“I have trouble filling in the blank spaces in songs (for example, whole notes, or the end of a verse, leading into the next verse). I have no idea what to play in those spots and sometimes, that creates an uncertainty for the congregation about when to start singing again. What can I play to help sort of “lead in”?

 ~Stephanie~

I’ve been answering  her question with this series. Part One and Two of Piano Hymn Fill-ins, shared fill-in ideas for the end of verses leading into the chorus. Part three deals with fill-ins for the end of choruses leading into the next verse. The examples in part three are for choruses ending with a whole note.

Editor notes for part three piano hymn fill-ins…

 The fill-in for both examples are similar; making it easier for church pianists to learn and apply to other hymns ending in whole notes.

Piano Hymn Fill-ins Part Three

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She asked some excellent questions! The comment reads….

 “I have trouble filling in the blank spaces in songs (for example, whole notes, or the end of a verse, leading into the next verse).

I have no idea what to play in those spots and sometimes, that creates an uncertainty for the congregation about when to start singing again. What can I play to help sort of “lead in”?   Thank you!”

~Stephanie~

 This mini-series is designed for the church pianist who plays from the hymnal but would like to learn simple fill-ins for long-held notes such as dotted half notes, whole notes or tied notes. (I’ll address the latter part of Stephanie’s question in another mini-series).

 For starters, let’s focus on fill-ins at the end of a verse leading into the chorus. Two factors determine what can be played for any fill-in:

1. Note duration (length of note at end of verse)
2. Chord progression from verse to chorus (see music below for more details).

 To keep things simple, I will show one fill-in idea using examples in easy keys.

A. Fill-in for chord progression: I to IV  ( view and print PDF Music Examples)

Challenge: Try same piano fill-in on the following hymns:

I Know Whom I Have Believed

What a Day That Will Be

Glory to His Name

 This is just one fill-in idea! There are many more   No need to overload your brain at this point

Part two of piano hymn fill-ins will include more fill-in ideas!

Thanks Stephanie for the questions! Hopefully this will help other church pianists needing to learn more fill-in ideas.

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