| The Church Pianist |
| A help ministry for church pianists all over the world! |
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.
Showers of Blessing Answer Key
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
Modulating-Up-a-5th-Chord-Structure
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. Â 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! Â I will be out of town this upcoming week but will supply video or audio samples for this collection when I return.
Here’s a visual sampling of the Collection
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? Â
*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! Â 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:
I recently published fill-in ideas for The Old Rugged Cross.
One of my readers asked me today if I could include the fill-ins on the printed hymnal version for ease of use.
I had to cut and paste and resize the fill-ins to fit the printed copy of the hymnal version so it’s kind of rough looking but it’s the best I could do with time allowed in my schedule.
Thanks for the suggestion Becky! 🙂
Click on following titles to download your free copies of the following:
Family coming into town any minute and just finished a quickie for church pianists to use for Easter…fill-in ideas for The Old Rugged Cross when playing for congregational singing.
Sorry I didn’t have time to share more!
Happy Easter!
Click on title to download your free copy of fill-in ideas for:Â THE OLD RUGGED CROSS
Click here to download fill-ins included on sheet music of the hymnal version for this hymn.
