The Church Pianist: Classical Music Benefits Church Pianists?
Classical Music….a help or hindrance to the church pianist?
A good question!
The answer is “Yes”…..classical music greatly benefits the church pianist!
How?
Advantages of being exposed to classical music:
*Conditions the ear for well-structured melodies and rhythm.
*Strengthens the fingers
*Demands a need for structured fingering which carries over into proper fingering for hymn arrangements.
*Introduces the pianist to scales and other rhythmic patterns in music that can be incorporated into the
hymns as well.
*Last but not least….classical music demands disciplinein the areas of technique and interpretation for the
best results.
Although classical music is vital to all pianists, the church pianist needs a balance of both: classical and hymn training.
I’m thankful for the teachers God provided for me in my early years of training.
I learned alot of improvising by just listening to the different teachers over the years. They also taught me ‘one on one’ how
to add runs and fill-ins. Most importantly, they taught me the theory to back up their training.
Tags: church pianist, classical music, improvising, pianist
Which classical pieces or collections do you recommend? I am currently ,a little pass, halfway through John Thompson’s Modern Course for Piano fourth grade.
Here’s what I would use:
Bastien:
Piano Literature (Volume 3)
This book covers all the classical music periods (styles)in one book.
There’s also a Volume Four in this series.
Stephen Heller is another excellent classical composer.
His music is lively and gives the fingers a workout!
The secret is exposing yourself to a wide variety of classical music to glean ideas.
Hope this has been helpful!
Thanks!