THE REASON WHY MANY PEOPLE ARE NOT SINGING IN WORSHIP IS BECAUSE WE ARE SINGING SONGS IN KEYS TOO HIGH FOR THE AVERAGE PERSON

For maximum participation in worship, we need to sing songs in keys that the average singer can sing (more here). Too often, worship leaders produce a culture of spectators by singing in keys beyond the capabilities of the congregation. Below is a list of the current top 100 CCLI worship songs plus over 125 additional songs that have dropped off of the list in recent years.

Before viewing the information, please take time to understand the data. You can click here to skip down to the song listing.

Understanding this table

The top 100 CCLI songs are released every 6 months and they represent the most-used copyrighted songs in churches across North America. It is a great list to consider when choosing new songs for your church.

Check out our new series, SONGS FOR WORSHIP, to learn more about the selection of new songs and how to determine if the song is right for your church.

You will see several headings in this chart:

• CCLI Rank: when you sort by this column, you will see the top 100 songs in order of usage from the last reporting period. The numbers marked with 777 were previously on the list, but have dropped out of the top 100.
• SBC Rank: when you sort by this column, you will see the top 100 songs from all reporting Southern Baptist Churches.
• The Ideal Keys are the ones best suited for congregational singing of that song. They fit within the guidelines described in this article of finding the best keys for congregational involvement in singing. You can find a short summary of the criteria at the bottom of the page.
• The Fav column indicates the absolute best key to put the melody of the song in the sweet spot for most all high and low voices (C to C).
• The Key Range shows acceptable keys (lowest to highest), but may not be the best.
• The LifeWay Worship column indicates the keys available on LifeWayWorship.com for the song.
• Comments: Three primary comment abbreviations are found in this column.
  • S – the song has difficult syncopation that may require much work to really nail the rhythm. In many cases this can be a real detriment to congregational singing. In some cases the syncopation is predictable. Some songs change the rhythm with every verse rendering the song unusable for many settings. Some songs have choruses that are easy to grasp but the verses and/or bridges may be tedious to get right. One example is Stand in Your Love. The chorus is easy for people to sing despite the syncopation, but the verses and bridge can be difficult for many people to the point of not trying to sing.
  • O – these songs use the popular (of late) octave jump where a portion of the song is first sung in one octave, then later sung an octave higher. Very few people in the congregation have the range to attain these melodies. In some cases, the song can be adapted by negating the octave jump and pitching the song a bit higher than written to put the melody in a good range. For instance, Lord, I Need You could be sung in the key of Eb and not sing up the octave in the place that is normally done. The song would then be very usable in worship. LifeWayWorship.com has made some adaptations to a few of these songs to make them work. (Your Love Awakens Me arrangement negates the octave jump to make a great arrangement that is very attainable by the congregation). Some worship leaders suggest the congregation should just stay in the lower octave when the worship leaders begin to sing up the octave, but in reality, most people will attempt the jump and find it impossible and possibly quit participating. In most cases, I would suggest making the adaptation mentioned earlier or just not use the song.
  • R – the range is too wide to fall within the prescribed formula for great congregational singing. In some cases, the span is only a whole or half step too wide and some adaptations could take place. For instance, Before the Throne of God Above is a great song with a range a bit too wide. If you change the first note (when sung in C) from the low G to the middle C, the melody sounds just fine and the extreme note is removed. Some people can still sing the G, but if the congregation hears the C strongly, they will latch on to that. Many songs are just too wide a span to use in worship.
• MultiGen – this category is subjective with some data filters to arrive at the rankings. The majority of our congregations are made up of a wide span of generations. Finding unity in worship involves a mutual sacrifice of personal preferences for the unity of the body. A congregation can be more successful at this by looking at the songs they introduce to find those great songs that have a propensity to connect with all generations. Song range, difficult syncopations, etc. can be a hindrance, especially to the older generation. I suggest beginning with the introduction of new songs from categories 4 and 5. As your congregation adapts well to more modern forms of music, then consider trying some in category 3. (I struggled with the assignment of a number of these songs between a couple of categories). Some songs have a chorus that could be a category 4, but the verse and /or bridge bring it down to a much lower number. Here are the meanings of the numbers you will see. in this column
  • 5 – Highly Recommended – the song is straightforward enough that multiple generations can embrace the song, sing it well and learn it with little difficulty.
  • 4 – Recommended – these songs may pose more challenges than category 5, but they are still very good candidates for use in multigenerational worship.
  • 3 – Good – these songs are usable depending on your situation.
  • 2 – Fair – these songs are not the best to use in a multigenerational congregation.
  • 1 – Unusable – I would probably not utilize these songs in your multigen repertoire.
• Audio of every song is available to stream by clicking on the audio link. You will need a Spotify.com account to listen to this music (free).

Now a resource for determining the best keys for congregational songs Click To Tweet

COMING SOON: Downloadable PDF of this information.

Click on the graphic for a detailed tutorial.

Columns are sortable by clicking on them. Note the search box in the upper right for finding a song quickly.

Explanation of symbols in this table

** Several songs are in a range much broader than is attainable by the average singer.
+  LifeWayWorship has often adapted these songs to maintain a singable range.
( ) Keys in parenthesis represent songs that have too wide a range, but the given key is closest to attainable.
(NC) Do not change keys in this song as shown in the arrangement

The Top 100 CCLI Songs 

NOTE: Only the current top 100 have the Favorite Keys, Comments and MultiGen columns completed. The remainder will be added in the future. This data is updated every six months following the CCLI updates.

Click the headers of the columns to sort the table by those attributes.

Criteria for determining congregationally friendly keys (more here):

• The range should fit an average singer. The highest note should be a D with an occasional Eb allowable. The lowest note should be an A. The IDEAL range is between C and C since most high and low voices can sing within that range.
  
• For songs with a small range that could be sung in a wide range of keys, the character of the song and the composer’s original key were considered to preserve the intended feel of the song.
• Songs with a high tessitura may be pitched a bit lower even if the top note is a D.
• A few songs on the list have ranges beyond the scope of an average singer (noted with a ** beside the title). Those key suggestions are noted in parentheses with the best key(s) possible with the understanding that there are outliers in the melody.
• I did not list choice keys in C# or F#, but if choice keys are on either side of one of these, you can certainly choose those keys.