As I work with churches on their weekend services, one of the things that I (sadly) see a lot of is “power ballad syndrome.” This is where ALL of the songs have the same structure: mid- or slow tempo with a first verse led by the worship leader (or the leader of that particular song) alone, a second verse with the backup vocalists joining as the song gradually builds, a big chorus (or one with a breakdown), a third verse as the build continues, chorus, and then bridge, bridge, bridge, bridge, bridge, bridge, bridge, bridge until it’s HUGE, with two choruses to wrap things up.
It’s not that it’s bad from a quality standpoint. It actually works very, very well – that’s why people do it. It’s just monotonous.
It’s like a two-hour movie of someone driving on the Interstate with mountains getting closer and closer… and then another driving scene with the mountains getting closer and closer… and then another…A movie that doesn’t have an introductory scene, or quiet moments of introspection, or wild moments of action – just this relentless build…
How to avoid it? Vary the dynamics. Vary the tempo. Make sure that you’re not just doing the same song over and over with different lyrics. Speaking of lyrics, that’s a completely separate topic – and one for another day… : )
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