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.

As church pianists, we could use some inexpensive, creative
ideas for offertories, right?

Did you know you can use a piano arrangement written for
a vocalist to accompany say…a violin or flute solo?

Or…use a piano accompaniment written for one of these instru-
ments to accompany a vocalist.

Not too long ago…I shared a free vocal arrangement of
“Haven of Rest”. One of my church pianist readers used it
to accompany her sister, who plays violin.

It turned out so nice that I decided to share this offertory
idea with you… with their video. Links to music included below the video.

Haven of Rest part one
Haven of Rest part two
Haven of Rest part three

Here’s a free copy of the music schedule I use for scheduling special music.

We usually insert special music on a Wednesday at least once a month but I left it out of this free handout.

I wish we could have special music every Wed. but time limits adequate practice for that many entries per month.

To prevent excess schedule conflicts, I make a rough draft copy…using a pencil to fill in the slots. Then I email everyone to verify the date works for them.  Several days later, I create the final schedule and email them a copy.The whole process takes at least three to four days.

Click on the following title for free copy of music schedule: January February Special Music Schedule

If you would like a blank schedule (without months and dates)…just leave a comment below requesting a blank template of the music schedule).