Nothing but the Blood of Jesus uses only two chords through the entire song! (The I and V)

This hymn is crying out for “dress-ups” from the church pianist.

Here’s several ideas I use to dress up the verse of “Nothing but the Blood”.

Notice the melody of the verse contains a lot of repeated notes.  A great time to add some spice! 🙂 You can even hold a right chord through repeated notes here and there.  You’ll notice I kept the left hand moving during the right hand chords to maintain forward motion/rhythmic drive.  The following example can be used for an entire verse if repeated.

Click here for your free download of “Nothing but the Blood of Jesus” improvising ideas.

Many of you have purchased my advanced or real advanced arrangement of “Abide With Me”

Someone recently requested I share fingering suggestions for measure #30. Another tip about this measure…I take it slow enough to handle the excessive movement in the left hand.

*See video below to hear measures #22 through #30  (time marker 1:01-1:26) It will give you a better idea of how this transitional section flows into the new key.

While playing Leaning on the Everlasting Arms for congregational this morning…the thought occurred to me to share one of my fill-in ideas I usually use for the last chorus. This particular hymn needs lots of dress-up to bring it to life!

Some of you pianists may not like “going off the grid” so the first line is for you. The second line is for those who like to venture out in space 😉

Hope all of you are having a wonderful Sunday worshiping the Lord with your church family.

The following example is taken from the first line of the chorus.

Enjoyed teaching you all last night! Sorry it lasted longer than expected.

I also appreciate the feedback to help improve my sessions. Thanks as well for your words of encouragement!

The following Answer Keys are in reference to our live facebook session from October 12, 2017

Click HERE to watch the archived video of this session on facebook.

Text Answer Key

Showers of Blessing Answer Key

I Will Sing of My Redeemer Answer Key

O How I Love Jesus Answer Key

Click Here to Watch Live Session Tomorrow at 8pm EST

Tune in at the link above tomorrow evening at 8pm EST… to be a part of a live facebook session for church pianists all over the world! (even as far as the Cayman Islands) 🙂

Click below to print free downloads for tomorrow’s session:

Showers-of-Blessing-example-6 8-student-version

I-Will-Sing-of-My-Redeemer-student-version

O How I Love Jesus

Modulating-Up-a-5th-Chord-Structure

Modulating-Up-a-5th

6-8-Timing-Sheet-Fill-in-Blanks

Special Note!

There may be one more sheet to download by tomorrow morning. Bring notebook paper to jot down the numerous tips you will hear sprinkled throughout this session! You’ll also want a pencil to use on the download sheets.

I never really noticed the time signature change in “Just When I Need Him Most” until today.

We sang this at our church last night for a congregational and the people REALLY enjoyed singing it.  The words are so comforting!

It’s just one of those seasons at our church where there’s a lot of physical needs and such a song reminds us of Jesus’ ever-present help 🙂

We sang this song in a prayerful mood with  a slow walking speed so I had time to add left hand flowing patterns similar to the following free pdf of “Just When I Need Him Most”.

Most importantly, notice the key change at the chorus….but the flow will still be pretty much the same 🙂  I actually changed to 6/8 timing one measure earlier than the hymnal shows… because it felt more natural to not hold as long before entering the chorus.

Maybe this will help a beginning church pianist to see what fill-ins could be used for a slow to medium hymn in 6/8 or 9/8 timing… such as my arrangement of “I Must Tell Jesus”.

Warning: This arrangement is NOT intended for piano solo use… due to missing melody notes at the beginning of the chorus…unless of course you know how to add them in 😉

Click on song title for free download: Just When I Need Him Most

Just published the Easy to Play Congregational Collection One today!  I will be out of town this upcoming week but will supply video or audio samples for this collection when I return.

Easy-to-Play Congregational Collection-One

Early intermediate to intermediate piano congregational arrangements, 16 pgs. Jenifer wrote these arrangements in an easy-to-learn fashion for the beginning church pianist. You'll find these arrangements to be fairly structured making for minimal practice. Song list: Amazing Grace, Day by Day, Grace Greater Than Our Sin, I Need Thee Every Hour, It is Well, Nothing but the Blood, Only a Sinner, O Worship the King, Satisfied, Trust and Obey. *Amazing Grace contains optional key change into Grace Greater Than Our Sin

Price: $14.00

Here’s a visual sampling of the Collection

Introduction 

Modulating during any type of prelude (church, funeral, wedding or other occasion)…creates a smooth transition between songs. Without a smooth transition between different keys, the music will sound interrupted or very abrupt.  The articles associated with this lesson and future lessons will deal with modulating to a higher key.  Modulating to a lower key can also be effective but such a topic belongs in a different set of lessons.

The modulation chord formula that works for most any key change uses the  ii7 to V7 chords of the new key.

(I personally like to use the V7 sus instead of a plain V7…but will will illustrate  at the appropriate time).

*Part two will provide a FREE pdf with several examples of modulating up a fifth. (C Major to G Major)

Keyboard visuals of the ii7 & V7 chords in the key of G Major are shown below. (The upcoming examples will cover C to G, G to D and F to C using this chord formula)

ii7 of G Major

V7 of G Major

Working on the examples now and hope to share this week!

For the past couple of months…I’ve been creating “ready-made’ hymn arrangements for some of my church pianist students who are need of improvised hymns for congregational singing. (Can also be used as piano solo)

These hymn arrangements are nothing more than a copy of a hymn from the hymnal with my added improvised notes in red.

Just curious, would this meet the need for others as well? I’m considering adding them to our online music store if there’s enough interest.

The cost would be less than my regular “printed arrangements”.

Here’s a FREE copy of one of these ready-made hymn arrangements. (Also trying to decide what to call them….any suggestions?)

*Also…are you all ok with it being handwritten just as it appears in free arrangement below?  

*Special note: THANKS for the feedback! After reading the comments here and on facebook….I will be putting these type of easy-to-play congregationals into print instead of by hand. I will do away with the original notes from the hymnbook and ONLY type in my (hopefully) easy-to-play congregational/piano solo arrangement. Thanks again for your helpful comments!  I do have (more involved ) congregational piano arrangements for sale HERE.

Ready-Made Hymns for the Church Pianist

Congregational playing if done properly, takes ALOT of energy!

Ever feel totally wiped out after congregational playing? If so, you’re doing something right!  🙂

I’ve heard a couple of approaches to teaching exciting congregational playing…first is to play VERY loud the whole time with no room for emotion vs. play with a big sound but leave room for emotion.  Shelly Hamilton refers to this second method as “kneading” into the keys for music quality…you can “dig” into the keys for a big sound-just not banging…to allow room for emotion.  Shelly mentions playing with “back” weight.  After trying the above methods…I prefer the latter way….much more enjoyable; adds warmth…more meaningful way of playing and the congregation responds well to this method!

The church pianist is to provide support to the congregational singing. Play with gusto!  Give solid sounding introductions. Make it sound like you know what you’re doing! 🙂  *It may help to bracket off the section(s) you play for intros in your hymnal or other songbook… so you won’t get lost.

Energetic playing is contagious!  Your congregation will catch on real quick!

Video Example: