Just to alert my beginner church pianists…I published two beginner sacred piano solos this week.
The titles: Near the Cross and No Not One. I wrote these pieces for my students. My younger students have really enjoyed playing No Not One. The older beginner students like Near the Cross.
Both pieces contain suggested fingering for the beginner to late beginner student.
One of my readers recently asked for ideas on left hand octave chord patterns. This is just one of many patterns possible!
I started with a fairly easy one and will share another pattern when able. Sorry for this quick-thrown-together video due to time restraints.
I’m preparing to help out my Mom after she has same day surgery on her knee. Much going on but I will try to at least share quick tips or such for at least the next month…then maybe the dust will settle by then ;).
I want to create a series of booklets on hymn improvising ideas for the church pianist.
The first booklet is going to deal with left hand patterns for devotional style hymns. (I’m working on it now)
The most challenging part for me is presenting everything in a well ordered approach.
I want to keep these books practical, short and concise. Each booklet will deal with one topic.
Another booklet will deal with right hand fill-ins and so on. Hopefully the church pianist can grasp the concept(s) from each booklet in order to make application on their own.
Each booklet will provide a sufficient amount of examples for ample reinforcement.
The booklets will be geared to the intermediate and beyond church pianist.
The church pianist will need to know their scales, chords and chord inversions. A prior knowledge of interval reading would also be helpful.
For the first booklet, the concepts and examples will be presented in the keys of C , F, and G Major for ease of application.
I’m considering naming the booklet series “Making Hymns Expressive”.
I loved writing this arrangement because I wrote how I felt like expressing it at the time. When I try to structure my pieces…it sometimes stifles my creativity.
But….structure is also good because it makes the piece more playable…without awkward leaps and such.
I have SO many favorite hymns and “There is a Fountain” is on that list!
I tried to depict an overflowing fountain in the beginning and ended with a different twist…still sounding as a fountain.
This piece is geared to the early to moderately advanced church pianist. The entire arrangement stays in the key of C but contains a lot of full chords.
They also have free sound samples and sheet music samples HERE
Special note: “Inspirational Treasures” shown on the left below, contains the song “Beneath the Cross” (excerpt in video) and makes a nice Easter special.
Are there other church pianists besides myself who work with instrumental or vocal groups for special music at your church?
Over the years I’ve developed some guidelines to help us use our time wisely. I know every church has its own level of abilities. That being said, you may need more or less practice than what’s suggested below.
We stick with unison or two part arrangements for our ladies’ and two to three parts for our men’s groups. You would be amazed at how nice unison can sound… especially if the pianist can make up for lack of harmony by using chord substitutions…creating a colorful; rich sound.
I try to allow for a total of six rehearsals when the arrangement is new to them. The group just stands around the piano for all but the last practice. (Details below) In addition, I email practice audios for those wanting additional practice. With the group providing surround sound around the piano…I’m able to listen to their blend, balance of parts, etc. and better coach them as they sing. Once the group becomes familiar with the words…say…maybe after the first three practices…I’ll ask them a question about the approaching sentences in the song (while they’re singing and I’m playing)… forcing them to think about what they are singing. I LOVE doing this, because you can hear the difference in their voice expression…making for very effective communication!
For example, I’ll use the hymn “Amazing Grace” since everyone knows it 🙂 While the group is singing the first sentence..”Amazing grace how sweet the sound…”
I’ll ask the following question for the upcoming sentence…”What did God’s grace do for you?!” They’ll answer in singing response “That saved a wretch like me!” 🙂 The results: A more meaningful delivery!
If it’s an arrangement they have done before…we may only have four practice sessions.
Our practice sessions are generally no more than 10 minutes.
General checklist for carrying out the group rehearsals:
Beginning of 1st practice (may need to cover at second practice too in case someone was missing at first practice), hand out practice schedule which includes the date and service for when they are singing.
Kindly tell the group that it will work best to attend all of the scheduled practices in order to be adequately prepared. Otherwise…they can wait until the next scheduled time. (Exception: missing one practice due to sickness or other unavoidable reason).
Make following suggestion: Arrange someone to watch your young kid(s) during these practices. (Our ladies are SO good about doing this)
Please remind them that each person is essential to the group as a whole. (Have them stand in the same order for each practice.) Each person gets accustomed to singing by the same person for each practice so it can throw a person off when they’re missing a team member.
The vocal ensemble will practice on stage around the pulpit during the final rehearsal for a sound check. (Arrange for sound person to be at this rehearsal so he or she can do the sound check.)
Our ultimate goal is to honor Christ by being adequately prepared. I Corinthians 14:40 “Let all things be done decently and in order.”*I usually have groups practice around the piano that I’m playing for a more up-close
Most of the above suggested guidelines will also apply to instrumental ensembles….depending on the age of your members.
Hopefully the information above has been an encouragement to other church pianists who work with vocal and/or instrumental ensembles.
*Next article: What details I work on with ensembles during these brief rehearsals
During choir practice yesterday afternoon…our choir was practicing “Faith is the Victory” in unison.
I noticed it was just SO awkward trying to grab all the melody notes…especially during the verse!
Each sentence of the verse starts on a fast note (eighth note) making it almost impossible to keep up with the melody. I thought, “The choir KNOWS the melody…why not delete the first word of each sentence to alleviate the awkwardness!?! (Exception: I’ll play the first word of the song to allow for secure entry) 🙂
My mind devised a plan to ease up my old moving hands 😉 Time to have some fun! Just stay within the vicinity of the melody and you won’t get AS lost 😉
Let the singers do the work!
The result: (Download the free pdf version of “Faith is the Victory” below)
