Just wanted to announce to my readers that the piano funeral collection is now available in the music store.

In the near future, the songs will also be sold separately.

Hear audio excerpts from several of the hymns below:

Rock of Ages & Like a River

Amazing Grace & Saviour Like a Shepherd

Funeral Collection

Early advanced to advanced sacred piano solo collection. Song list: Amazing Grace, Saviour Like a Shepherd, Trusting Jesus Medley, Does Jesus Care, Rock of Ages, Like a River, He Hideth My Soul, Sweet by and by Medley, Wonderful Peace. *Key changes and song order included for the benefit of church pianists using this as a funeral prelude or offertory medleys. *Approximately 18 minutes playing time. *These songs will also be sold separately in the near future.

Price: $16.00

I have been grabbing my rare spare moments….trying to finish the “funeral collection” for church pianists!

I hope to complete it by no later than mid-March.  All the arrangements except for one have been entered in Finale.  Now the finishing touches begin such as: key changes between each song; dynamics,visible lyrics for each song to help the church pianist focus on the message of each song. Each arrangement in the funeral collection can also stand alone as an offertory.

Each piece is written in (hopefully) a simplistic yet artistic style…making it easier for the average pianist to prepare with minimal practice.  Most of the songs are in easy keys such as: C, F and G Major with the exception of at least two in the key of E flat Major.

The funeral collection will consist of at least fifteen minutes playing time.

Looking forward to publishing this collection soon!

Using the hymnal for specials can be done but does take some planning.  Why?  The songs in the hymnal were written for four different voice parts that rely on each other to create a complete harmonic sound.  Omitting any of the parts can result in unbalanced harmony, with the exception of the melody which can stand alone.  Most hymnals do contain some ready-made duets or trios but are usually mentioned in the topical index if available.

Say I was wanting to use “Day by Day” for a female vocal duet.  The alto would lack a close harmony part  because the tenor contains the closer harmony for the first two lines…then the bass takes on the closer harmony for a bit before returning it to the tenor for the last line of the song. (see hymnal excerpt below). Notice how the alto basically sings a B flat for the majority of the first line.  Not a problem…IF the other voice parts are singing; creating a more shapely harmonic structure.

Now, for the fun part!  In order to create a more pleasing harmony the following alterations would work nicely:  I simply kept the parts in 3rds as much as possible for a closer harmony.  You’ll notice the soprano (top note) began with harmony and flowed back to melody near the middle and then back to harmony toward the end.  This type of part swapping created an easier note transition for sopranos and altos.

*See clickable link at bottom of this article

Click here to download “Day by Day”

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 🙂

The wide note range of O Holy Night makes for a challenging vocal solo!

B Flat Major seems to be a comfortable; reasonable key when singing “O Holy Night”.  Therefore, I will provide a FREE copy of O Holy Night in this key.

Keep in mind…I’ve already shared this arrangement on my free Christmas music page in the key of A flat major.  I simply transposed the same arrangement to B flat major.  The key of B flat major works great  for a male solo or duet.   Sopranos like this key too because the high notes are easier to reach.

See video below of a male vocal duet I recently played for…using the key of B flat major for O Holy Night.  Special note:  I used a different arrangement 🙂

**Click on link below video to get your FREE copy of O Holy Night in the key of B Flat Major.

Click here to download FREE copy of O Holy Night in the key of B Flat Major

I just published an early advanced Christmas piano solo of “The First Noel” in the key of C Major.  This arrangement, containing two verses, would be easy to learn for the average church pianist.

The First Noel

Early advanced Christmas piano solo, 4 pgs. Approx. 1:57 min.

Price: $3.50

I thoroughly enjoyed creating this advanced Christmas piano solo of “What Child is This”.

The style of this piece was greatly influenced by my exposure to Spanish classical music…especially in verse one…right hand broken arpeggios with left hand melody.  Enrique Granados was my favorite Spanish classical composer.

To be honest…I had a difficult time trying to figure out HOW to communicate the correct rhythm for the run in measure #35.  I know how it’s suppose to sound..but it’s another story trying to get that across to everyone else.  The run (in print)… played back the right way in my music program (Finale).

Hopefully…the following video of “What Child is This”… SHOULD be helpful.  I did include a few tips at the end of the video for the right hand run in measure #35.

I just posted another new late elementary piano arrangement of “Gesu Bambino“.   This Christmas piano solo was written for one of my very industrious late beginner students several years ago and I just discovered it in my pile of files 🙂

My student really enjoyed playing this piece because of the flowing texture.

Gesu Bambino

Late elementary Christmas piano solo, 2 & 3\4 pgs. Approx. length: 1:17

Price: $3.00