I honestly had to think REALLY hard to come up with some FRESH ideas…considering this particular hymn uses only three different chords…G, C, and D. (I wrote this in mind for congregational singing).
The following free pdf of “Wonderful Words of Life” contains ideas for one verse. The vocal score (melody only) is included as a guide for the church pianist.
Our church sings this hymn at a fairly peppy tempo…making for a simple, straightforward accompaniment. Adding too many notes to a fast tempo… would tend to drag the speed.
I will provide an audio below for the suggested speed of this piano accompaniment…when my computer and I can get along.
Special note: A slower tempo of this hymn would allow the pianist to add even more fill-ins! (another lesson)
Church pianists find it an extra challenge when accompanying vocalists singing wordy hymns. Hymns such as: In the Garden, Wonderful Peace, Fill My Cup Lord,God Leads Us Along and No One Ever Cared for Me Like Jesus.
These wordy hymns are most effective when sung or played in a more conversational tone to avoid a mechanical reading style often heard in young ones when they are first learning to read. How to achieve a more conversational sound?
In 4/4 time…beats one and three are naturally stressed. Emphasizing these particular beats results in a more shapely tone…making the message flow in a more conversational tone.
Listen to the two accompaniment style excerpts in the video below to determine which style sounds more conversational.
“No One Ever Cared for Me Like Jesus”
*Editor notes:
Accompaniment pattern #1: I basically played every word of the song.
Accompaniment style #2: I used quarter note chords here and there to break up the repeated eighth note patterns..allowing the singer more ebb and flow of rhythm.
Special note: I sang the excerpt(s) in A Major on the video (due to my vocal range but the free pdf is a half step higher in B flat Major.
I would have loved to share the entire song…but this particular hymn is copyrighted. The “fair use” law allows me to share a small portion of a copyrighted song for educational purposes only.
This has been a very difficult week. One of my piano students I’ve been mentoring to be a church pianist passed away this week…very unexpectedly. Please pray for the family.
I’ve managed to prepare a “free accompaniment” idea for Heaven Came Down. This particular hymn contains a mundane bass line..making it a challenge for the average church pianist to create an interesting accompaniment. What to do? You have to play what’s not there 🙂 Easy said…but a challenge to do right? For that reason, I’m sharing a free accompaniment idea that can be used for the verse of this hymn.
I”m limited on what I can share because this hymn is still under copyright. Therefore, I can only share a small portion for educational purposes only…(called the “fair use” law). Just use the same accompaniment idea to finish out the verse. I would tend to use this accompaniment idea ONLY if the congregation is secure with their voice parts…whatever that may be. Most of our congregation sings melody.
Sometimes it’s refreshing to hear a simple offertory. I like to be able to distinguish the melody when hearing an instrumental special. My son, and another gentleman in our church were suppose to play a guitar/harmonica offertory this past Sunday night. Unfortunately, they hadn’t had much time to practice.
They asked if I would play along on the piano with them for support. They wouldn’t be able to practice until Sunday evening before church during the time I had to practice with the vocal special for that night. So…I quickly wrote a simple piano accompaniment that Sunday afternoon and had my daughter-in-law practice with them that evening. They did great for a last minute ensemble!
Here’s the video of them playing “In the Sweet By and By”.
All church pianists understand there are those hymns that just need a little dress-up to bring them to life! One of those such hymns is When the Roll is Called Up Yonder. Why the need for a dress-up? Because there are a lot of repeated chords throughout the entire hymn. What can be done to make this hymn sound more interesting? Replace the repetitive bass line with a simple improvising idea.
Click on the following song title to see this improvising idea put to use. The pattern can be seen in the first few measures.
For those of you at a more advanced level..you’ll find a free sample below of what I would play to accompany congregational singing. (I transferred the stepping down pattern to the right hand for the first phrase of the chorus.
One of my favorite improvising ideas is adding contrast for an interesting sound. The excerpt listed above is taken from the hymn “Count Your Blessings”. The phrase is the last sentence of the last verse. This idea can be used on any of the verses at this point in song…but I like to save special effects like this for the final verse.
Here’s what helped me come up with the idea: I knew that an A7 chord was the basic chord for the first two measures of this example. So… I played “stepping notes” within the A7 chord frame and entered into a D major chord on the syllable “jour-” and back to an A7 for “ney’s” and ended with a D chord on “end”. The ascending notes in the piano score ran contrary to the melody in the vocal score…creating an energetic drive to the message of the song.
The complete arrangement of “Count Your Blessings” congregational style can be purchased below.
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Since believing on Jesus Christ at the age of 29…I can truly say: “Blessed Assurance Jesus is Mine”. This became one of my favorite hymns after becoming a Christian.
Shortly after being saved I arranged an offertory that included: “Blessed Assurance, Saved by the Blood and Since Jesus Came Into My Heart”. I will have to write it out in my (ha ha) spare time.
This free sacred piano arrangement of “Blessed Assurance” is a result of preparing several of our own soon-to-be church pianists to play for congregational singing. We now have a rotational schedule for our intermediate to advanced pianists to allow them to play for our congregational singing. It’s exciting to see them gain experience to better equip them for serving the Lord.
The hymn “Count Your Blessings” carries a great message in song but contains frequent repetitive notes providing a rather plain accompaniment for the average church pianist
Free Improvising Ideas for Count Your Blessings (congregational style)
Key of D Major
1. Use alternate bass movement (see measure #2) LH beat one…I played an ‘A’ rather than ‘D’
2. Measure #1 and #5, beat one ( no need to play every word) when playing congregational style; allows more ease of movement for the pianist.
3. The four note RH chords provide support to the singers.
4. Measure #6, notice the contrary octave movement between the hands for variety.
*Contrary movement between both hands always adds a nice touch of spice 🙂
I was able to finish page two of “All Hail the Power” tonight even after a busy but good week of revival at our church. I will try to share some music highlights of our week sometime soon.
In my next article…I ‘ll share editor notes along with an audio of this free piano arrangement for “All Hail the Power” congregational accompaniment.
I enjoy playing and singing “All Hail the Power”. The church pianist must add lots of fullness to this majestic hymn to portray the mood of the text.
Just picture it…God is on His throne and scores of angels are bowed down before Him. A huge choir is singing “All hail the power of Jesus’ name! Let angels prostrate fall…”
I think the words as I play this wonderful hymn. The melody and text are a great match!
