I’ve been spending a little extra time organizing our choir music at church.

We were using 1 inch notebooks that were overloaded with music!

Each notebook was divided into:

1. Choruses
2. Easy Specials
3. Arranged specials (more involved)

Our repertoire list began to grow…causing overloaded notebooks.

I removed all the arrangements from the notebook and  filed all of

our sheet music arrangements in alphabetical order in a file drawer.

We ordered 1/2 inch 3 ring notebooks and I created a simple (black & white) cover design.

Basically, the notebooks will only house what’s needed for am & pm Sunday services.

We have a very small classroom designated for the choir and don’t have the space to hang

wall storage of any kind…so we are making use of the file cabinet which already exists.

Our music repertoire is limited but expanding 🙂

Feel free to share how your choir keeps their music organized.

I periodically downsize my sacred music library and have several sacred piano and vocal books available. Just click on image above for more details.

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

One of our choir’s favorite arrangements….”The Cleansing Wave.”

The Cleansing Wave (two to three part mixed)

Two Part Mixed Choir Arrangement (piano and vocal score included. Optional Violin also included. Violin part is geared to the more Advanced Violinist. Listen to the audio which includes piano vocal and violin score. *Special note: SAB on the last page. Piano & vocal score arranged by Jenifer Cook Price covers as many copies as needed for your ministry. Violin accompaniment by Abby Phillips Lockaby

Price: $8.00

Gearing up for Easter music!  Planning ahead is the key! How many of you church pianists are involved in planning for your church’s Easter service?

I’m trying to decide on a nice Easter ensemble medley for maybe three to four pianos, flutes and clarinet for an offertory. Feeling the creative juices flowing too! I think I’ll adapt my trio piano version of “Power in the Blood Medley” for this group.

Concerning choir music…we usually don’t have a full-fledged program due to time limitations but try to learn new songs for these special occasions.

One of my favorite Easter cantatas is “The Bread of Life” by Lloyd Larson. All of the music is very well done!  I found a fairly decent recording of this very cantata on youtube.  It helps to hear a good representation of the music before tackling a new song…also provides the director with the interpretation ideas of the song such as word coloring (emphasizing certain words to elevate the meaning of the text)…. and also….what tempo is most effective.

At this point, the one song we’ll be learning from this cantata is “Taste and You’ll See” a nice upbeat piece on the Christian’s experience  of God’s salvation.

I’m sure I’ll be sharing other resources for Easter offertories and vocal specials along the way as we look towards an effective Easter service for God’s glory!

So…start getting ready now for your Easter service while you have ample time! 🙂   Not counting the last week of December….Easter is 15 weeks from now.

Sounds like a long time but not when you’re preparing new music or a cantata….even if it’s an easy program.  Have fun as you seek out Easter music!

Many church pianists have already been practicing for their church’s Christmas program.

In many cases, the church pianist IS the choir leader and has the task of deciding what to do for a Christmas program.

My son is our choir director. He works at least 50 hours a week and the father of three small children. Needless to say,  I help out by coming up with a simple program to fit our 40 minutes per week choir practice time. (this accounts for starting roughly two months in advance; which may vary from church to church depending on your choir’s ability)

My son and I have about a 40 minute commute to church so we’re very time conscious!

Our most-involved Christmas program back in 2011 was entitled “Christmas at Home” by Ron Hamilton. We used the “readers theatre” version due to limited time. The main actors were acting their first play ever. (Part Two sampler of our Christmas at Home)

In recent years, we have experienced a much more pleasant, relaxing time through having easier Christmas programs.

I have written two VERY easy Christmas programs…one of which is FREE HERE.  I’m still editing the second FREE Christmas program.

Now…ideas for enhancing your Christmas Program…

• Lyrics taken from cantata books make for great narration when coordinating a chronological list of songs together for a short choir concert. (That’s what we’re doing this year)

• Include congregation by having them sing a song in the program. ( the choir could sing a descant taken from a hymnal while the congregation sings the melody) Another neat idea…have Pastor lead congregation in  reciting Luke 2:14 at the appropriate time during the program. Very effective! (Tip: Include Luke 2:14 in the Christmas program bulletin)

• The congregation could also stand and sing a song following their verse (Luke 2:14) Song suggestions: Hark the Herald Angels Sing, Joy to the World (include lyrics in the program bulletin)

Easy Christmas Program Suggestion:

1. Several different adults recite the Christmas story(Luke 2:1-19) in microphone off stage while children in appropriate costume act out the narration.

