Free Accompaniment Tip for Church Pianists
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.
Tags: accompaniment tip, church pianists, free accompaniment tip, no one ever cared for me like jesus
This is really pretty, Jenifer….love your arrangements! I will try and write a similar accompaniment for the chorus myself. Is it best to avoid melody notes altogether, and just use supporting chords, as you did for the verse?
Hi Shirley.. Thanks for your comments! Yes, I would use a similar style of accompaniment for the verse of No One Ever Cared. I usually plug in a few melody notes at the beginning of a sentence here and there like I did in the verse portion above. Leaving out the melody and using supporting chords as you well described it… allows the singer more freedom of interpretation. Appreciate your feedback 😉
So where can I find and purchase the complete rendition of this accompaniment style.
I only wrote an excerpt of this song for an example and do not have the full arrangement available.
I would like to publish a complete arrangement of it but will have to check and make sure it is public domain.
Thanks for you interest though.