prepared especially for you. Understanding the art of the chart is primo for facilitating the effective flow of worship. As you include these chart essentials in your team communications, I pray you’ll be freer than ever from worship distractions, and able to keep your eyes unflinchingly fixed on “The Prize!”