A Typology of Ad-Libbing: Performing Authenticity in Contemporary Worship

Abstract

Since 2010, the contemporary worship scene has changed. New prominent church bands have emerged and streaming services have made worship music more accessible. While solo worship artists such as Chris Tomlin and Tim Hughes primarily released studio albums in the 2000s, two new prominent collectives, Bethel Music and Elevation Worship, followed Hillsong and Passion in releasing live albums. These live tracks have heavily influenced the local congregation. One example of this influence is the performance practice of singing ad-libs. This article will first define ad-libs within the contemporary worship context and examine how ad-libs provide authenticity to worship leaders. Then, it will explain how this performance practice moved from worship artists to local church vocalists. Finally, the article will conclude with a new typology for identifying and analyzing ad-libs in contemporary worship. Singing ad-libs in contemporary worship is an authenticating performance practice that has extended into the local church through the prominence of live recordings and therefore requires a typology for further research.

1. Introduction

Research in contemporary worship has slowly evolved since the debates of the worship wars.¹ While this debate remains in some circles, scholarly conversations have shifted from whether this style of music should be used in worship to analyzing the history, songs, and practice of the contemporary worship movement. Some scholars have focused on tracing contemporary worship’s history and discovering the movement’s origins (Ruth and Lim 2021). Other scholars have used ethnographic methods to demonstrate how contemporary worship music creates congregations in various places beyond the church (Ingalls 2018) and affects the musical tastes of believers (Porter 2017). Other scholars have examined contemporary worship theologically by examining how its use forms us (Lemley 2021) and the texts’ theological tendencies, often concerning the Trinity (Ruth 2007, 2015; Tapper 2017). Recent scholarship has shifted its focus to include discussions about the music itself, including insights on aspects such as melodic range and harmony (Thornton 2020; Baker 2022). This article will provide insights into the performance practice of contemporary worship songs by focusing on one musical component that has increased in prominence throughout the last decade: singing ad-libs.

Scope and Methodology

Since 2010, the contemporary worship scene has changed. New prominent artists have emerged, including Bethel Music and Elevation Worship, and streaming services have made worship music more accessible. Studio albums released in the 2000s by popular solo worship artists, such as Chris Tomlin, Paul Baloche, and Tim Hughes, gave way to more live albums released by church worship bands, such as Bethel Music and Elevation Worship, and local churches have witnessed the effects of these transitions.

Singing ad-libs in worship is not a new practice. Hillsong Worship has released, almost exclusively, live albums since the 1990s. With Hillsong playing a prominent role in the contemporary worship movement, the inclusion of ad-libs on their live recordings likely had some influence on the use of ad-libs by newer worship bands today. Throughout the past decade, the performance of ad-libs by newer contemporary worship artists has established ad-libs as more than a performance trait of a particular vocalist. Singing ad-libs is a normal performance practice within the genre of contemporary worship.

The examples of ad-libs used throughout this article will focus primarily on English versions of songs used in the United States. While Hillsong Worship and popular British artists are not located in the US, some of their songs are included as examples because of their widespread use in the United States, as supported by the Christian Copyright Licensing International (CCLI) US Top 100 lists. It is important to acknowledge, however, that the performance of ad-libs in the contemporary worship genre is not limited to songs in English or the United States. Many songs originally written in English have been translated into many languages, including “What a Beautiful Name”. In one video in Portuguese, a worship leader ad-libs during the instrumental section at 2:26 (Israel Salazar 2020). Another video in Indonesian includes a worship leader ad-libbing at 2:26 (SIBLife Church 2021).

This article will first define what an ad-lib is within contemporary worship. Then, it will address how singing ad-libs has become a normalized performance practice in contemporary worship. Third, the article will demonstrate how occurrences in recordings affect the local church, including singing ad-libs. Finally, the article will conclude with a typology that functions two-fold in providing a means to identify and analyze ad-libs. This typology was created through observation of videos provided on YouTube by worship artists. A list of all the video examples has been consolidated below the bibliography. With the increase in live recordings that include ad-libs throughout the last ten years, many of the song examples are from artists that became popular since 2010 to demonstrate the continuation and now prominence of the practice across the genre.

