Yes, I have been rather busy but taking time to send you all another free  Christmas piano arrangement.

It’s an intermediate piano solo of “It Came Upon a Midnight Clear”.

I wrote this arrangement for a student of mine last year for the Christmas piano recital.

Hopefully you or one of your students can make use of it.

You will see fingering suggestions throughout the arrangement.

Piano solo: It Came Upon a Midnight Clear

You need to have the Audio Player Plugin installed to use this shortcode

The following free christmas piano arrangement of Away in a Manger is suitable for a children’s choir or can stand alone as a short offertory.

If you’re a church pianist of a small church like me…then you probably create or tweak a written Christmas program that best suits the number of people available for a program.

In the next article…I will deal with tips for Christmas programs.  Some of the tips will refer to today’s free Christmas arrangement…so have it handy for my next post.

Click here for free arrangement of :  Away in a Manger (for children’s choir or short offertory)

Click here for free arrangement of O Little Town of Bethlehem

The mood of a song determines what

type of accompaniment the pianist will  use.

 

“O Little Town of Bethlehem” is a soft

and peaceful Christmas carol…like a

lullaby.

 

If I were playing this as a piano solo,

I would use less fullness for a softer

texture. Since this was arranged  for the

congregation, the pianist will need

fuller chords for supporting a large

group of singers.

 

This particular Christmas carol has

frequent accidental or (altered) chords,

which can create awkward moves for

the pianist.

I tried to create an accompaniment

containing smooth harmonic movement

for the pianist.

 

Editor notes for: “O Little Town of Bethlehem”

 

Measure 3 :

I added the 7th note

to the ii chord (g minor) for a warmer

tone on the 3rd beat.

Measure 5:

The right hand plays a

fill-in on beats 3 and 4 for a smooth

transition to the upper range.

Measure 7:

Notice how I’m working

my way back down to the middle
range of the keyboard with my
right hand.

Measure 8:

I’m back to middle range
of keyboard to create a darker tone for
the words. (“….dark street…”)

Measure 13:

Bell tones (4th interval on

beats 2 and 3 to convey a “lighter” tone).

Please feel free to use this free piano

arrangement for congregation or choir.

You may adapt it to a piano solo with

minor changes.