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I’m excited about this new SAB choir arrangement that I hope to publish by the summer of 2013! The song “God Can” is written by Lynndale Hardeman. You’ll love the revival type message of this song!
I will have to say this is our most favorite choir arrangement.
This free organ arrangement of “Amazing Grace” for unison congregation or choir goes with the piano arrangement of “Amazing Grace” which I recently published for FREE.
Please understand…I am not an organist and it’s my very first attempt at writing an organ arrangement!
I’m glad one of my readers pointed out the need for organists needing the same arrangement in order to prevent chord clashes…an excellent observation! Our church doesn’t have an organ…just two pianos (one being a digital).
I thoroughly enjoyed creating this organ arrangement!
Click here to download FREE organ arrangement of “Amazing Grace”
Amazing Grace: Complete Audio
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Introducing…a free piano arrangement of Amazing Grace for unison choir or congregation. It’s nice to be able to sing parts but most congregations of small churches seem to sing unison.
Church pianists can enliven hymns such as Amazing Grace by playing with mucho enthusiasm! I understand not every church pianist knows how to improvise from the hymnal. It took a lot of practice for me to feel comfortable adding unseen notes while playing from the hymnal.
Improvising tip: Grab an improvising idea from someone else’s arrangement and try applying to a similar congregational hymn with same time signature.
Stick with that one idea for a while until it becomes natural to use…then on to the next improvising idea!
Hope you enjoy this arrangement. Since most people are very familiar with this hymn, I took more liberty with the piano accompaniment.
Warning: This arrangement does not support the four-part style in the hymnal.
Question from a reader:
I love these ideas but at my church both piano and organ play. I find it hard to take any liberties since I am not playing alone. Any suggestions for those of us who would love to add flare to hymns but still have to keep the organist in mind?
Answer: (at least for this arrangement) I will soon provide a free organ arrangement of this particular version of Amazing Grace.
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I have two Christmas arrangements that will be published very soon!
One is an early advanced arrangement of “O Little Town of Bethlehem” and the other is an easy two-part ladies’ arrangement of “What Child is This?”
Also working on other Christmas arrangements of various sorts that I hope to publish in time for this year.
I’ve been writing ALOT lately..getting ready for our church’s Christmas program.
Our church choir is presenting the “Christmas Story”. Several choir members have been chosen as narrators to present the Luke 2 passage. Christmas carols have been inserted at appropriate times to support the scripture. We also have the younger kids singing a couple songs and using them for the manger scene characters.
Even simple programs require ample practice in order to present an effective message on the birth of Christ. I’m SO excited about this year’s program! Since the program is rather easy..we’re adding a few touches to make it extra special.
More details soon 
A descant to melody is like a cherry on top of an ice cream sundae. Simply…an extra added touch to compliment the main course.
Hymn tune descants are counter-melodies, generally at a higher pitch than the main melody.
~ ~ ~ From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
(I think of a descant as a melody within a melody).
The descant is most effective when used only on the final verse of a hymn…creating an exciting climax! Usually a soprano or several sopranos sing the descant. If you don’t have the voices to support the descant, a solo instrument such as a flute or trumpet can play the descant part. Sometimes the piano can carry the descant part as well.
What’s really neat is when the whole choir sings a descant part on the final verse of a congregational hymn.
The video below contains a violin solo accompanied by the piano. Listen for the piano playing a descant part on the first and second chorus.
(the following links may contain music not in accordance with this site but still includes appropriate music for worship)
As I viewed part two of Christmas at Home highlights…these thoughts came to mind:
The drama and music tips found in the back of the cantata book were very helpful. For example: Possible seating and microphone arrangement for stage. Another great tip: “Whenever the readers are seated, their heads should be bowed. This signifies that they are “out of scene”. (My thoughts: this also keeps the readers from being a distraction while the choir sings).
I almost forgot to mention…we chose not to sing two of the songs in the cantata because they were more suited for a larger choir.
Notice how transitional/background music can be effective (around 8:20 on this video) * This transitional music is not in the cantata book. I just made it up to cover a spot while the singing quartet returned to the choir.