2. Defining Ad-Libs

The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines ad-lib as “to deliver spontaneously”. Within church music, this term often refers to spontaneous singing. In gospel music, ad-libbing is considered part of the performance practice. Trineice Robinson-Martin defines ad-libbing for gospel in her book, So You Want to Sing Gospel: A Performer’s Guide:

Ad-libbing is a type of textual improvisation that consists of generating short improvised phrases over a chorus or a vamp (a repeated section that extends the end of a song). The text used during an ad-libbing section can be a direct extension of the lyrics being sung by the choir or it can be a sung testimony with text that is different from that of the choir.

(Robinson-Martin 2017, p. 134)

While the focus of the quote is on gospel music, ad-libbing for contemporary worship can be adapted from the main features of ad-libbing in gospel. Like gospel, contemporary worship ad-libs are improvised, occur during a chorus or instrumental section, and can be an extension of what was previously sung. Therefore, an ad-lib in contemporary worship is an improvised sung word or phrase that the congregation does not sing and uses words or music not found elsewhere in the song. The spontaneous aspect of contemporary worship ad-libs can be textual or musical. The words that are sung can be the lyrics at the beginning or the end of a section. In these instances, the spontaneous aspect is musical, ad-libbing the pitches and rhythms. When the ad-libs are textual, they function as a guide for the people or as the leader’s own personal spontaneous words to God. A new typology provided at the end of the article describes the various types.

3. Understanding Authenticity in Contemporary Worship

In Christian Popular Music, a distinction is made between these two genres that sits at the center of the conversation on performance. The two genres are contemporary Christian music (CCM) and contemporary worship. Monique Ingalls (2018, p. 6) defines CCM as “a presentationally oriented religious popular music genre intended for performance by solo artists and bands to listening audiences rather than” contemporary worship which is intended “for participatory congregational singing”. CCM is presentational because it does not require the audience to participate. Contemporary worship is more participatory because it desires congregational participation in creating the music by using their voices to sing along. The differences in expectations can be seen by comparing the music videos for these two genres. CCM music videos include frequent images of the performers (see MercyMe 2014) or are simply artistic, such as the cartoon music video of “Foreverandever Etc …” (see: davidcrowderband 2009). Contemporary worship music videos include frequent images of people singing along, typically the congregation (see: Hillsong Worship 2016; Passion Music 2017). The development of contemporary worship as a genre in contrast to CCM could explain the adamant resistance to any notion of “performance” in contemporary worship settings. Worship leaders want to be viewed as worshippers drawing attention to God instead of performers drawing attention to themselves.

Ingalls addresses the negative connotations surrounding the word “performance” in relation to the concert congregation. She describes how artists navigate the dynamics of a worship concert, where a concert often connotes a situation in which the only performer is the person or people on the stage. Ingalls states:

In order to be “authentic worship”, the worship concert must be experienced as a participatory performance, in which the boundary between the worship leader at center stage and the audience in the stadium seats is collapsed because both are engaged in the act of worship. Attendees must understand both themselves and the worship leaders onstage as “worshipers”—equal participants in the activity of worship.

(Ingalls 2018, p. 56)

Worship leaders establish themselves as equal participants by frequently encouraging the people to sing and engage, and large screens provide the lyrics, occasionally accompanied by live video as the background (Ingalls 2018, p. 57). By providing the lyrics, these concerts have distinguished themselves from their secular counterparts, where lyrics are rarely provided for attendees. If the people have lyrics supplied for them, this implies that the people are intended to participate by singing along. A final act of authentication is through performative gestures. Ingalls describes the “‘worship grimace,’ a facial expression intended to evoke intense sincerity”, and acts of lifting hands as other ways that worship leaders are authenticated (Ingalls 2018, p. 211).

