“The Sands of Time are Sinking” dates back to the 19th century.  Anne Cousin, the daughter of a doctor and later the wife of a Pastor, wrote this hymn based on letters and deathbed sayings of another Pastor name Samuel Rutherford. The original hymn had nineteen verses! Anne was careful to not copy Samuel’s words verbatim.  She  used poetic images of her own to replace some of Samuel’s sayings.

Anne’s purpose of this hymn was to show the “beautiful Christian reflection on death and what comes after, and on the beauty of the Savior.” Kevin White

What a beautiful hymn to use for a funeral service.  Someone in the recent past asked if I knew of a piano arrangement for this song.  My online search yielded no results. The individual needed the song pronto…so in a few spare minutes….I jotted this arrangement down and provided the person with the following hymn.

Maybe other church pianists can make use of this free hymn for a funeral service or general worship.

Click song title to download free arrangement: The Sands of Time are Sinking

Thanks for the feedback on how to present Easy-2-Play Congregational Hymns!

How about this look for Easy-2-Play Congregational Hymns?

This post is in reference to yesterday’s article about Ready-Made-Hymns.

How do you like this look? The “x” marks indicate original notes to help the church pianist see what note changes were made.

Is this beneficial to you? Feedback would be appreciated! Thanks for all the comments yesterday!  Very helpful!  🙂

Just click on the following image to enlarge for easier viewing.

*Special note: THANKS for the feedback! After reading the comments here and on facebook….I will be putting these type of easy-to-play congregationals into print instead of by hand. I will do away with the original notes from the hymnbook and ONLY type in my (hopefully) easy-to-play congregational/piano solo arrangement. Thanks again for your helpful comments!

For the past couple of months…I’ve been creating “ready-made’ hymn arrangements for some of my church pianist students who are need of improvised hymns for congregational singing. (Can also be used as piano solo)

These hymn arrangements are nothing more than a copy of a hymn from the hymnal with my added improvised notes in red.

Just curious, would this meet the need for others as well? I’m considering adding them to our online music store if there’s enough interest.

The cost would be less than my regular “printed arrangements”.

Here’s a FREE copy of one of these ready-made hymn arrangements. (Also trying to decide what to call them….any suggestions?)

*Also…are you all ok with it being handwritten just as it appears in free arrangement below?  

*Special note: THANKS for the feedback! After reading the comments here and on facebook….I will be putting these type of easy-to-play congregationals into print instead of by hand. I will do away with the original notes from the hymnbook and ONLY type in my (hopefully) easy-to-play congregational/piano solo arrangement. Thanks again for your helpful comments!  I do have (more involved ) congregational piano arrangements for sale HERE.

Ready-Made Hymns for the Church Pianist

Thoroughly enjoyed my week at the Composer’s Symposium in Atlanta!

Here’s a video clip of my Master Class piece with excellent critique!  And…I didn’t even get ambushed by Robert Sterling!  Woo-hoo!  😉  (inside joke)

Please excuse the raw video…lacking my video editor on laptop.

Judging panel from left to right:

Robert Sterling, Marty Parks, Brad Hix, John Parker and Joseph Martin

Just arrived in Atlanta today for the annual Composer’s Symposium.

I’ve learned SO much already!

The afternoon sessions were given by well known writers: Joseph Martin, John Parker and Lloyd Larson followed by an open forum by all the writers…including James  Barnard, music editor for Growing in Grace curriculum.

Just pray my sore throat doesn’t continue which just started today.  I recently got over an infection and hope it’s not coming back.

Lord-willing I plan to attend the rest of the symposium which lasts through Thursday evening.

SO much to share with you all soon!

Photo by Jackie Cook

Sorry for the low profile lately. I’ve been recouping from being sick since returning from vacation a week and half ago.

My daughter-in-law requested a violin solo arrangement of Nearer My God to Thee. I finally finished tweaking it! 😉

I enjoyed weaving the melody back and forth from piano to violin. Nearer My God to Thee is a very comforting hymn; making if a nice solo piece for any occasion but especially a funeral.

Nearer My God to Thee

Sacred violin solo w/ piano accompaniment; 4 pgs. *Price covers two copies. A nice solo piece for any occasion. The beautiful melody of this hymn flows gently back and forth between the piano and violin. *Bowing & slur marks included for violin.

Price: $4.50

This thought has been on my mind lately, due to things I’ve seen via internet that is disturbing.

As musicians, we must be SO careful to draw ALL attention to God with our music…something I pray I always do!

The world’s pull is VERY strong and so easy to give way to its pressure but trying to stay far above reproach because I will answer to a holy  God for my actions.

Praying for God’s wisdom and discernment as I seek to Honor Him and Him alone.

Music is my passion and appreciate all of your encouraging notes about my arrangements…it’s what keeps me writing 🙂

Your forever thankful church pianist,

Jenifer

Finally! My first time to play for the Bridal processional without having to condense off the top of my head!

The Bridal entrance and then the introduction of the couple followed by recessional… are what I consider the highlights of a wedding ceremony.

Both of these highlights are so short lived…making it a challenge for the pianist or organist who usually have to condense or shorten the music selection.

One of my dear friends just got married this past Saturday and wanted Canon in D as the Bridal song.  I tinkered around with an intro and also tried making Canon in D sound regal instead of laid back.  Of course the idea for an intro didn’t hit me until a few hours before the wedding rehearsal.  I am so use to playing the traditional version…so I had to write out the condensed version.

This particular arrangement was meant for the Bride only….so it’s shorter than most wedding selections.

*Tip: I like to taper off (play gradually softer) when the bride gets closer to the front of the auditorium.

Canon in D (Bridal Procession Only)

Piano arrangement; Bridal processional only. Approx. 40 seconds. One page. Ever had trouble condensing the traditional Bridal March? Look no more! This short and to the point selection fits the occasion! A nice trumpet fanfare for the piano introduction...makes for an exciting grand entrance.

Price: $1.75

What a nice surprise! Just returned home from a short vacation to find I won the 2017 Sacred piano arrangement(public domain hymn) contest with SMPress! (Actually I first found out by a text from my dad yesterday… congratulating me) 😉

Thanks to all my readers who purchased my very advanced arrangement of “Were You There”… during the contest selling period! 🙂

The prize money will help towards me  attending the annual Composer’s Symposium in Atlanta, Ga. this summer.   It will be my first time to attend and looking forward to learning alot!