2. Stage setup:  Only two scenes: Manger scene center stage, shepherd scene on left or right of manger scene. (props for shepherd scene not necessary).

3. Songs can be inserted appropriately throughout the narration.

4. Extra tip:Remind children that they must listen to what’s being read so they can act accordingly…to avoid appearing mechanical

Also a good idea to remind narrators to read with conviction! It brings the story to life!!

Hopefully this will help church pianists or choir leaders trying to find last-minute ideas for an easy Christmas program.

Please feel free to leave comments or ideas below.

A reminder: I do have over a dozen FREE piano and vocal Christmas arrangements available HERE.

Sharing a few links that may give you an idea as well (don’t fully endorse all the ideas at these links… but you can sift out what you like)

Possible lyrics for poems

Creative Church Idea Attic

I thoroughly enjoyed writing the accompaniment for my dad’s song entitled “My Mother”.

A mixed adult and children’s ensemble at our church are singing this on Mother’s Day.

My Mother

Sacred vocal solo or group special; unison. 3 & 1/2 pgs. *Price covers two or more copies. No audio included; pdf only

Price: $6.00

Some friends of ours just published their first sacred vocal CD this past summer entitled “His Name is Wonderful”.  I absolutely love it!

Thanks to Faith Music Missions for doing an outstanding  job on this CD! You can hear samples HERE (offsite link)

You may contact me at jenifer@thechurchpianist.com to order the CD. (I do have a limited number of these CDs for $12 each plus postage.)

I was suppose to accompany them for the recording but distance prevented me from doing so but their pianist, David Chamberlain, did a wonderful job!

Hunter and Morgan commuted to our church for at least four years while attending Bible college.  They served in several areas of ministry while there.

We miss them!  (Hunter was the inspiration behind the congregational booklets I’ve been publishing.)

Hunter now serves in a church located in New York City while Morgan is serving in a church out in Kansas.

Back to the CD…The songs are fresh! (some haven’t been published yet)

I plan to publish at least 6 out of the 10 from this  sacred vocal CD.  (“God Can” by Lynndale Hardeman) is already available in our online music store HERE.

Here is a sample of  one of their songs “His Name is Wonderful” written by Reece Yandle (my Dad 🙂

(Information for CD drawing is below the video)

To enter this sacred vocal cd giveaway: (a max of 2 comments per person…details below)

1.  First comment (like it, nice cd, etc.)

2.  Second comment: Share this article link on facebook, twitter, or other social media and leave a 2nd comment providing your social media link.

3.   Winner will be notified via email from jenifer@thechurchpianist.com

4.   Drawing ends on March 10th 2016 at 8pm EST

So glad to have finally finished this collection of Congregational Piano Hymn Arrangements! I always enjoy writing in an accompaniment fashion…much more can be played than the melody 🙂

I may have strayed more from melody in this second collection but not enough to lose your congregation 😉

Hope you enjoy this collection!  A special thanks to the John W. Peterson company for working with me to include “Heaven Came Down” which I REALLY had fun writing!

Congregational Piano Hymn Arrangements (Booklet Two)

10 Late intermediate to early advanced piano congregational arrangements. 37 pages Songs include: And Can it Be, At the Cross, Come Thou Fount, Heaven Came Down, Higher Ground, I Shall Know Him (My Saviour First of All), It's Just Like His Great Love, My Faith Has Found a Resting Place, Near the Cross, What a Friend We Have in Jesus) *Special note: The arrangements in this booklet do not support the four-part singing found in most hymnals. *Other suggested uses: vocal solos, violin specials, unison choir specials. **Another special note: These arrangements can not stand alone as piano solos since some of the melody is absent during the piano accompaniment.

Price: $16.00

I’m re-organizing my growing collection of music and am parting with some Christmas books I used when I worked with the children’s music ministry at various churches.

So…am posting the following Christmas music for sale on our “Used Music for Sale” page.

Also posting an intermediate piano solo Christmas book 🙂