| The Church Pianist |
| A help ministry for church pianists all over the world! |
*Keep in mind…the chords in the piano score will not match the four parts from the hymnal version.
“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.
Communication between the sound man and the church pianist or music director is vital.
Every church pianist may not be in the same situation as myself. We have two young men that help out with our music ministry. Our church seems to be the hub for training young musicians and then releasing them into various ministries.
I try to take up the slack and keep open communication between myself and the sound man. Here are several ways I attempt to keep the sound man up-to-date.
Provide him with the following:
*Current Special Music Schedule (gives him advance notice for setting up extra microphones for group specials)
*Program Scripts (with sound cues)
*Periodic conversations with sound man to make sure things are running smoothly
*Practice in advance with sound man with various group specials (instrumental or vocal) to work out microphone settings.
These are only a few suggestions that I thought may be helpful for church pianists; who like myself…are trying to work as a team with the sound crew 🙂
Once again…I understand that not all church pianists are in this type of situation. But, it may make you more aware of the importance of proper sound; reminding you to thank the sound crew or person for their help with this ministry.
It’s so important to keep open communication amongst ourselves in the various ministries of our church…especially the sound crew 🙂
I hope the first example of adding runs to hymns was helpful for some of you.
The second example of adding runs to hymns is fairly simple. I chose a hymn in G Major and 4/4 time. The run is nothing more than a one note ascending scale used as a fill-in. This particular run makes a nice transition from the verse to chorus.
These articles discussing runs will be broken down into even smaller segments due to my limited time this semester. I will share more explanation on this example along with an audio in the next article.
At least you can view the example and print it in advance of hearing the audio and seeing more details soon.
Accompanying the vocalist is so different from playing for congregational singing. For the most part, a steady rhythm is maintained for congregational singing.
Not so for accompanying the vocalist. I would encourage all church pianists to sing along mentally as you play. Doing so will prevent the pianist from rushing the vocalist. So many vocalists over the years have expressed their concern over pianists that rush their singing…not allowing them time to breathe and freely interpret the hymn. It’s so easy to do! Think about it…the pianist doesn’t have to physically breathe at the end of a sentence…so he or she just moves right along…forgetting that the poor vocalist would like to breathe! I know…I’ve been guilty many times of this very thing 🙂
Just focus on the message of the hymn and allow the singer to lead you. I understand some vocalists feel more comfortable following the pianist. Please encourage them to take the lead once they have learned the song; allowing them more freedom of interpretation.
In the future, I hope to provide a video with helpful tips for accompanying the vocalist.
“In the Garden” is such a peaceful; reflective hymn. I don’t hear it used much anymore. This free piano arrangement of “In the Garden” (part one) shares some accompaniment ideas for the church pianist.
Editor notes for “In the Garden”(Part One) Accompaniment
As an accompanist, it’s not necessary for me to play the melody for every word…maybe just a few here and there to give the soloist (whether vocal or instrumental) some support.
I start with melody for the first several words and then ease into more of an accompaniment style. By measure three, I’m really into a free-style…just staying within the chord frame and being creative.
Notice how the accompaniment flows freely into each new chord change. In other words…it’s best to maintain a smooth transition from one chord to the next for this particular hymn…producing a peaceful mood.
In measure 8…most soloists will slow down on the word “discloses”. The piano accompaniment can still maintain a steady but slower flow through the ritard.
I look forward to sharing the chorus of “In the Garden” in part two of this free piano arrangement.
As church pianists, we could use some inexpensive, creative
ideas for offertories, right?
Did you know you can use a piano arrangement written for
a vocalist to accompany say…a violin or flute solo?
Or…use a piano accompaniment written for one of these instru-
ments to accompany a vocalist.
Not too long ago…I shared a free vocal arrangement of
“Haven of Rest”. One of my church pianist readers used it
to accompany her sister, who plays violin.
It turned out so nice that I decided to share this offertory
idea with you… with their video. Links to music included below the video.
Haven of Rest part one
Haven of Rest part two
Haven of Rest part three
Some hymns can be tricky for the church pianist when accompanying congregational singing. One such hymn is “Christ the Lord is Risen Today”. This hymn has a busy rhythm! Trying to play every note or word will cause a sluggish tempo or overworked tone.
The remedy…don’t play every note/word. The church pianist’s main concern is to play/outline the main beats of whatever time signature is represented. “Christ the Lord is Risen Today” is written in 4/4 time. Therefore…play on beats one, two, three and four (no in between beats are necessary). Adding a few in between beats here and there does add spice to the music though.
Since hymns sung during congregational singing are usually familar…I will stray from the melody here and there to add spice; encouraging the audience to sing with even more fervency! Simply lose yourself in the meaning of the words to bring out creativity you didn’t think existed! I’m always exhausted after playing for congregational singing…feels like I’ve run a marathon:)
To help your creativity…I’ll provide an excerpt from the congregational arrangement of “Christ the Lord is Risen Today”.
Editor notes for today’s excerpt: I transferred alot of the action to my left hand; where it was easier to add eighth note stepping octaves for spice. Occasionally I added sixteenth or grace notes to the right hand to keep it alive.(The full arrangement contains these right hand additions.)
The complete congregational arrangement of “Christ the Lord is Risen Today” is available in the music store.
Special Discount offer on this arrangement through the end of March.