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 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 have always loved the Christmas carol entitled, “What Child is This”.  The music and words seem to go hand in hand…making for an unforgettable hymn.

Here’s Letha, my student that passed away this past spring…playing my arrangement of “What Child is This”.  She played it at one of our local nursing homes last December.

This particular arrangement is now owned by Lorenz Corporation. who recently bought out Soundforth.

Nothing but the Blood of Jesus…a hymn with a great message and simple chording.  I decided to spice up this hymn by adding different chords and came up with the elementary level piano arrangement below.

My student, Noah, really enjoyed playing this arrangement of Nothing but the Blood of Jesus for offertory.  Of course I had fun making up a second piano part to accompany him.  I hope to publish the teacher’s part for “free” when I get a chance to write it out.

An arpeggio is a broken chord.  I like to use fast arpeggios in my hymn arrangements.  So…how do I determine where to place a fast broken arpeggio?  Anywhere a word can be stretched (broadened) or held if you were singing the hymn.

One of my free piano hymn arrangements entitled “What a Friend We Have in Jesus” contains a fast arpeggio on the second page. (Shown below)

This fast arpeggio consists of 12 notes.  If you look closely, you’ll notice that I played 3 groups of one-octave arpeggios within the 12 note passage.  Each group has four notes beginning and ending with note “G”.

I’m basically using a g minor one-octave arpeggio made up of the notes: G-Bflat-D-G

How to finger this? Use right hand thumb (of course) to start each group.  For each group use the following fingering:  1 2 3 5

To properly blend this run into the arrangement…emphasize the right thumb at the beginning of the first group only; allowing the hand to relax and glide across the fast arpeggios in an even rhythmic flow.  How to do this?  Practice s-l-o-w  🙂

Careful not to play SO fast that it sounds “thrown in” …causing an interruption in the flow of thought.

Slow Motion Demo

 Now…for the complete arrangement at regular tempo…

One of my church pianist readers recently asked me for some help on measures 29  and 30 of the free piano arrangement for “The Old Rugged Cross”.

In measure #29…The right hand has to reposition on the second beat in order to compensate for the upcoming busy movement.  I created a quickie video demonstrating a suggested fingering to make this area feel more comfortable to the hand.

Feel free to ask for any guidance or tips on this piece or any other arrangements I’ve written.

Several months ago, I offered a free piano solo arrangement of “The Old Rugged Cross”; written in loving memory of one of my students who has gone home  to heaven.

This free piano solo arrangement of The Old Rugged Cross can be downloaded at the following link:   More Free Hymn Arrangements!

Here is a video of me playing the arrangement:

Church pianists find it an extra challenge when accompanying vocalists singing wordy hymns.  Hymns such as: In the Garden,  Wonderful Peace, Fill My Cup Lord,God Leads Us Along and No One Ever Cared for Me Like Jesus.

These wordy hymns are most effective when sung or played  in a more conversational tone to avoid a mechanical reading style often heard in young ones when they are first learning to read. How to achieve a more conversational sound?

In 4/4 time…beats one and three are naturally stressed.  Emphasizing these particular beats results in a more shapely tone…making the message flow in a more conversational tone.

Listen to the two accompaniment style excerpts in the video below to determine which style sounds more conversational.

“No One Ever Cared for Me Like Jesus”

*Editor notes:

Accompaniment pattern #1: I basically played every word of the song.

Accompaniment style #2: I used quarter note chords here and there to break up the  repeated eighth note patterns..allowing the singer more ebb and flow of rhythm.

Click here to download FREE PDF excerpt of “No One Ever Cared for Me Like Jesus” for accompaniment style #2.

Special note:  I sang the excerpt(s) in A Major on the video (due to my vocal range but the free pdf is a half step higher in B flat Major.

I would have loved to share the entire song…but this particular hymn is copyrighted.  The “fair use” law allows me to share a small portion of a copyrighted song for educational purposes only.

A descant to melody is like a cherry on top of an ice cream sundae.  Simply…an extra added touch to compliment the main course.

Hymn tune descants are counter-melodies, generally at a higher pitch than the main melody.

~     ~     ~    From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

(I think of a descant as a melody within a melody).

The descant is most effective when used only on the final verse of a hymn…creating an exciting climax!  Usually a soprano or several sopranos sing the descant.  If you don’t have the voices to support the descant, a solo instrument such as a flute or trumpet can play the descant part. Sometimes the piano can carry the descant part as well.

What’s really neat is when the whole choir sings a descant part on the final verse of a congregational hymn.

The  video below contains a violin solo accompanied by the piano.  Listen for the piano playing a descant part on the first and second chorus.

Free printable descant links below: 

(the following links may contain music not in accordance with this site but still includes appropriate music for worship)

Magnolia Arts Sheet Music

Jeff Whitmill Descants

One of my students, Hannah Myers, has just published her first sacred piano arrangement of “Be Thou My Vision”. (late intermediate level)  Hannah will be a freshman in junior high  this fall.

She has had some wonderful piano teachers.  I only started teaching her this past school year.  God has richly blessed her!

Below, is a video of Hannah playing her arrangement of “Be Thou My Vision”.

You can view a sample page and purchase this arrangement by clicking on the following title:

Be Thou My Vision