In addition to these physical postures, worship leaders have adopted the performance practice of ad-libbed singing. The challenges of this practice run parallel to Ingalls’s perception of how concertgoers receive worship artists as worship leaders instead of performers, stating:

Concertgoers have to feel part of a worshiping congregation, coming away with a sense that they “really worshiped” and utterly convinced that the artist on stage was an inspired “worship leader” rather than merely a skilled performer.

(Ingalls 2018, p. 49)

Ad-libs are one of the few moments in the worship concert or service where the people are not directly invited to participate in unified singing. The lack of congregational participation means that the worship leaders are vulnerable to being perceived as inauthentic. Due to the spontaneous nature of ad-libs, attention is focused on the worship leaders since the worshippers cannot know what words will be sung and, therefore, cannot sing along with the vocalist. However, while the attention is placed on the vocalist, the worship leader can still be viewed as authentic through “performing” authenticity by singing ad-libs directly to God. The focus is thereby placed on God instead of the vocalist.

Ad-libs can function in two different ways by providing direction for the people both spiritually and musically. Spiritually, these ad-libs demonstrate that the worshipper is solely focused on God by singing songs spontaneously, or, as some might describe it, “in the Spirit”. This performative practice provides a model for worshippers to follow in singing their own songs to God, especially in extended sections of free worship. Ad-libs can also function musically by helping the people know where the song is going. In worship, often worshippers will have their eyes closed. This is especially true during repeated sections, such as a chorus or bridge, where the worshippers have internalized the lyrics and are no longer dependent on the screens. When the worship leader ad-libs the opening words of the next section or continues to tag the last line, it signals to the worshippers what section is coming or that a previous section is going to continue into a time of free worship. These ad-libs allow the congregants to remain in a state of worship with their eyes closed while being informed about where the song is going. While this article focuses on the sung ad-libs, these musical directions can also be spoken, using phrases such as “Let’s sing that chorus one more time”.

4. Live Recordings and the Local Congregation

Worship recordings heavily influence the performance of contemporary worship music. These worship recordings are how local congregations learn how contemporary worship songs are “supposed” to sound. In the 2000s decade, worship music was discovered by buying albums and listening to the radio. Solo artists, such as Chris Tomlin and Paul Baloche, primarily released studio albums during this time. Solo worship artists were the main contributors of songs that ranked on the CCLI US Top 25 lists. For example, the final list of the 2000s decade in 2009 had eighteen songs with a copyright year after 2000. Of those eighteen songs, 66% were initially released as studio tracks.² In contrast, of the twenty-one songs written after 2010 on the most recent 2022 CCLI US Top 25 list, only 24% were studio albums.³ Therefore, the balance has reversed in favor of live tracks.

The shift from studio to live albums is significant to how worshippers hear songs in their everyday listening. Studio albums often include creative elements and styles that may or may not be conducive to congregational or live settings. Most importantly, though, since there is no audience, studio albums are often void of additional words beyond the lyrics because there is not an audience to which they would be directed.

Since 2010, worship music has become more available than ever, with emerging streaming services, such as Spotify (launched in the US in 2011), providing worshippers with immediate access to music by numerous artists and the ability to create custom playlists. Worshippers now have access to more songs through these services and have more control over which songs they want to listen to and in which order.

As streaming services multiplied since 2010, two new key worship collectives began releasing albums: Bethel Music and Elevation Worship. Both collectives are housed within a church which, as Ingalls has identified, provides a level of authenticity (Ingalls 2015). Nathan Myrick describes how artists’ grounding within the local church specifically authenticates their original worship songs:

In order to demonstrate that this new music was ‘authentic’ (in this case, written for the purpose of providing a specific congregation with a worship repertory), the artist had to be employed (either monetarily or on a volunteer basis) in a specific congregation; and that their songs were not for entertainment purposes, but had a specifically sacred function. This, in turn, ‘proved’ that the worship leader was not merely an entertainer or performer, and that they were not engaged in this activity merely to accumulate wealth or power, but were instead intent on furthering the cause of the gospel.

