Part One of Sunlight

PDF link: Sunlight Part Two

The chorus of Sunlight contains several twists and turns in the melody line making it tricky for the church pianist to manuveur through this peppy hymn. 

Simply play more blocked chords on the main beats (one.two, three, four).  I had to add an occasional  sprinkle of triplets in the right hand for a lively sound. The triplets also allude to rays of sunshine as the congregation happily sings….”…sunlight, sunlight, in my soul today!”

Complete audio for Sunlight Part Two (congregational accompaniment)

Just use your imagination to make the music come to life…causing the congregation to sing with more enthusiasm.

I hope the accompaniment ideas I’ve shared over the past few years have helped to stimulate the  creative thinking of other church pianists…encouraging them to be even more effective for the Lord as they serve Him through the ministry of music.

How about a free piano arrangement for “Sunlight”?  (congregational style)

One of my adult piano students attends a church with several pianists.  The songleader has setup a rotating schedule to give more of the pianists an opporunity to play for the church service.  What a great idea…utulizing the people God has provided a church family

I’ve particularly enjoyed sharing improvising tips with this student. She’s so ready to learn and has shown great progress in being more mobile on the keyboard due to her being able to play at her church.  The next hymn we will work with is “Sunlight”.  The melody is very busy….but….relax!  The pianist doesn’t need to play every single word    Just play on the main beats (1,2,3,4) and let the congregation keep up with the words. 

Editor notes for today’s free piano arrangement for

PDF link: “Sunlight” (Part One)

Overall right hand analysis:  I used chord inversions with a sprinkle of triplet groups here and there for some extra spice. Measure #6: Look at how I play empty octaves (octaves without any notes in the middle) during fast passages in the right hand.  I added middle notes to the 1st beat of the right hand to emphasize the  accented beat in 4/4 time.  (Beats one and three are normally accented in 4/4 time.)

Left hand mainly consists of octaves and chords.  Notice the alternating bass in the piano score…avoiding the overuse of E flat bass in the vocal score. (as in measures #1,2,and 5)

I enjoy playing for congregational singing.  It takes alot of energy too!  It’s important for the church pianist to play loud enough to support the singers…giving them a sense of security to sing out even more.

Today’s tip on congregational singing involves “keeping the tempo alive” between the verses.  In general, most songleaders do not slow down too much between the verses of a hymn when leading congregational singing.   It’s the pianist’s responsibility to keep the rhythm alive and steady when transitioning into another verse. 

In many cases, the last word of a hymn requires very little fill-in movement.  For example, the hymn “Redeemed” needs a bare minumum of fill-in music before plowing into the next verse.  Listen….”Redeemed” audio example.

Other hymns, such as “What a Friend We Have in Jesus” may require more fill-in notes because the last word of this hymn is held up to 4 counts.  Here is where I use one of my favorite transition fill-ins.   In the following audio sample…you will hear the last phrase followed by the transition into the next verse.  “What a Friend” audio example  Special note:  You will see this example when you click the link for the free handout for today’s article.

Remember to maintain a steady tempo during the fill-in between the verses to keep the tempo alive.

Free Handout for Piano Accompaniment Fill-ins for Congregational Singing ( Between Verses)

The most demanding but enjoyable playing for me as a church pianist is accompanying the congregational singing.

The church pianist plays (no pun intended) a vital role in the congregational singing.  Maintaining a steady tempo throughout a hymn is extremely important. 

Over the years, church pianists have asked me what to play in between verses during congregational singing to prevent a stop and go scenario.  A very good question!  I’ll attempt to answer this question in this week’s upcoming article.

 Everyone wants a smooth wedding rehearsal and wedding ceremony. Many times church pianists find themselves in the role of wedding coordinator, wedding consultant, pianist or all of the above.

There are many good books on the market dealing with wedding planning and such but I wanted to share important practical tips I observed in my son’s wedding rehearsal.

The wedding coordinator was wonderful!  She was so personable and patient.  Her main objective was to honor the bride’s wishes on how to conduct the wedding rehearsal/ceremony. If  someone asked her a question she was unsure how to answer… she directed it right back to my son’s bride-to-be in a very polite manner.

The pastor was a natural leader and very hospitable. Of course it helps to have a cooperative wedding party

Rehearsal Observations:

(Parents and grandparents  were seated in the auditorium) *Seats were marked with our names

• Pastor opened in prayer and briefed wedding party on order of ceremony and how rehearsal would be conducted as follows:

First run-through: Bridesmaids, Groomsmen, bride & groom exit from stage (recessional)

Second time: Entire ceremony with all music

Third time: Entire ceremony with short excerpts from music

• Pastor introduced wedding coordinator
• Wedding coordinator positioned bridemaids, groomsmen, bride and groom onstage for exit (recessional) *everyone’s place was already marked with piece of tape.  *Excellent time-saver and anti-confuser  (I like to make up words)
• Now…everyone is in the back of the auditorium ready to march in  (Hearing entire music selections allows those involved to know how much time they will have to perform their actions such as:  candle-lighters or…parents lighting the unity candle) 
• Final run-through gave everyone a chance to nail down their moves (especially helped pianist know how much filler music was needed) 

I must give the ultimate credit to the Lord.  Many thanks to all of my friends and relatives who prayed for our safety and for a beautiful wedding to God’s glory.

