It always excites me to have young people wanting to get involved in the music ministry.  Our church family is so supportive of their  young people’s endeavors to serve the Lord.

Hannah and her family have recently joined our church and they are a blessing.  Hannah hasn’t had lessons in a little while and is a level one student.  She is anxious to begin lessons this fall and is ready to  serve in the area of music.  Amen!

I recently gave her one of my beginner arrangements of “Nothing But the Blood“ along with an audio to help her out.  To my surprise, she had it down in a short time.  (It’s always encouraging to work with self-motivated young people) 

As a church pianist, I try to encourage our youth to get involved in the music minstry.  I’m thankful that our young people are interested in doing so. The younger they start, the easier it becomes as they gain experience and much practice.   I usually schedule the younger ones for a Wednesday or Sunday evening until they feel more comfortable.  (Sunday mornings require longer offertories due to a larger attendance.)

Here is a video of her playing the offertory at our church this past Sunday night. (Notice the encouraging responses at the end)

I’m also providing this arrangement free…with this article.  I plan to offer more of the beginning student hymn arrangements as time allows…in the music store.

I just finished the free arrangement of  “Wonderful Grace of Jesus”.   It was a challenge having to write this piece at an early advanced level.  I had to leave sooo much out but knew this level would benefit a larger group of church pianists. 

Editor notes for Part Two of “Wonderful Grace of Jesus”

Measures 17 & 18:  Left hand begins with melody which is very busy; therefore…the RH remains simple.

Measure 19 & beyond:  RH borrows the rhythm of the LH melody and becomes the leader for variety.

*Overall tip:  This arrangement wasn’t written for too fast of a speed.  I recorded it at the highest suggested tempo. If your church sings it faster than the recording…you’ll need to play less detail (fewer notes) to keep up.

Part One of “Wonderful Grace of Jesus” (free arrangement)

Yes….it’s part one of a free piano arrangement entitled: “Wonderful Grace of Jesus”.  This particular hymn can be challenging for a couple of reasons.  The melody has such a wide range..making it a challenge to sing! (I transposed it to B flat Major).  The chorus can also be tricky for the church pianist. 

I’ve gleaned ideas from different piano arrangements for “Wonderful Grace of Jesus” and applied them during congregational singing.  It’s a great time to try new ideas while you have the singers for coverup. (ha ha)
The chorus use to be the most awkward part of the song but now has become my favorite over the past few years…once I learned to play in a more user friendly style.  Can’t wait to share the rest of “Wonderful Grace of Jesus” in the next article or two.

One of my favorite arrangements of “Wonderful Grace of Jesus” is arranged by Mary Lynn Van Gelderen. I also gleaned alot of ideas for congregational style from Marilynn Ham’s “Wonderful Grace of Jesus” arrangement.  I could not locate a pdf sample of this particular arrangement but it’s found in her book entitled “Timeless Tribute”.

Busy times…but still here    I’d like to share a free patriotic  piano arrangement with my church pianist readers.  My Country Tis of Thee is a very old hymn. The author of the melody is unknown but the words were written by Samuel Francis Smith.  

My Country Tis of Thee (Audio of free piano arrangement)

As promised, I’m offering a free hymn piano arrangement today for church pianists.  The title of the hymn is “Like a River Glorious”.

This free piano arrangement can be used for prelude, congregational singing or as an offertory.

As a church pianist, I would find this arrangement most suitable for congregational singing.

Like a River Glorious (free piano hymn arrangement)

This free piano hymn arrangement of “I Feel Like Travelling On” is geared for the beginning church pianist at an early elementary level.

My piano student featured in this video, is a church pianist who plays by ear but is learning to read music. She’s doing quite well! I’m writing arrangements with her level in mind.

Maybe some of you church pianists can share this with your students or use this free piano hymn arrangement for yourself. 

I Feel Like Travelling On

I haven’t forgotten  part three of Scales in Hymns    I will post it tomorrow.

I thought I would share a free audio for my free piano hymn arrangement of “In the Garden”.  It always helps me to hear the original audio of an arrangement so I can hear what the composer intended for interpretation.

“In the Garden” part one free arrangement

“In the Garden” part two free arrangement

The free audio should help give you an idea of the general tempo throughout this free arrangement.

Here is part two of the free piano hymn arrangement “In the Garden”.

This piano arrangment of “In the Garden” illustrates how the church pianist can deviate from the melody quite a bit when accompanying a vocal soloist or instrumentalist such as a violin or flute.

“In the Garden” 

“In the Garden” is such a peaceful; reflective hymn.  I don’t hear it used much anymore.  This free piano arrangement of “In the Garden” (part one) shares some accompaniment ideas for the church pianist.

Editor notes for “In the Garden” (Part One) Accompaniment

As an accompanist, it’s not necessary for me to play the melody for every word…maybe just a few here and there to give the soloist (whether vocal or instrumental) some support.

I start with melody for the first several words and then ease into more of an accompaniment style.   By measure three, I’m really into a free-style…just staying within the chord frame and being creative.

Notice how the accompaniment flows freely into each new chord change. In other words…it’s best to maintain a smooth transition from one chord to the next for this particular hymn…producing a peaceful mood.

In measure 8…most soloists will slow down on the word “discloses”.  The piano accompaniment can still maintain a steady but slower flow through the ritard.

I look forward to sharing the chorus of “In the Garden” in part two of this free piano arrangement.

“In the Garden” part one

 Here’s a free piano hymn arrangement of “Since I Have Been Redeemed”.

I’m training one of my piano students to be a church pianist.   She is in level 3B of Faber Adventure series and has enjoyed learning to play this hymn arrangement of “Since I Have Been Redeemed”.

This arrangement works well for the pianist that can’t reach an octave span as of yet.

 More arrangements like this will be available in the near future for beginning church pianists.

Since I Have Been Redeemed