(Myrick 2018, pp. 24–25)

Essentially, having a connection to the local church shifts the purpose of the songs from “performance” or presentational CCM to contemporary worship music intended for a congregation. A helpful way to remind listeners that their songs are from their church contexts is by releasing live albums that include the congregation’s sound in the recording.

Unlike some of their predecessors, Bethel Music and Elevation Worship released significantly more live albums than studio albums. Since 2010, Bethel Music has released only three studio albums, and Elevation Worship’s studio albums have included almost exclusively remixes of previously released songs. Therefore, when worshippers find new worship music, it is almost always a live version. Furthermore, for Bethel Music, the practice of spontaneous singing even extended beyond mere ad-libs to full sections of spontaneous lyrics. These instances are often labeled as “worship moments” in YouTube titles. Bethel Music even released a spontaneous album titled Moments: Mighty Sound (2018) that includes twelve tracks with extended times of ad-libbed lyrics.

Releasing live albums is not a new practice. Secular artists have released live albums, and other worship bands, such as Hillsong Worship, have also released many albums that were recorded live. Since Hillsong Worship is housed within Hillsong Church, like Bethel and Elevation, live albums were recorded during church services. These albums feature many of the worship leaders singing ad-libs. Leaders, such as Darlene Zschech, can be heard singing ad-libs as early as the first Hillsong Live albums from the 1990s. These ad-libs likely influenced local church practices that used Hillsong’s early music; however, in the 2000s, the CCLI Top US lists reflect the increasing use of songs by solo artists that were released as studio tracks.

Passion band is also well-known for releasing live albums from their annual conferences. Passion has only released one studio album since 2010, Salvation’s Tide is Rising (2016). Passion’s live albums from the conferences allow attendees to relive the experience they had at the concert and provide an opportunity for older worshippers to imagine the experience at this event. Joshua Busman identified how live recordings have impacted the local church. In an interview with a former worship pastor, the pastor explained that contemporary musicians want to perform the music exactly like the recording; otherwise, it is inauthentic (Busman 2015, p. 68).

The connection of authenticity with performing live recordings is crucial for understanding how ad-libs have become expected in contemporary worship. If the goal is authenticity, then the ad-libs that were experienced in the live setting cannot be replicated in the same way as the accompanying music. The expectation for vocalists is then not a replication of the words but a replication of the practice. Further, Busman (2015, p. 70) concludes that recordings have become normative for congregants’ lives and therefore have influenced worship planning. Authenticity for local congregations is then dependent not only on performing authenticating gestures but by performing recordings in which ad-libs are sung and therefore expected. Ultimately, the combination of more live tracks that are now more accessible through streaming services has largely influenced the local congregation.

Music Resources

CCLI offers a paid music resource called SongSelect, which provides lyrics, chord charts, lead sheets, and vocal charts for songs that CCLI licenses for churches. When these resources are created based on studio recordings, the output is straightforward and does not involve the spontaneity that might happen in a live moment. People would listen to carefully curated songs and then have resources to match the studio versions for use in live congregational contexts.

The SongSelect lead sheets, however, are not consistent in what they offer. For example, the SongSelect lead sheets for shorter verse-chorus form songs, such as “Shout to the Lord” (1993) and “The Heart of Worship” (1999), provide the verse and chorus in order with no repeat signs, resulting in a piece of music that is 32 and 26 bars, respectively. If these songs were performed by strictly reading these lead sheets, each song would likely last less than 2 minutes. However, the recordings of these songs are longer than 3 minutes because the various sections are often repeated at least once in live settings (see: Hillsong Worship 2017, 4:22). In contrast, lead sheets created from live versions of songs, especially songs released in the last decade, often include various repeats and other transcribed spontaneous moments. For example, the SongSelect lead sheet for “Oceans (Where Feet May Fail)” (2012) includes four repeat signs with various first and second endings, resulting in 79 bars without counting the repeated sections twice. Additionally, the ad-libs sung by the lead vocalist in the interlude following the succession of bridges are transcribed onto the lead sheet. The inclusion of ad-libs on lead sheets is likely because they were transcribed from the only tracks available: live recordings.