I’ve always enjoyed singing the Christmas carol, “Angels We Have Heard on High”.  My favorite key to sing this hymn is E flat Major.   We have a small congregation and this key works out very well for them.   Generally, we  transpose all hymns at least one step lower; making it easier for the congregation to reach the melody with confidence. (All of our congregation sings melody).

I understand not all church pianists know how to transpose. Therefore, I’m sharing this transposed version of  “Angels We Have Heard on High” in E flat Major; simple four-part style as it would appear in the hymnal.

Angels We Have Heard on High (four-part hymnal version)

 Who has TIME  to memorize music?! 

Memorizing music requires planning ahead doesn’t it? A challenge for all church pianists. 

Many pianists like myself, serve as a volunteer pianist for their church. I enjoy every minute of it…but…it does takes time to adequately prepare for offertories and other special music.

One of my goals this coming year is to spend more time planning/preparing my offertories.  I always know at least one month in advance when I’ll be playing my next offertory. I want to be as effective as I can for the Lord by being prepared. There are times I just have to play an offertory on the spot but for the most part…I know ahead of time.

Memorization should be a natural outcome of consistent practice on a particular piece over a long period of time.  Yeah…like a year!  No    Memorizing a piece can easily happen in a month to two months time with daily practice.

Choosing an offertory arrangement within your capability is of upmost importance.  Choose an arrangement well within your level so you can focus on the message and not struggle through it. It’s ok to choose a challenging piece…but be realistic   I like to find arrangements that clearly communicate the message of the hymn without too much frill.  Occasionally, I’ll play a more involved piece such as: “Saviour Like a Shepherd Leads Us’ arranged by Roger House, “Onward Christian Soldiers” arranged by Duane Ream or maybe “Blessed Assurance” arranged by Marilyn Ham.  I really enjoy these particular arrangements because each one of them conveys the meaning of the text with little deviation from the main melody of the song; allowing the listeners to follow along in their minds or in some cases (out loud)    Personally, I like hearing those in the congregation singing along with me. It means they are focusing on the message instead of me.

I”m getting off track. (Sorry about that). Back to memorizing…one of my piano teachers from high school days gave me the following memorization tip that has really helped me. He told me to “find several escape hatches” (easy places in the arrangement) that I could return to in case I got disoriented when playing from memory. To this day,  I still use this tip when playing from memory.

Joy Morin, of Color in My Piano website, offers practical memorization tips (including my favorite tip mentioned above) in the following article:

12 Tips for Memorizing Music

Are you constantly searching for piano offertory music?  It’ nice to be able to find a piano offertory book where you can use more than one or two songs.

As a church pianist, I’m always looking for offertory music.  Over time, I have created my own favorite  list of piano offertory books that I have purchased through the years.

Take a look at the list in progress under Offertory Resources at the top of my website. Hopefully, this page will be a great help to other church pianists too!

 Hmmm…accompaning vocalists…what a responsiblilty we have as church pianists to support the singer; allowing them to take the lead. 

Our job as a pianist is to provide a nice backdrop of sound to enhance the singer’s message. This is an area I would like to expound upon…at a later time:)

Until then….the following tips for accompanying the vocalist makes a nice start.

I came across this practical, informative article today on Sheryl Welles’ Notable Music Studio blog. The article addresses the importance of learning to accompany the vocalist.  Laura Lowe of  The Piano Studio, authored this practical advice on accompanying.

Article: Teaching Well-Rounded Musicians

“Thou Didst Leave Thy Throne” is a beautiful hymn to use at Christmas time.  This particular hymn contains a lot of accidentals…creating awkward moves for the church pianist.  I will attempt to create smoother harmonic changes making it more user-friendly for the average church pianist.

Editor notes for Part One of “Thou Didst Leave Thy Throne”

Download the free pdf  example here to view as you read the information below.

1. I like to use a ‘G’ natural in place of the ‘G’ sharp on the last word of line one. I just think it sounds better.

2. Notice the chord number labels in line two. Whenever a I chord is lasting more than one beat and moving to a V chord…you can substitute a vi chord in place of the I chord before moving into the V chord.   The vi chord creates a warmer tone.

In plain English…a I chord in the key of D = DF#A and the V chord in the key of D = AC#E

I look forward to sharing more improvising ideas with the rest of “Thou Didst Leave Thy Throne” in part two.

*Keep in mind…the chords in the piano score will not match the four parts from the hymnal version.