Variety, Variety, Variety.
When choosing songs for liturgy, I have but another thing for you to keep in mind today. The difference between our musical attention spans as musicians and those of the congregation. I can't count the number of times that I have second guessed song choices because I though "I've done this too many times recently, people are going to get tired of it." When in essence these songs are often the most popular and well loved songs.
Pescador De Hombres is a song used frequently in Hispanic communities but it is also a song that gets the community SINGING. When the "fishers of men" reading came up last weekend I was really worried to sing it again because I had used it for about 3 weeks in a row. But the community sings and more importantly, prays with it. I'm sure I could have found a more obscure song to fit the liturgical need but what good does it do?
We as musicians need to feel fulfilled in our ministry as well. Part of that is doing a variety of new and challenging music. But this must be balanced with consistent, meaningful, and singable music. Music that the congregation will know in the first few beats. This is why songs like "City of God", "Table of Plenty", "Find Us Ready" and the like have stayed so strong in the community masses.
Variety and Consistency
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