If the intention of local congregations is to sound like the recording, the music resourcing companies will attempt to meet that need. Transcribed lead sheets of specific recordings provide vocalists in local congregations with the exact notes sung in the recording, including any ad-libs. Some examples include the “I’ll see you do it again” in the interlude following the bridge of “Do It Again” (Elevation Worship 2017, 4:55) and the first and second interludes of “Oceans (Where Feet May Fail)”. The first interlude repeats the previous words “and you are mine oh” (Hillsong United 2018, 2:40). The second interlude expands further with the words “Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Oh, Jesus, yeah. My God” (Hillsong United 2018, 5:54). Since these ad-libs are included on lead sheets, some might argue that they have become part of the song and are no longer spontaneous. In performance practice, though, worship vocalists often do not sing transcribed ad-libs in instrumental or interlude sections. Instead, they would sing their own ad-libs and replicate the performance practice instead of the exact words. Therefore, while the music used for performance may reflect another performer’s ad-libs or omit them, the expectation is that vocalists in local congregations understand these sections as “sections during which one can choose to ad-lib” instead of lyrics and melodies that need to be exact. By replicating the performance practice instead of the exact words, it begs the question: how do the vocalists identify what portions of the song are ad-libs and which are intended as congregational lyrics?

5. Identifying Ad-Libs

There are two helpful characteristics of ad-libs that help in identification. A sung ad-lib, as defined above, is a sung word or phrase that is not sung by the congregation and uses words or music not found elsewhere in the song. Therefore, in a worship setting, sung ad-libs are not included on a screen and are often located during an instrumental or interlude where there are no lyrics. First, ad-libs are not intended to be congregational. The lyrics for ad-libs will not be on the screen because they are improvised and spontaneous. While some vocalists may practice these in rehearsal, they are more often practicing ad-libbing and not selecting which recorded ad-libs they will choose during the performance.

Second, ad-libs are often located in sections that do not include lyrics. Since these moments are spontaneous, they will often occur when the vocalists are not otherwise supposed to be singing with the congregation. In the 2000s, instrumentals often included a guitar or other instrument soloing (see “From the Inside Out” and “Hosanna” by Hillsong Worship). Instrumental solos have decreased in frequency to allow more room for “free worship”, where the worship leaders can ad-lib or encourage the congregation to sing their own song to the Lord. Many of the primary contributors of the most used songs on the CCLI US Top 25 lists, including Bethel Music and Hillsong, have roots in the Pentecostal-charismatic tradition. Daniel Thornton (2020, p. 134) describes how free worship has become ubiquitous within the Pentecostal-charismatic tradition and can occur at any point without the prerequisite musical markers. Thornton (2020, p. 173) emphasizes the importance of including free worship in live recordings, which further supports how ad-libbing has become a part of the performance practice. The influence that these popular worship artists have had on contemporary worship practice is acknowledged in the ways that local churches, that are not Pentecostal-charismatic, have begun including free worship sections or ad-libbing.

The most helpful of the two characteristics mentioned above is that the words are not included on a screen. This is helpful when examining YouTube videos that provide lyrics for a livestream. If the lyrics are on the screen, the people will sing them, which will, by nature, make the words no longer an ad-lib. To project the lyrics on a screen, some presentation softwares, such as ProPresenter, offer an integration with SongSelect to easily import song lyrics. When importing song lyrics from SongSelect, ProPresenter takes all the provided lyrics, including ad-libs. It is then the responsibility of the tech director or worship pastor to discern whether the worship leader is singing those words and whether they are intended for the congregation to sing too. Often the words that will be eliminated are those that are included in interlude or instrumental sections to allow worship vocalists to sing their own ad-libs. An example of an ad-lib that is included on a lead sheet but not included on the screens can be found at 5:34 in a video of “Oceans” sung at Hillsong Church (Grace Unlimited 2017).

