Knowing and measuring the content of the songs we lead and sing in our churches is important. But before you are able to measure each individual song, and weigh the deficiencies in your Master Song List - you have to actually have a Master Song List. At the core, a Master Song List is exactly what it sounds like - all of the songs that make up the diet of your church. But hopefully more than just titles, your Master Song List will give you a way to track, understand, and learn the rhythms of rotation for the songs you lead.
I think the first place to start is with having a tool. I use Planning Center to store my master song list, but you could just as easily use a spreadsheet.
The next step is to keep whatever tool you are using up to date. No information is helpful if it is not correct or current. This is why I ‘archive’ songs in Planning Center that are not a part of the regular rotation of songs we sing. A Master Song List should be just your current songs in rotation - not every song the church has ever sung.
Now that you have chosen the tool, and gotten your Master Song List up to date, besides song titles what should be included and accessible?
Some of the things I have found helpful are the themes that I use for the Gospel Song Liturgy (what elements of the Gospel story does this song cover? Creation, Fall, Redemption, Restoration, Glorification). Standard keys - ones where I am most comfortable, but also the keys that another worship leader may use. This would also include the keys that are most comfortable for a female vocalist to lead. Additional versions - the standard version of In Christ Alone is excellent, but recently we’ve been including King’s Kaleidoscope’s version of the song with a completely different feel. Both of them have their place, so I want access to either version.
You’ve settled on a tool to use, gotten the information current, and know how to fill out your Master Song List with useful information, now what?
Besides having a 30,000 foot view of the diet of songs your church is currently singing, I think a Master Set List helps in your rhythm of building set lists, and here is how: it gives you more skill in planning multiple set lists at the same time. When you plan a set list week-to-week it can be easy to revert to whatever is most familiar, or your personal favorites without holding those things in tension with the long-range vision and direction of your area of ministry. For me personally, the rhythm that has seemed to work best is planning set lists a month at a time. I still give myself flexibility with adapting from week to week, but I aim for the bones to remain the same. Planning multiple set lists at once helps with rhythms for introducing new songs to ensure our new songs are being played with enough frequency to become familiar, but not so often to become tiring.
A few questions to consider in closing:
What is on your Master Song List?
How are you keeping track of what songs you are using?
How do you know where a song falls on the spectrum of heavy rotation, regular rotation, or cycling out of use?