| The Church Pianist |
| A help ministry for church pianists all over the world! |
I recently composed a congregational piano arrangement of Away in a Manger for one of my upcoming church pianists to play for church while I’m away.
So..I’ll share it with other church pianists that may be able to put it to use this Christmas.
Click here to download Away in a Manger (free congregational piano arrangement)
I asked my readers to provide the name of an ‘awkward to play’ Christmas carol. I would then create an article concerning that carol. “Thou Didst Leave Thy Throne” was the most mentioned piece.
Last year, I did an article on this very song but it was for ‘piano solo’ style. Today’s free piano arrangement of “Thou Didst Leave Thy Throne” will be congregational style.
As I was arranging this carol, I had to force myself to stay within the chords “as written”. I could have added a lot of minor chords to “warm up” the piece but I stayed true to the voice parts 
Due to frequent chord changes, the church pianist will have to play in a more ‘chorale’ (solid chord) style in order to support the ever-changing voice parts. There is still time to throw in ocasional dress-ups to create a more interesting sound as you will see in today’s free piano arrangement of “Thou Didst Leave Thy Throne”.
Click here to download “Thou Didst Leave Thy Throne” before viewing editor notes below.
Editor notes for “Thou Didst Leave Thy Throne”
General information:
I tried to create smooth harmonic (chord) changes throughout… in spite of the frequent chord changes in this beautiful Christmas carol.
Here and there you’ll see where I deviated from the melody line to create a smoother move for the hands.
Notice how the right hand at the beginning…started with three notes and gradually worked into an octave format. One of my former piano teachers always taught me to write in a more “user friendly” style for pianists in general…to avoid awkward moves/leaps. Hopefully, this arrangement will be comfortable and beneficial for other church pianists. I did keep the early advanced to advanced pianist in mind when creating this arrangement.
Measure #4:
Beat 2 and 3 of right hand is an echo fill-in during the held word “me”
Measure #5:
A sixteenth note improvised pattern on beat 2 is added… to dress-up the melody line and continues through measure 6.
Tip!
Church pianist tip: Learn to analyze other people’s arrangements; applying ‘learned ideas’ to your own playing. Over time, you will develop your own style but you must learn to apply learned ideas as a springboard to developing your own style.
*Click on image for a larger view
One of my favorite improvising ideas is adding contrast for an interesting sound. The excerpt listed above is taken from the hymn “Count Your Blessings”. The phrase is the last sentence of the last verse. This idea can be used on any of the verses at this point in song…but I like to save special effects like this for the final verse.
Here’s what helped me come up with the idea: I knew that an A7 chord was the basic chord for the first two measures of this example. So… I played “stepping notes” within the A7 chord frame and entered into a D major chord on the syllable “jour-” and back to an A7 for “ney’s” and ended with a D chord on “end”. The ascending notes in the piano score ran contrary to the melody in the vocal score…creating an energetic drive to the message of the song.
The complete arrangement of “Count Your Blessings” congregational style can be purchased below.
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
Here is the rest of the free piano arrangement of “Blessed Assurance”. The complete arrangement contains two verses and choruses. The second verse is actually arranged for the last verse of “Blessed Assurance”.
Explanation of my note on page three: “Watch the director closely here” is meant for the final verse. Of course the church pianist should watch the director through the entire song but especially where a slow down occurs. Many directors begin to broaden the tempo at this part of the hymn…making it easier for the church pianist to throw in some busy note passages such as you see in the right hand on the words: “Sa-viour” and “long”. Adding extra notes helps to maintain a steady tempo during slower sections.
Click here for free sacred piano arrangement of “Blessed Assurance” page two and three
Click here for “Blessed Assurance” page one
Keep in mind…every church sings a different tempo…making the accompaniment feel SO different.
Blessed Assurance audio:
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
Since believing on Jesus Christ at the age of 29…I can truly say: “Blessed Assurance Jesus is Mine”. This became one of my favorite hymns after becoming a Christian.
Shortly after being saved I arranged an offertory that included: “Blessed Assurance, Saved by the Blood and Since Jesus Came Into My Heart”. I will have to write it out in my (ha ha) spare time.
This free sacred piano arrangement of “Blessed Assurance” is a result of preparing several of our own soon-to-be church pianists to play for congregational singing. We now have a rotational schedule for our intermediate to advanced pianists to allow them to play for our congregational singing. It’s exciting to see them gain experience to better equip them for serving the Lord.
Click here for the free sacred piano arrangment of “Blessed Assurance” page one.
I’ll share the rest of this free arrangement in the next article.
Click here to download worksheet before watching video for “Improvising Hymns” Lesson Two
Have a pencil handy!
The following short video tutorial on improvising hymns is geared to the beginning church pianist. Playing straight from the church hymnal can sound rather plain. Learning how to dress up the hymns adds a new dimension of sound! This lesson gives some simple left hand fill in ideas for the first line of “When I Survey the Wondrous Cross”.
Special clarification about the theory rule mentioned in this lesson concerning omitting the 3rd of the chord…The 3rd can be omitted from either hand. Wait until you see the video below to understand this explanation
The next video tutorial will reveal more improvising ideas for “When I Survey the Wondrous Cross”.
The hymn “Count Your Blessings” carries a great message in song but contains frequent repetitive notes providing a rather plain accompaniment for the average church pianist
Free Improvising Ideas for Count Your Blessings (congregational style)
Key of D Major
1. Use alternate bass movement (see measure #2) LH beat one…I played an ‘A’ rather than ‘D’
2. Measure #1 and #5, beat one ( no need to play every word) when playing congregational style; allows more ease of movement for the pianist.
3. The four note RH chords provide support to the singers.
4. Measure #6, notice the contrary octave movement between the hands for variety.
*Contrary movement between both hands always adds a nice touch of spice
Click here to download Free Improvising Ideas for Count Your Blessings (congregational style)
Click here for audio of “All Hail the Power”
As I’ve mentioned before…the church pianist can deviate from the melody as long as the congregation knows the song real well. You’ll notice the “missing melody” here and there in the free congregational piano arrangement of “All Hail the Power”. The audio contains the piano accompaniment and the melody line.
We like to change keys to add extra life to the congregational singing The key change in this arrangement does add an extra measure so it would require a quick practice with pianist and song leader before trying it with the congregation.
Most of the key changes we use in congregational singing move right into the last verse without hesitation.
Church Pianist Tip:
*This free congregational piano arrangement may also be used to accompany a trumpet solo.
Download page one of “All Hail the Power” here
Download page two of “All Hail the Power” here
I was able to finish page two of “All Hail the Power” tonight even after a busy but good week of revival at our church. I will try to share some music highlights of our week sometime soon.
In my next article…I ‘ll share editor notes along with an audio of this free piano arrangement for “All Hail the Power” congregational accompaniment.
*Available as hard copy 