A Typology of Ad-Libs

After identifying ad-libs within a song, it is helpful to have a framework for analysis. The following is a new typology for analyzing and labeling ad-libs in contemporary worship. There are five ad-lib types:

• Tag Ad-libs

• Lead Ad-libs

• Guiding Ad-libs

• Personal Ad-libs

• Vocable Ad-libs

This typology was created based on YouTube video analysis of select songs by the primary contributors of the top worship songs, as indicated by the published CCLI US Top 100 lists from the past twelve years. YouTube was used as a consistent primary source since some of these ad-libs are visible in the performance but not audible on the recordings. However, as live recordings are becoming more popular, ad-libs can be heard more prominently in the mix of those songs. The typology of ad-libs is based on two primary characteristics. Types one and two are identified by location, and types three and four by function. Each type is defined and then supported by various examples from YouTube videos.

• Tag Ad-Libs

Tag ad-libs repeat the last word or phrase of a section. For example, if someone was going to ad-lib after the first verse of “Amazing Grace”, the vocalist could improvise with the final words “I see”. A contemporary worship example is found in “Do It Again”, where Mack Brock tags the line “never failed me yet” at 3:18 before the instrumental section (Elevation Worship 2017). The SongSelect lead sheet does not include this tag. In contrast, the lead sheets include the tag ad-libs for the song “Holy Spirit”. While the “Holy Spirit” tag ad-libs are often sung in performance because of their inclusion on the lead sheets, some might argue that they are no longer ad-libs but part of the lyrics. However, their designation as ad-libs is bolstered by their exclusion from the lyrics on the screens, as found at 3:37 in a video for Bethel Church TV (Paulinho C 2013).

• 2.. Lead Ad-Libs

Lead ad-libs sing the first word or phrase of the upcoming section. In many cases, these are spoken; however, worship leaders can sing the words that lead into the section to come. An example of this is sung by Darlene Zschech in a video from 1994 singing “Shout to the Lord”. At 2:20, she sings lead ad-libs during the second half of the verse, “My Savior” and “My comfort” (Hillsong Worship 2017). As mentioned previously, ad-libs are common in gospel music, and lead ad-libs are especially common. In a recent collaboration between Elevation Worship and Maverick City Music on the song “Jireh”, Naomi Raine sings a lead ad-lib before every line of the second and third repetitions of the bridge, starting at 3:21 (Elevation Worship 2021). This type of ad-lib is especially helpful in spontaneous moments when the lyrics begin after or at the same time as the first chord so that the band can be cued about what section is coming next. A brief example of this can be found at 4:05 before the final repetition of the chorus of “King of Kings”, where Brooke Ligertwood exclaims “sing praise” (Hillsong Worship 2019).

• 3.. Guiding Ad-Libs

This ad-lib type differs from the previous two because it is identified by function rather than location. Guiding ad-libs are sung phrases intended for the congregation that uses words beyond the lyrics. Their function is especially performative by drawing attention to their words; therefore, guiding ad-libs would rarely be found on a studio recording. Guiding ad-libs are primarily identified by the worship leader remaining on the mic, signaling that the words they are singing are not intended for God alone but also for the people to hear, not as a performance but as a model with words that could ring true for those who are listening. An example of this is at 4:22 in “My Heart is Yours”, where Kristian Stanfill falls to his knees but continues to sing into the microphone “we just want to be with you” (Passion Music 2014).

