A reader recently requested a piano congregational arrangement for “Joy to the World”.  I had almost forgotten about having this arrangement.  I am forever writing music of some sort and it’s easy to forget what I have 🙂

This is a rather straightforward arrangement of “Joy to the World”…no frills but enough fill-ins to add zest to the congregational singing for this joyous hymn about Jesus’ birth.  Hope it’s a help to church pianists looking for congregational arrangements.

Click on song title below to download your free copy!

Most church pianists find it a challenge to dress-up hymns such as “O How I Love Jesus”.  This particular hymn mainly consists of only two different chords the I and V chords)… with an occasional ii chord.

So…how to be creative with a hymn containing minimal chord changes?  I’m glad you asked!  🙂

(I’m currently working on a congregational piano arrangement book for church pianists that need more than the hymnal to play from.)

“O How I Love Jesus” is one of the ones I’m working on now.  The complete arrangement will have two verses.  Click below to download the first verse of “O How I Love Jesus” FREE!

Hopefully, the following free congregational arrangement will spark some creative ideas of your own.

Oh-How-I-Love-Jesus-one-verse

*Special note: The congregational hymns in my book will be in lower keys than the regular hymnal…making the hymns more singer-friendly.

If you read the previous article on “Like a River Glorious” then the following will make sense.

I’m sharing a way that the right hand can climb back down the ladder after playing an octave higher during the first sentence of “Like a River Glorious”.

To read the previous article, click HERE.

“Christ Arose” is a very well-known hymn that most churches only use around Easter.  We use this beautiful hymn periodically throughout the year as a reminder of Christ’s glorious resurrection.

Robert Lowry, a well-known hymn composer/preacher, wrote “Christ Arose”

Click on song title below to download your free congregational arrangement:

Christ Arose in B Flat

I had to write a few congregational arrangements in a hurry this week for a couple of our church pianists to play this Sunday.  Since that took up the majority of my music writing time…I’ll share one of those arrangements with my readers tomorrow 🙂

This free organ arrangement of “Amazing Grace” for unison congregation or choir goes with the piano arrangement of “Amazing Grace” which I recently published for FREE.

Please understand…I am not an organist and it’s my very first attempt at writing an organ arrangement!

I’m glad one of my readers pointed out the need for organists needing the same arrangement in order to prevent chord clashes…an excellent observation! Our church doesn’t have an organ…just two pianos (one being a digital).

I thoroughly enjoyed creating this organ arrangement!

Amazing Grace: Complete Audio

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

Introducing…a free piano arrangement of Amazing Grace for unison choir or congregation.  It’s nice to be able to sing parts but most congregations of small churches seem to sing unison.

Church pianists can enliven hymns such as Amazing Grace by playing with mucho enthusiasm!  I understand not every church pianist knows how to improvise from the hymnal.  It took a lot of practice for me to feel comfortable adding unseen notes while playing from the hymnal.

Improvising tip:  Grab an improvising idea from someone else’s arrangement and try applying to a similar congregational hymn with same time signature.

Stick with that one idea for a while until it becomes natural to use…then on to the next improvising idea!

Hope you enjoy this arrangement.  Since most people are very familiar with this hymn, I took more liberty with the piano accompaniment.

Warning:  This arrangement does not support the four-part style in the hymnal.

Question from a reader:

I love these ideas but at my church both piano and organ play. I find it hard to take any liberties since I am not playing alone. Any suggestions for those of us who would love to add flare to hymns but still have to keep the organist in mind?

Answer: (at least for this arrangement)  I will soon provide a free organ arrangement of this particular version of Amazing Grace.

Free PDF for Piano: Amazing Grace

Free PDF for Organ: Amazing Grace

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

Extra tip:  This arrangement could also be used as an offertory using the following suggestion:  Allow a flute or violin to play the vocal score since the piano accompaniment doesn’t contain enough melody.

I love to sing “Amazing Grace”! It reminds me of when I accepted Christ as my Saviour at the age of 29.

A quick tip for church pianists on how to enrich congregational singing…

1. Start in a lower key. The congregation sings out better in lower keys…especially if you have a congregation like ours that mainly sings melody.

2.  Modulate up a half or whole step higher on the final verse.

In the following video…we started in E flat major and ended in F Major.

The church pianist CAN add zest to congregational singing! Learn to play a hymn in different keys for added enrichment.

I will attempt to write out Amazing Grace  in a user-friendly version for congregational piano accompaniment within the next two weeks and share for FREE! (transposed verse will be included)

Click here for this FREE arrangement of Amazing Grace 🙂

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)

Click here to download: Free Improvising Ideas for Wonderful Words of Life (one verse) 

A descant to melody is like a cherry on top of an ice cream sundae.  Simply…an extra added touch to compliment the main course.

Hymn tune descants are counter-melodies, generally at a higher pitch than the main melody.

~     ~     ~    From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

(I think of a descant as a melody within a melody).

The descant is most effective when used only on the final verse of a hymn…creating an exciting climax!  Usually a soprano or several sopranos sing the descant.  If you don’t have the voices to support the descant, a solo instrument such as a flute or trumpet can play the descant part. Sometimes the piano can carry the descant part as well.

What’s really neat is when the whole choir sings a descant part on the final verse of a congregational hymn.

The  video below contains a violin solo accompanied by the piano.  Listen for the piano playing a descant part on the first and second chorus.

Free printable descant links below: 

(the following links may contain music not in accordance with this site but still includes appropriate music for worship)

Magnolia Arts Sheet Music

Jeff Whitmill Descants