I am giving away one of my piano arrangements off my Christmas CD…entitled “Simply Christmas”.

For more information on this CD, click the following link:

 https://thechurchpianist.com/christmas-cd-simply-christmas/

Free Audio: Silent Night  

This arrangement is written in a free style…which means not as structured as my other arrangements.

Click here…for Free Piano Arrangement of Silent Night

Programs, in general, require alot of practice if they are to be effective.

Just as a Pastor spends time preparing for a sermon, so must others… who share God’s message through music or speaking parts in a play.

Our ultimate goal must be to glorify God in all we say or do…decently and in order.

We must be careful to choose a program that fits the abilities of our church family.

Many of the smaller churches find themselves either simplifying a cantata to suit their abilities or…creating a simple program of their own.

Here are several tips when creating your own Christmas program:

 

1. Choose music in keys suitable for the adult or children’s choir

Adult Choir

Much can be said about this one point alone!

Lowering most hymns by one note puts most hymns in a more comfortable range…allowing the choir members to sing out even more.

Over half of our adult choir does not read music. Several of the choir members have a long commute to church (I happen to be one of them)… limiting us to shorter practices.

Therefore, two-part arrangements work best for us.

Children’s Choir

It also helps to lower hymns for the children’s choir. For example, see my free arrangement of “Away in a Manger”

I transposed this Christmas hymn to E flat Major…a whole step (one note name) lower than the original key. F Major is the original key in most hymnals.

I like to provide more melody support for a children’s choir. It helps them feel more secure.

  

2. Play filler music during transitions.

(to see filler music…refer to the free arrangement above…page two)

Filler music creates a smooth transition from one scene to another. Playing during transitions also covers excess noise and maintains the mood of the play.

The filler music should match the mood of the finishing scene or song and create a mood for the next scene or song.

Guessing the length of filler music is the challenge…right? 🙂

Whatever you do, end on the I chord of the key being used.

(See example of filler music on page 2 of Away in a Manger)

For a more interesting ending…you can end on the V 7 chord.

That’s another article in itself!

3. Sound check!

We always use the microphones during practice once we’re going through the entire program. But…be careful….just because the mics work for practice doesn’t mean they’re ready to go the night of the program.

Have someone do a sound check the night of the program; well before the service…to make sure everything is in working order.

Don’t forget to replace batteries or at least have spare batteries on hand for cordless mics.

There are other tips that I’ll have to share at another time.  I’m sure you can think of a few as well.  We all learn through experience don’t we?  I hope practice is going well for your Christmas program.

 

Bell sounds add life to Christmas carols.

Here are several examples of different
bell ingredients I used in my arrangements
on the “Simply Christmas” CD… mentioned
in a previous article.

Click here for free Sounds of Christmas  for piano

Explanation for the Examples:

1. Joy to the World (right hand bell tones)
Notice the intervals of the bell tones and try
in several different keys for reinforced learn-
ing and versatile application.

2. Joy to the World (right hand bell clusters)
I simply add a ‘D’ to a C chord to create
a dissonant sound for the bell effect.

3. I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day
This is one of my favorite chime sounds.
Notice how all the notes in the right hand
chords are a 4th apart. This is how to create
the chime sound!

4. O Little Town of Bethlehem (bell echo)
Bell echos add a sweet; dreamy texture to
lullaby-type melodies.
The bell echo occurs in the right hand (last measure).
It’s just a broken octave ending with a nice harmony note
occuring a 3rd under the broken octave.
Remember: 3rd and 6ths create beautiful touches of
harmony.
I just used the ‘Alberti bass’ pattern in the left hand.

Alberti bass means a broken chord in this order:
“Bottom~top~middle~top”

Hopefully, you can incorporate these Sounds of Christmas

into your own Christmas carols this year.

 

 

Anyone in need of an intermediate

christmas piano arrangement?

 I arranged this song for one of my students.

 It’s well suited for a small church.

The chorus can be repeated if needed.

You can use this free arrangement as offertory or prelude special.

Click the following title for a  free piano arrangement of

Hark the Herald Angels Sing

The following free christmas piano arrangement of Away in a Manger is suitable for a children’s choir or can stand alone as a short offertory.

If you’re a church pianist of a small church like me…then you probably create or tweak a written Christmas program that best suits the number of people available for a program.

In the next article…I will deal with tips for Christmas programs.  Some of the tips will refer to today’s free Christmas arrangement…so have it handy for my next post.

Click here for free arrangement of :  Away in a Manger (for children’s choir or short offertory)

This is a very easy Christmas program I put together several years ago for our church. 

We like to involve as many ages of people as possible. Here are the groups of people we used.

Narrators: young teenagers

Adult choir

Children’s choir for: “Away in a Manger”

The manger scene characters were young children in costume.

The actors did not have speaking parts…just showed action as indicated on the program order.

Click here for: Free easy Christmas program

Is your church in need of an easy Christmas program?  I just found one tonight while surfing the web.

Go to the following link to see and hear the music and to view the narration script. The easy two part choir arrangements are beautiful!  The instrument part on “O Come O Come Emmanuel” sounds so pretty.

This would be an excellent program for any size church!

Title of the program: The Story of the Carols

I wanted to share this free piano arrangement of The First Noel.

