Funeral music guides
These guides cover the music for a funeral or memorial service, from the funeral hymns families choose most to choral pieces and planning the order of service. To book singers, see our funeral singers and pricing.
Funeral & memorial music
Start with how to choose music for a funeral; the hymn, song and service guides go into each choice.
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How to choose music for a funeral
A practical, step-by-step guide to selecting hymns, solo pieces, and instrumental music for a funeral service.
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Funeral order of service: where the music goes
A sheet to print and fill in, for a church funeral or a crematorium service, with a line at each point for your family’s choice.
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The most popular funeral hymns
The hymns families choose most often, what makes each one work, and how to decide which are right for your service.
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The most popular funeral songs
The non-hymn songs families choose most often, from Time to Say Goodbye to My Way — with advice on live performance vs recordings.
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Funeral songs and hymns for a mum
Hymns, choral pieces and songs for a mother or grandmother, by where each sits in the service and the kind of mum she was.
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Funeral songs and hymns for a dad
Hymns a full church can sing loud, songs about fathers, and choices for a father who served or followed his team.
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Funeral songs for the older generation
School hymns, wartime songs and post-war favourites, and how a choir helps an older congregation sing them.
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Songs and hymns for a burial or graveside committal
What a choir sings at the graveside with no organ, from Abide with Me to the Kontakion, and how the committal runs.
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Abide With Me — one of the most-requested funeral hymns
Henry Francis Lyte’s 1847 hymn and William Henry Monk’s tune: where it sits in a funeral and how it sounds with a choir.
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The Lord’s My Shepherd: words and the tune Crimond
Psalm 23 in the Scottish Psalter’s words of 1650, the tune Crimond, and where the hymn sits in a funeral.
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Love Divine, All Loves Excelling: words and tunes
Charles Wesley’s hymn of 1747, the choice between Blaenwern and Hyfrydol, and why it closes funerals and weddings alike.
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It Is Well With My Soul: the words and the story
Horatio Spafford’s hymn, written after his daughters died at sea in 1873, with Philip Bliss’s tune and where it fits in a funeral.
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Why Be Thou My Vision is the best funeral hymn
The Irish hymn sung to Slane: why it suits a funeral or memorial, and how singers help a congregation with a less familiar tune.
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Best hymns for a Catholic funeral
The hymns and sacred music most often chosen for a Catholic funeral Mass — what works at each point in the liturgy, and how to choose well.
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Anima Christi at a Catholic funeral
The Latin prayer that asks to be called in the hour of death — where Frisina’s setting sits in a Requiem Mass, and why families know the words as Soul of My Saviour.
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Choosing music for a crematorium service
A practical guide to music at a crematorium funeral — timing constraints, acoustics, live vs recorded, and making a shorter service feel complete.
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Non-religious funeral music
A practical guide to choosing music for a non-religious, secular, or humanist funeral — from popular songs and classical pieces to live performance.
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Music for a celebration of life
How music at a celebration of life differs from a traditional funeral, and how to choose pieces that honour someone’s personality.
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How to plan a memorial service
A step-by-step guide to planning a memorial service — from choosing the format and venue to selecting music and readings.
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Memorial service songs and hymns
The hymns and songs families choose for a memorial or thanksgiving service, uplifting choices, and pieces for a mum or dad.