New Arrangement: A Mighty Fortress Is Our God

from Hymncharts arranger Don Chapman:

Occasionally I’ll run across a video or blog post from an old fart musician (or even an old fart worship leader!) who’s ranting that today’s (worship) music isn’t as good as the music of MY day because of x, x and x!!!!!!

I’m definitely NOT one of those old farts 🙂

Frankly, I’m fascinated with how worship styles have changed over the past twenty years. And I love to analyze why and try to replicate these changes.

Take, for instance, this new arrangement of A Mighty Fortress Is Our God. One stylistic trait of modern worship is a chord pattern that repeats over and over. Finding patterns like these that can fit into a classic hymn is fun and challenging, much like a puzzle.

For A Mighty Fortress I found the repeating pattern…

D / / Em7 | Bm7 / / G2

…works surprisingly well! After those initial 4 phrases, though, the chords simply have to revert back to the ones we know so well. There’s no way around it – the melody is dictating all these chord changes.

So even though this arrangement is what I would term “modern” it still will be a bit of a challenge for the average worship band to play, but it’s still a WHOLE lot easier than playing it from a hymnal!

Now, compare the new 2024 version to my original from way back in 2003:

They sound like two different arrangements from two different arrangers! And in a sense, that’s the case – I arrange music with a completely different musical vocabulary than I did 21 years ago. The modern worship sound hadn’t even been invented yet back then.

But guess what – I love BOTH versions! It’s okay to like different styles of music. I love flutes and trumpets as well as drum loops and ambient guitars. I love Elizabethan composer Thomas Tallis’s classic anthem “If Ye Love Me” and I’m crazy about Brandon Lake’s “Count ‘Em” (that bridge is genius.)

If you’re starting to feel the old fart syndrome creeping into your musical tastes, perhaps this post can encourage you to dip your toes into modern worship, or any modern music for that matter. Try it, you might find you like it! I’ve never had more fun arranging music in my entire life (and wait ’til you hear my batch of upcoming arrangements in the style of “Come Thou Fount” and “A Mighty Fortress!”)

Which version do you like better? Sound off in the comments below!

Download A Mighty Fortress

Get this arrangement of A Mighty Fortress only at Hymncharts.com and Worshiphymns.com – you won’t find this fresh take anywhere else! As the arranger, I’m offering this new version exclusively on my sites.