Another indicator of a guiding ad-lib is when the worship leader sings phrases that use the word “you”, but it is not directed at God but rather at the people. These ad-libs can be in between phrases or during longer instrumental sections. One worship leader that often sings extended guiding ad-libs is Kim Walker-Smith. For example, in her performance of the song “Make Room”, she begins singing spontaneously at 5:38 for over 3 min (Kim Walker-Smith 2021):

I have definitely tried to do it my own way a time or two. I know I can say for certain your way is better. Your way is better. Your way is better. I’m so thankful You’ve had so much mercy, so much grace on me, Jesus, for all the times I’ve tried to do it on my own, in my own way, in my own strength …

(Kim Walker-Smith 2021)

Throughout the ad-lib, she remains on the mic. Even though she uses singular pronouns, her words guide the people by modeling worship for the people and sharing her testimony through singing.

Later, she switches from “I” to “we”, and the “you” changes its direction from God to the people at 7:00:

… Your way is better. We cannot box You in. We can’t even always explain it. Your way is better. Your way is better. Jesus. Give him your [the people] surrender. Give him your [the people] surrender. Not just a little bit, not just a small percentage. Give him all. Give him all. Give him all tonight. All your trust. You’ve [the people] got nothing to lose. You’ve [the people] got nothing to lose …

(Kim Walker-Smith 2021)

When a guiding ad-lib is used in a longer instrumental section, some people in Pentecostal-charismatic circles might label these moments as prophetic, meaning that the words of the worship leader are directly from God for the people.

When guiding ad-libs are in between phrases, the words often enhance the meaning for the worshippers. The worship leader provides further context for the worshippers as they sing the words. For example, at 9:54 in “King of My Heart”, Steffany Gretzinger includes the words “It’s not in Your nature” in between the lyrics “You’re never gonna let / You’re never gonna let me down” (BATL Music 2015). These words never appear in the written lyrics of the song, but by including them, she is providing the people with a reason for why the lyrics are true.

• 4.. Personal Ad-Libs

This type, like the previous, is labeled by its function. Personal ad-libs are not intended for the audience. They are directed to and intended for God alone. In contrast to guiding ad-libs, personal ad-libs are primarily identified by the worship leader moving the microphone away from their mouth. However, if the microphone picks up their words, one will hear that they are directed to God and use “I”. This type of ad-lib can be seen in many YouTube videos of contemporary worship songs, especially during free worship sections. Many times, during the instrumental sections, one can find many of the vocalists and even instrumentalists singing words that are unintelligible on the recording. For a couple of examples, see “Jesus Paid It All” (Worship Circle 2019, 1:50) and “King of My Heart” (BATL Music 2015, 6:32).

• 5.. Vocable Ad-Libs

This final type comprises the ad-libs that do not use actual words. These ad-libs primarily use vocables, which are words that have no apparent meaning. Some examples include “oh” and “yeah”. These ad-libs function more as melodic notes than as words with intention. Occasionally, these words might be included with the lyrics, such as the bridge of “With Everything” by Hillsong United, which is a series of the word “woah” sung to a melody that is repeated. This section while only singing the vocable “woah” slowly became the most sung section on the live recording (Busman 2021). Therefore, it is important to note that for sung moments to be classified as a vocable ad-lib, they need to be improvised and not part of the song lyrics.

An example of a vocable ad-lib is at 2:06 and 3:18 when Kari Jobe sings the word “oh” during the instrumental following the chorus (Littlefield Productions 2013). An extended section of ad-libbing with primarily vocables is found in the middle of verse three at 3:44 (Littlefield Productions 2013). This version of the song from the Passion Conference in 2013 is unique in that it inserts an extended instrumental in the middle of the final verse that is over a minute and a half long. Throughout the instrumental, Kari Jobe alternates between “ooo” and “oh” as the music continues to build.

