Hymncharts Will Fit Your Worship Style

Blended or Contemporary? We’ve Got You Covered!

At Hymncharts.com, we understand that every church’s worship style is unique. That’s why our versatile hymn arrangements are designed to fit seamlessly into both blended and contemporary worship settings. Wondering what sets these two styles apart? Let’s break it down:

Key Changes: In our older hymn arrangements, you’ll find modulations that shift to a higher key on the final verse – a signature element of blended worship. On the other hand, our more recent compositions remain in a single key throughout, reflecting the contemporary worship trend.

Electric Guitars: Contemporary worship typically features more electric guitar in the mix, and even older hymncharts arrangements sound more contemporary with electric added.

Orchestral Instruments: Blended worship tends to use orchestral instruments like flute, trumpet, trombone and clarinet. Contemporary worship is usually praise band driven.

Chord Inversions: Older hymncharts arrangements have a richer chord structure and sometimes use chord inversions (in an inverted chord, the root is not in the bass – i.e., is not the lowest note). Contemporary worship generally stays within the basic chord structure of I, IV, V, ii and vi chords.

Hymncharts Timeline

A note from composer/arranger Don Chapman:

The Hymncharts timeline reflects how worship styles have changed over the past twenty years, along with how my own arranging style has evolved. My arrangements fall into three styles: blended, contemporary and modern.

Back in 2002 when I arranged “My Savior’s Love” I used a key change on the last verse. The recorded arrangement has orchestral instruments, no electric guitar, and uses the wonderful blend of Epcot’s Voices of Liberty in SATB harmony. That’s classic blended.

Contrast that with my arrangement of “Crown Him With Many Crowns,” which uses heavy electric guitar and what was for many years the most popular worship format: worship leader with 3 part vocals. That’s contemporary.

Today’s most popular format has shifted again to a lead vocal worship leader with a single harmony singer, backed by a band-driven sound with synth pads and color instruments like cello. That’s modern, and my newest arrangements reflect this current sound.

Hear examples below:

LISTEN: My Savior's Love (Blended)
LISTEN: Crown Him With Many Crowns (Contemporary)
LISTEN: All Creatures of Our God and King (Modern)

However, all my arrangements have at their core a piano part. Crown Him With Many Crowns can take on a more blended tone by dropping the electric and driving it with piano and acoustic guitar.