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.

“The Lily of the Valley” is a nice, uplifting hymn. Several factors make this hymn a challenge for most church pianists.

The hymn is loaded with repeated notes and a very busy rhythm…(what I call….the “wordy” hymns).

You don’t want it to sound like you’re trying to chop down a tree 🙂

The church pianist needs to basically outline or (play) the main beats of the hymn. This particular hymn is in 4/4 time.   So…the pianist should at least play on the 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th beats…creating a steady, rhythmic  tempo for the congregation.

It’s not necessary for the pianist to play “every word” of the song when accompanying. Playing every word would limit the pianist’s ability to improvise. 

The more familiar the congregation is with a hymn…the less dependent they are on hearing the melody.  This allows the  pianist more  freedom to stray from the melody…making it much easier to maneuver through the accompaniment.

Editor notes for today’s free piano sample of “The Lily of the Valley”

Notice the left hand plays the main beats (1,2,3,4) and the right hand skip words here and there for ease of movement.

Measure #3 (beats 3 through 4)  the right hand plays notes within the chord frame being used… “sweeping upward”…for a livelier sound.

Measure #4 (beats 1 through 4) the left hand begins with a dotted rhythm for a peppy tone and drives through with octaves to maintain tempo while the congregation holds the word “soul”.

Measure #4 (beat 4) into Measure #5…the right hand moves into middle range of keyboard for variety in location.

Click here for free piano sample of “The Lily of the Valley”

Do you struggle when trying to play a choir arrangement  for the first time?

You’re not alone. I remember in my younger years…taking all the choir music home with me and learning the pieces real well.

Sighteading can benefit the church pianist in many ways!

The more you sightread…the easier it becomes to read music.

My piano teachers advised me to sightread music within my reading capablity. Why? So I would feel comfortable wading through a song that I had never seen before…which would increase my confidence. It worked! 

Always look at the following things in an arrangement before playing for the first time:

1. Time signature

2. Key signature

3. Tricky rhythms

4. Accidentals

5. Now…play the piece at a slow tempo; allowing your brain to compute what’s on the page 🙂

6. Try to look at the music as much as possible while playing…only looking down for awkward moves.

Try sightreading at least two songs a day well within your reading ability. Remember…it must be songs you’ve never played before.

The hymnal would be a good place to start for those at the intermediate level. (Example: Faber Lesson Book 3B)

If someone were to ask  me if I practiced piano like I should…I would have to say, “Unfortunately…no.”

The older I get…the less motivated I am to practice. Anyone else have this problem or would admit to it?  “smile”

I hear this confession quite often from other composers. We spend so much time writing that we don’t take time to just sit and play.

What really motivates me…is getting with other piano friends and playing duets and duos.

I find myself wanting to sharpen my sightreading and technique skills.

A piano friend of mine and I are planning to meet  once a month starting in January. We plan to do  alot of sightreading.

I’m also planning to play a concert in the spring with another one of my piano friends to keep me on my toes.

Playing for a smaller church requires shorter offertories. The majority of the challenging arrangements I’ve learned through the years are too long for our offerings. I find myself just playing something from the hymnal most of the time.

Playing simple offertories from the hymnal is fine but I need a challenge every now and then… so occasionally, I’ll play a longer arrangement.

Click each song title  below to see the short offertories available on this site…

Let the Lower Lights Be Burning

Hallejuah, We Shall Rise

My Saviour First of All  (I Shall Know Him)

Feel free to share some of your own motivating practice tips by clicking on “comments” below.

Sincerely,

Jenifer

All pianists want their playing to sound smooth. How you use the pedal can make a huge difference!

In this youtube video, I’ll demonstrate the use of a pedal technique that I call the “pedal flutter technique”.  Hope it’s a help to some of you.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OLZKMXjOSs0

Does your piano playing ever sound choppy or cloudy and you just can’t figure out why?

Here’s a sh0rt youtube video clip… introducing a pedal tip to help revolutionize the sound of your playing!

Lesson two of this article on youtube, will include a demonstration for this pedal tip.

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jvsf6Wt1RfA

Do you leave your church with no pianist when you go out of town?

Our church has two pianists….me and another lady. Occassionally, we’re

both out of town at the same time.

For some reason, our church doesn’t want to sing acapella….I think they’re

a little spoiled:)

Our church has a digital piano (Kawaii CP 155). It has recording capability to floppy disks.

I simply record music ahead of time on this piano for the congregational singing,
choir numbers, offertories and invitational songs. (each category on a separate disk).

I understand that not every church pianist has this convenience but may consider using
this idea if you have a digital piano.

So…try recording some music in advance if able for the next time your church is without a pianist.

Today, I’ll share a video of me accompanying
one of my voice students… Chesney… singing
“Trust and Obey”.

Hopefully, you will be able to observe some of
what I’ve discussed in other articles regarding…
accompanying the vocalist. Please excuse the loud
piano:(

Related links:

http://thechurchpianist.blogspot.com/2008/12/church-pianist-accompanying-vocal.html

http://thechurchpianist.blogspot.com/2008/10/church-pianist-improvising-tips-for.html

I do use some melody here and there in the
accompaniment.

Listen for the altered vii diminished chord in
the last verse. What word did it occur on? 🙂

Related article discussing the altered vii diminished chord:

http://thechurchpianist.blogspot.com/2009/01/church-pianist-stately-chord.html

Youtube link for video of Trust and Obey:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vNfKYhQJe-A

Anybody need more practice time besides myself?

Our pastor had an excellent idea that has provided more practice time for our church pianists.

If you’re like most pianists, you’re usually practicing with someone before the service starts.

Our pastor had the sound man record offertories from our previous services on to one CD.

This CD is played before our services, giving us opportunity to practice or take care of lining up
future music during this time.

Approximately two minutes prior to the service, the CD fades out and I finish playing the prelude, which
acts as a good alarm clock for the choir, songleader and pastor to get in their places.

Need more practice time? Try this out. It has worked wonders for us. I find myself much more relaxed having
this extra time available.