6. Conclusions

As performance practice in contemporary worship continues to develop, more types may need to be added to this typology. These five types describe the different ways that ad-libs appear in contemporary worship songs through both location and function. Since they are not labeled based on one consistent factor, they can be combined when describing an ad-lib moment in a song. For example, in the instrumental section of “Oceans” at 2:43, the lead vocalist combines the vocable “oh” with the tagged line, “and you are mine” (Hillsong United 2018). By creating a framework for analysis, future scholars will have a vocabulary for describing and identifying this common performance practice. As worship artists continue to release live recordings, the use of ad-libs in contemporary worship will continue to be expected by congregants and therefore performed by worship leaders. The desire for authenticity will likely remain central to the performance of contemporary worship.

While the focus of this article has been on the worship leaders, “performers”, it is important to address the audience’s response included in each of these videos. While the videos are from various contexts, including concerts and church worship services, Monique Ingalls (2018) has thoroughly detailed how each of these settings forms a congregation by singing together. In the videos connected to contemporary worship songs, clips of the congregation are included in which they are actively engaged. In moments when the worship leaders begin ad-libbing, many of the worshippers that appear in the videos have their eyes closed and their hands lifted or extended with open hands.⁴ The worshippers are performing the authenticating gestures mentioned above that identify themselves as worshipping with the worship leaders on the stage. In addition to these gestures, many of the worshippers sing their own ad-libs along with the worship leader. They are not singing the same ad-lib as the vocalist but using their own words.

Therefore, in these moments of performing ad-libs, the worshippers often remain in a posture of worship and do not cease their worshipping to focus on the worship leader. These ad-libs then function both as authenticating the worship leader as truly worshipping and as a guide for the worshippers to keep them in a posture of worship. While music resources may include ad-libs from the recording, worship leaders will perform the practice of singing ad-libs and use their own melodies and words. Performing different ad-libs than the recording is emphasized by the original artists not singing the same ad-lib every time they perform the same. For example, when Kari Jobe led “Revelation Song” at Passion 2013, she sang a series of vocable ad-libs in the middle of verse three (Littlefield Productions 2013). In an older video, Jobe sings an ad-lib in the same location; however, she sings a tag ad-lib, “Your name, Your name” (Integrity Music 2009). Artists will change the ad-libs they sing, which emphasizes the nature of performing the practice of ad-libs instead of performing another vocalist’s melodies and words.

This article has demonstrated how the increase in live albums has established ad-libs as more than a performance trait of a specific artist. Singing ad-libs is a common performance practice of contemporary worship and should be included with the other authenticating gestures of raised hands and closed eyes. This typology helps scholars analyze and identify ad-libs and helps practitioners understand more about what types of ad-libs that are common within the genre of contemporary worship.

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Conflicts of Interest

The author declares no conflict of interest.

Footnotes

Notes

1. The term “worship wars” refers to the debates in church over the type of music that should be used in worship, specifically since the 1960s when contemporary worship began to emerge in church (Nekola 2008).

2. List of the 12 songs released as studio versions initially: “How Great is Our God”, “Blessed Be Your Name”, “Here I Am to Worship”, “Everlasting God”, “Amazing Grace (My Chains are Gone)”, “Holy is the Lord”, “Forever”, “Jesus Messiah”, “Your Grace is Enough”, “In Christ Alone”, “God of Wonders”, and “Beautiful One”.

3. 5 tracks were initially released as studio versions: “Living Hope”, “House of the Lord”, “Way Maker”, “Battle Belongs”, and “Great Things”. It is worth noting that four of these five tracks were released by Phil Wickham, who is the most sung primary solo artist, similar to Chris Tomlin in the 2000s.

4. It is important to note that these brief video clips of worshippers are likely not representative of all who were in attendance. The video editors played a role in selecting which video clips to include with the videos of the vocalists and the band on stage.

Footnotes

Disclaimer/Publisher’s Note: The statements, opinions and data contained in all publications are solely those of the individual author(s) and contributor(s) and not of MDPI and/or the editor(s). MDPI and/or the editor(s) disclaim responsibility for any injury to people or property resulting from any ideas, methods, instructions or products referred to in the content.

References

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