Natalie Wickham of Music Matters Blog arranged this easy piano duet of The First Noel. Natalie gave me permission to post an audio of her arrangement but I will share the link to her blog for this nice piano duet.

This free arrangement would be nice for a beginning piano student to play with a teacher or more advanced piano student.

The arrangement is short but would work well in the smaller church. You could always play it two times for a longer offertory.

Click below for a free copy of The First Noel:

http://musicmattersblog.com/2005/10/13/the-first-noel-piano-duet/

Audio:  The First Noel

I have thorougly enjoyed playing through the numerous free Christmas piano samples

on Alfred Music Publishing Co.’s website. 

Here are the rest of my special finds on Alfred’s website.

(I’ve included an audio sample for most of the following piano samples.)

Simply Christmas (Early intermediate for the adult hobbyists) by Dan Coates

Audio: O Holy Night  Traditional style; well arranged

http://www.alfred.com/alfredweb/front/SearchResult.aspx?keywords=30041

What Can I Play for Christmas? (Intermediate) by Cindy Berry

Audio: The First Noel  Nice variety!  I love the introduction.

http://www.alfred.com/alfredweb/front/SearchResult.aspx?keywords=33607

The Christmas Suite Collection-NEW!   (intermediate to late intermediate) by Various arrangers

Audio: What Child is This?  I love this!

http://www.alfred.com/alfredweb/front/SearchResult.aspx?keywords=33471

Magic of Christmas–Book 2  (late intermediate to early advanced) by Dennis Alexander

Audio: Still, Still, Still (piano duet)  Very creative and peaceful 🙂

http://www.alfred.com/alfredweb/front/SearchResult.aspx?keywords=piano%20christmas%20duets

 Carol of the Bells  (intermediate) piano duet by Catherine Rollin

Audio: Carol of the Bells (piano duet)  Very structured for the adult hobbyists 🙂

http://www.alfred.com/alfredweb/front/SearchResult.aspx?keywords=18976

Celebrated Christmas Duets-Book 3 (early intermediate to intermediate) by Robert D. Vandall

No audio available. Sample music only shows one piano part but please view music at following link.

http://www.alfred.com/alfredweb/front/SearchResult.aspx?keywords=31463

Famous and Fun Christmas-Book 5  (intermediate) by Carol Matz

Audio: It Came Upon a Midnight Clear  Simple but very structured for even a late elementary level.

 http://www.alfred.com/alfredweb/front/SearchResult.aspx?keywords=23222

Christmas Carols for Today (late intermediate to early advanced) by Carol Tornquist

Audio: How Great Our Joy  Very lively!

http://www.alfred.com/alfredweb/front/SearchResult.aspx?keywords=33511

Go, Tell it on the Mountain (advanced piano duets) by Victor Labenske

No Audio available (O Little Town of Bethlehem sounds beautiful!  View it at the following link.)

http://www.alfred.com/alfredweb/front/SearchResult.aspx?keywords=24436

Silent Night (intermediate) piano duet by Sharon Aaronson

Audio: Silent Night (piano duet)    Simple but beautiful with altered melody!

http://www.alfred.com/alfredweb/front/SearchResult.aspx?keywords=18978

Hope you enjoyed viewing these free Christmas piano samples as much as I did!

Are you looking  for piano Christmas offertories? Well…be prepared to shop a while!

A couple times of year, I receive a free sampler from Alfred Publishing Co.

The free sampler consists of Alfred’s ‘just published’ Christmas piano music as well as previous publications.

Each piano book series list a sample page for preview. The following link/s show even more sample pages but

having the sampler offers a simple overview of all Alfred’s Christmas piano products.  For example: I discovered

the group of links listed below (special finds) by entering the product number from the 2009 Holiday Sampler booklet.

You can order your free copy of Alfred’s 2009 Holiday Planner by emailing them at: keyboard@alfred.com

Simply request the : 2009 Holiday Planner.  (Also include your mailing address).

My favorite part to the following links…you can print the sample pages in large enough print!

Have fun looking at all the Christmas piano music! There’s more to the list on the next article.

 

Book Series: 

http://www.alfred.com/alfredweb/front/General.aspx?pageid=340 

                                                           

My special finds on alfred.com/piano   *(Audio Samples included before each link)*

Christmas Memories-Book 2 and 3 (intermediate to late intermediate) by Melody Bober

Audio: Hark the Herald Angels Sing

http://www.alfred.com/alfredweb/front/SearchResult.aspx?keywords=28414^28415^28416

Especially for Christmas -Book 3 (late intermediate)   by Dennis Alexander

Audio: Joy to the World/Angels We Have Heard on High

http://www.alfred.com/alfredweb/front/SearchResult.aspx?keywords=31387^31388^31389

It’s Time for Christmas (Advanced) by Ken Renfrow

 Audio: What Child is This?   Audio: It Came Upon a Midnight Clear

 http://www.alfred.com/alfredweb/front/SearchResult.aspx?keywords=33622

Great Piano Christmas Hits (Intermediate/Advanced) by Dan Coates

Audio: Angels We Have Heard on High

http://www.alfred.com/alfredweb/front/SearchResult.aspx?keywords=AF9681

There’s so much more to share! 

Part two of this article will include the rest of my findings on http://www.alfred.com/piano