Ok, here's the plan.
 

Loud

The kind of songs (fast or slow) your group tends to sing much louder compared to other songs. For fast songs, "This is the Day", or "My Life is in You" could be examples. For slow songs, "Shout to the Lord" or your group theme song, if you have one. If every one sings loudly, nobody will miss the musician.

Familiar

Songs which your group usually sings, not which you yourself usually sing - there could be a critical difference! This is especially important if you don't have transparencies of the song lyrics. Again, familiar songs tend to be sung louder.

Easy

The songs must have an easy melody line. Songs such as "People Just Like Us" by Hillsongs or "Breakthrough (Nothing's gonna stop us)" by Phil Pringle aren't easy to sing without instrumentation.

The songs should have easily memorizable lyrics. Avoid songs you know have a difficult or novel chord progression. People will feel more confident in singing. They will sing louder.

There's a reason we don't rely on memory. For example, do you remember what was written two paragraphs ago?

For worship without musicians, you can still get the fast songs in a medley (but make sure it is singable! Not all fast songs have the same key!). For slow songs, it is difficult to have transitions. Make sure you know how to fill in the silent gaps between slow songs. This could be through a prayer or encouraging words.

Remember the starting note! If you usually don't have a tuning fork, remember whether it's a high or low note. In Singapore, it's called agaration (estimation).

God bless!

• "Okay, I'm done!"

• "But what if I have a musician?"