Sacred Piano Book Review & Giveaway
I’m sure any church pianist would be happy to have the following sacred piano book in their collection. This Little Light of Mine contains early intermediate piano arrangements arranged by Susan Greene. (Soundforth is the publisher.) Although written with the student in mind…these arrangements apply to all ages.
The following excerpt from the arranger can be found in the book:
“In This Little Light of Mine, you will find familiar gospel songs that students can use to minister in church, recital, or informal settings. These arrangements were written for my students over the years in coordination with the concepts taught in their third and fourth level method books. Arranged in order from simplest to most difficult (followed by two duets), these pieces “grow” with the late-elementary to early-intermediate student…” ~~~~Susan Greene
Now I’ll share my personal description of This Little Light of Mine”. Two words come to mind…animated and well-structured. Seven of the nine arrangements are very lively! Most of the lively pieces do have a a slow verse, for a varied layout. Susan even included helpful fingering and pedal notations throughout the book. Another neat feature… a list of the concepts covered in each piece can be found in the back of the book.
My favorite pieces are “Tis So Sweet to Trust in Jesus” and “Countdown”. Hmmm…. I also like the two piano duets at the end of the book. “This Little Light of Mine” was really neat with all the scale activity. Ok, I like all of them!
Click on the following title to see sample pages from “This Little Light of Mine“.
Here’s a list of each song. Just click on each title to hear an audio sample.
‘Tis So Sweet to Trust in Jesus
Tell Me the Story of Jesus (duet)
Soundforth has agreed to give away one free book of “This Little Light of Mine”. Here’s how to enter for a chance to win this exciting sacred piano book:
Simply leave a comment on this article to enter your name once. To enter your name a second time: post a link to this specific article on your facebook,blog or twitter. Please leave a second comment on this article..showing you did so.
*This book giveaway is limited to within the US*
I will draw a name on March 20th (10pm EST)
Tags: church pianist, sacred piano book giveaway, soundforth, susan greene, this little light of mine
I have posted a link on my Blog, so this is my second entry. FYI, my blog is “…and of a sound mind” at http://andofasoundmind.blogspot.com. Thank you again for hosting this.
This looks like a delightful book! I’d love a copy to share with my students (especially the duets!). I’m always looking for fresh and inspiring arrangements 🙂
This book looks cool i would love a copy!
Thanks for posting the audio samples…I love the “sounds” of this book especially “Countdown!”. It would be great to own a copy :).
This is one of my favorite books to use with my students — so tuneful and accessible. I hope that Mrs. Greene will write another some day soon.
Love it! As a student and a teacher, I can see such potential in this book. Would be a great book to own!
–Karen Cordell
I posted a link on Facebook as my second entry! Keeping my fingers crossed….well, not really. It would be hard to practice piano with my fingers crossed. 🙂
–Karen Cordell
Thanks so much for posting the audio samples.
I really enjoyed listening to them.
I especially liked…
Tis so sweet to trust in Jesus.
This book would be a blessing for me to
use while playing for our Church.
I love this book and would love to have a copy of my own. My students use these arrangements for offertories and recital pieces. I am thankful that Soundforth publishes such wonderful books.
Looks like a great book for Shelley and/or Noah!
I posted a link to Facebook, so this is my second entry!
My teenage daughter is always looking for new books to use for offertories. What a blessing this one would be … not only for her to play, but for our church to hear!!! 🙂
Hi, it looks like my very first comment for my first entry in the drawing got lost in cyberspace, so here I am again. I wanted to say that I have been reading this blog for only a month or so, but I appreciate it very much. Your ministry here to the Body of Christ is wonderful. I am not a pianist, but as a pastor who leads music and oversees the church’s music program, I am interested in what you write here. I thank you for this blog and for this giveaway. My other comment indicates I posted the giveaway on my own blog for a second entry in the drawing. May God bless you.
I love your website! I am a piano teacher, so I find your information quite helpful. Thanks for sharing your gift with others. I am posting a link to your website on my personal Facebook page and my business Facebook page.
Thanks and Blessings!
My children are in a program where they do about two years of premusical and then they start numbering the years. They are in first and fourth year. I’m wondering if the duet parts are both the same level or would this work for us? Thank you for doing this work. I read your blog regularly. This is my first comment.
Hi Marie,
Before I answer your question….what piano book series are they using? (Faber, Bastien, etc)
Sounds like a wonderful book!
We are missionaries in a french speaking country. Their lessons are classical only in french. One of the reasons I found your blog was that I was trying to learn how to play for church. I have used several of your suggestions for congregational singing. My oldest can play out of a hymnal with practice, but she adds argegios in the left hand. The youngest is playing notes in both hands at the same time, reading quarter notes, playing C and G scales one octave. Thank you for your help.
Three pianists in one family…wow…what a blessing! Thanks for letting me know that this site has been helpful to you.
Sounds like your daughters are right behind you 🙂 This particular book would be very beneficial to you all.
Wow, this would be perfect for my daughter! The duet would be fun for both of us. I love Soundforth music!
I’m an organist for a small church and after a baby grand piano was donated for our church sanctuary I’ve been busy over the last year or so trying to build a library of “sacred piano” music . . . arrangements of familiar hymns and/or spirituals, like, “This Little Light of Mine,” . . . things that people will recognize and “hum along” with. Classical music of Bach is wonderful, but for a small congregation on Sunday morning it can be a bit highbrow and probably better reserved for Christmas and Easter.
We have several early to intermediate pianists in our small church and I believe this book would be tremendous blessing to them. The duets would be especially nice since they could play along with someone more advanced allowing them to provide, as a team, a beautiful offeratory piece. I believe this would be a real encouragement to them as they seek to develop their skills as they use their talents to serve the Lord.
I really like the rest of Soundforth’s music and think this would be a great addition to my piano book collection.
This book looks really interesting, and I would love to own it.
This book would be a great resource for me to use in church worship:)
Hello,
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