Ready-Made Hymn Arrangements!

For the past couple of months…I’ve been creating “ready-made’ hymn arrangements for some of my church pianist students who are need of improvised hymns for congregational singing. (Can also be used as piano solo)

These hymn arrangements are nothing more than a copy of a hymn from the hymnal with my added improvised notes in red.

Just curious, would this meet the need for others as well? I’m considering adding them to our online music store if there’s enough interest.

The cost would be less than my regular “printed arrangements”.

Here’s a FREE copy of one of these ready-made hymn arrangements. (Also trying to decide what to call them….any suggestions?)

*Also…are you all ok with it being handwritten just as it appears in free arrangement below?  

*Special note: THANKS for the feedback! After reading the comments here and on facebook….I will be putting these type of easy-to-play congregationals into print instead of by hand. I will do away with the original notes from the hymnbook and ONLY type in my (hopefully) easy-to-play congregational/piano solo arrangement. Thanks again for your helpful comments!  I do have (more involved ) congregational piano arrangements for sale HERE.

Ready-Made Hymns for the Church Pianist

Ready-Made Hymns for the Church Pianist

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13 Responses to “Ready-Made Hymn Arrangements!”

  1. Bohn says:

    yes! would love to get them!!!

  2. Sheila calix says:

    Dear Jennifer’

    I would be interested in this. Please let me know if you make this available online.

    Thank you

  3. Great idea Jennifer. I have a collection of this style of Hymn playing that I’m posting at Sheetmusicplus as a collection. I have a 15 yr old student who plays at one of our services each week. He can play a Chopin Ballade but can’t play a simple Hymn without it being totally written out. There are thousands just like him!!

  4. Aimee says:

    Very helpful! So many struggle with this.

  5. Cristal says:

    YES! I would LOVE that!

  6. Curtis says:

    Great idea! You should call them Hymn-provisations!

  7. Nancy says:

    I love this idea. I look forward to seeing more arrangements you make available, that are a little easier, to play.

  8. Julia Swarner says:

    Great idea! How about naming it, “Improvised Hymns for the Church Pianist.”

  9. Sheila says:

    I’ve often wished I could get more of your hymns suitable for congregational accompaniment and easier than the solos. Of course, they would be great in a more finished format; but, your arrangements and improvisations are far and away the most flowing I’ve found, so any you will share are a blessing to us.

  10. Jeanette Southwell says:

    Oh, just love this idea. Improvised hymns for congregational singing are by far my greatest need as a church pianist. I often spend hours trying to improvise taking ideas from your offertories- it is very time consuming. Whereas improvised hymns would save me so much time and angst! I would settle for the handwritten versions in the hope that it is quicker for you and we will get more. This is just the greatest news!! Jeanette

  11. Max says:

    Really hope for that. I really love your arrangement for the congregational singing.

  12. As a piano teacher I would enjoy seeing the red version as well as the cleaned-up version for students. It is very time consuming to write in notation for students, but it is also important to show how you came up with your ideas. I often tell them that I don’t have a magic hat to pull the rabbit out of and that it its all right there in the music. Most students wouldn’t want to see the red version, but some might find it helpful as they are trying to improvise on their own. Thank you for your ministry!

  13. Nancy C. Smith says:

    Just recently played for our little congregation when our pianist was not able to be in attendance.
    I played from the Hymnal note by note. I would like to practice some improvisation.

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