One last reminder…this video contains only highlights of the cantata. The video presents a portion of the songs and drama to give you an overall taste of this “down-to-earth” drama packed with a strong salvation message. There wasn’t a dry eye in the auditorium when we finished this heart-gripping story. A special thanks to Majesty Music for allowing us to share these highlights of Christmas at Home.
We look forward to learning and improving as we seek to share God’s message through music. The more prepared we can be…the more effective our music ministry will be for God’s glory.
Our church choir thoroughly enjoyed putting on this production of Christmas at Home by Majesty Music.
Majesty Music has granted us special permission to post these highlights on youtube.
About two-thirds of our choir do not read music. Also, several of us have about a 40 minute commute to church making for shorter rehearsals. Therefore, we simplified the music to two parts or unison. Initially, I was to coach the speaking cast… but our other pianist’s husband had to have serious surgery…making it necessary for me to play piano in the beginning rehearsals. I thought the speaking cast did a superb job in spite of the circumstances.
I’ll share one of our stage secrets…one of our playcast members wrote their lines on a card and stuck them to a stage prop for security. It worked great
Enjoy watching part one of Christmas at Home (highlights)…
It’s so important to have a recap/planning session after performing a Christmas program or any program for that matter. What better time then while it’s still fresh on your mind…to take notes on ways to improve or solve other issues, making for an even better program for next year.
I’ve been taking notes while editing the video of our Christmas program. I’ll share these tips/ideas with you in hopes of helping other church pianists like myself, who help coordinate the plays/programs for their church.
*Start Early! (start early enough to compensate for missed practices due to revivals or other already scheduled meetings that require extra preparedness for the choir.)
*Did everyone have their cues in order for things to run smoothly? (Sound crew & videographer needs a script to operate efficiently.)
*Have Pastor make necessary announcements before the program to alleviate unecessary distractions during the cantata.
*Video camera should be in a place WELL ABOVE the congregation…such as the balcony…to avoid people getting in way of camera…which can block the view of the performance. Our whole purpose for videoing is to capture memories and to give the choir a chance to truly experience the program as a whole. The video also gives us something to view after the fact to see how to improve.
*Final rehearsal should be scheduled the last Saturday before the Sunday performance. The final Sunday’s rehearsal (the day of the program) should be a brief walk-through of the entire program…allowing ample time before the service begins for choir/cast members to refresh themselves. *Suggestion: Maybe the church could provide some drinks and light snack food for the choir during this short time of refreshment
We all need to strive to do our very best to effectively communicate God’s message of salvation whether it be through music or drama.
Colossians 3:23 “And whatsoever ye do, do it HEARTILY, as to the Lord, and not unto men.” …Then everything falls into place
I do plan to post highlights of our entire Christmas program once the editing process is complete.
My dad just told me about a reputable website that sells used church choir music. I was SO 
excited to find out about The MusicLibrary.com!
This site sells used music for churches that are trying to get rid of music they no longer use.
For the last several weeks I have been brainstorming…trying to figure out what to do this year for our church Christmas program. I checked out TheMusicLibrary.com and found enough books for the “Christmas at Home” cantata by Ron Hamilton…reasonably priced!
Our books should arrive next Friday just in time to start learning the songs on Sunday, September 18th. The music in Christmas at Home are SATB arrangements. Our choir is mainly a two part choir but getting use to three parts now… due to new choir members (Praise the Lord)
We are going to simplify the songs by singing unison on some and two parts on other songs.”Christmas at Home” is one of my favorite cantatas because of the strong emphasis on salvation. This is an excellent cantata to bring unsaved family and friends to.
So…if you’re looking for Christmas program material or music in general…check out TheMusicLibrary.com
One of my readers recently asked if I knew where to find an arrangement of “This Little Light of Mine” that wasn’t so elementary that a choir could sing to. Well…I decided to write an arrangement of “This Little Light” and really enjoyed creating it!
Since my time is limited due to the busy month of May…much to your advantage…everyone receives this arrangement…FREE… since that’s all I’ve had time to do this week
There are so many word variations to this song. You’re welcome to substitute your own verses
Let me say a big “thank you” to Sharon for unknowingly inspiring me to write this piano/choir arrangement of “This Little Light of Mine”
