Just happened across a nice CD for church pianists while trying to find sheet music for Kenon Renfrow’s piano arrangement of “Fairest Lord Jesus”. The CD is called “I Will Praise Him“.

I’m not sure at this point if Kenon has sheet music for Fairest Lord Jesus but will find out asap. I heard this arrangement on Abiding Radio this morning while getting ready for church and just LOVED it!!  Ah…just found most of the arrangements to this CD on youtube!  Listen to Fairest Lord Jesus HERE 🙂

I bought Kenon’s CD entitled: “I Will Praise Him” which by the way is a beautiful sounding CD. I listened to sound samples HERE and discovered that Kenon’s site: Piano Music Now had the CD’s for a very reasonable price.

A great piano CD for any church pianist looking for fresh stylings to hymns.

So…I admit…I’m a church pianist in a rut! What to do?  Time to surround myself with different arrangers’ music….which means….sightread!

Do you have a collection of books that you use mainly for sightreading purposes? I do.  Most of the arrangements in these books are too long for our offertory time. I could shorten some of them but that’s not always the best option since the arrangement usually builds in intensity and I don’t want to interfere with a well-rounded presentation of an arrangement.

It seems like the longer offertories are a lot of times the more challenging ones. I NEED that extra challenge to keep my fingers limber.

Occasionally, I’ll play a longer arrangement because I REALLY like the arrangement and want to share it.

Have you heard of  Abiding Radio? I’m listening to it (online)… for musical inspiration 🙂

I’m curious….what do other church pianists or pianists in general do to get out of a rut?  Would love to hear your ideas!

For those of you who play early advanced level…this arrangement of Were You There is for you 🙂 (available HERE or below)

Special note: The early advanced arrangement of Were You There is not a part of the contest mentioned below.

For those of you who don’t know…I’ve entered  the 2017 Sacred Piano Music Contest hosted by SMPress (aka Sheet Music Plus).

I’ve  just submitted a VERY advanced version of “Were You There” and early advanced version of “He” to SMPress.

I’ve actually entered two categories this time.  1. Public domain hymn 2. Pre-approved Copyrighted Hymn

The selling period for the contest runs March 1st through April 11, 2017. The composer who generates the most profit during the selling period wins $300 per category and a badge is applied to their composer page giving them more credibility and exposure. See my SMPress composer page here. 

Those of you who can wait to purchase the VERY advanced “Were You There”  and/or “He”….during the contest selling period (March 1st through April 11th) can receive up to two free arrangements of your choice from our online music store *One free arrangement per song purchased. (Doesn’t include offsite arrangements)

All you need to do is…forward us the email receipt from Sheet Music Plus (SMPress) along with your free arrangement(s) request(s).  We will then email your free arrangement(s) the same day or the following morning.

Special note: I will provide the links to the competition arrangements once they are available.

Were You There? (Early advanced)

Early advanced sacred piano solo, 4 pgs. This intense arrangement paints a vivid picture of the death and resurrection of Christ. Your congregation will be greatly moved by this rendition of Were You There.

Price: $4.95

Many of you have asked about how to finger the runs and glissando in Then Sings My Soul piano arrangement.

Here’s a demo of the glissando on the last page of Then Sings My Soul.

Tip: I began the glissando with my 2nd finger…then immediately turned 2nd & 3rd finger under… and glazed across the keys…no need to batter your fingers with too much pressure 😉

I will give fingering tips soon for the runs in Then Sings My Soul.

Video Tip: If you pause and drag the timeline on video …you can watch in slow motion for a better look at the glissando.

For those of you who don’t know…I’m entering the sacred piano writing contest hosted by SMPress (aka “Sheet Music Plus“)

I’ll be entering two categories with REAL advanced arrangements:

1. Public Domain Category: “Were You There”

2. Copyrighted Hymn: “He”

Both of these arrangements will first be available on Sheet Music Plus… the duration of the contest selling period which is March 1st through April 11th, 2017.  After April 11th…it will also be available on our site.

Basically, whichever contestant sells the most copies of their arrangements during March 1st through April 11th …wins!

But wait! There’s a catch. You will see these arrangements on SMPress’ site as early as February 21st but please wait to purchase March 1st through April 11th… IF you don’t mind helping me win the contest. My website gains more exposure if I win.  Thanks to you and many others…I won first place last spring with  “God Bless America” arrangement… seen HERE.  (only available on Sheet Music Plus due to copyright laws).

Chance to receive two free piano arrangements from our music store! How?

For those of you can wait to purchase during the contest selling period of March 1st through April 11th…will  receive up to two free piano arrangements (if buying both songs). Just email your receipt of purchase from Sheet Music Plus to receive two free piano arrangements of your choice! Or…buy one of the contest songs and received one free piano arrangement of your choice from our music store 🙂

I will post the Sheet Music Plus link to both of these songs by February 28th 🙂

Special note: The early advanced version of “Were You There” (not being entered in contest) will be available on our site beginning February 21st.

Audio sample for “He”

Audio excerpt for “He”

Just published an early intermediate sacred piano arrangement of Day by Day.

I’ve had it written for a while but just got around to publishing it.

This particular piano arrangement was written for one of my students who plays offertories at her church.

She considers this one of her favorites. I’ll try to get video of her soon playing this arrangement.

Day by Day

Early intermediate sacred piano arrangement, 3 pgs.
You need to have the Audio Player Plugin installed to use this shortcode

Price: $2.75

Special note as of February 7, 2017… Thanks to all who voted for the best ending.  Ending #2 is the winner! 🙂

I need your help!  🙂  Which ending sounds best for “Were You There?”

I’ll be publishing this Easter advanced piano solo very soon but need to settle on which ending to use.

Thanks for your input!  I will be asking for input from my Facebook readers as well.

Please comment below!  Thank you 🙂

Ending Choice #1

Ending Choice #2

Just re-published “Then Sings My Soul” formerly known as “How Great Thou Art”.

I was asked by the music company that  owns the lyrics to the words of “How Great Thou Art” to rename this arrangement or otherwise pay royalties for the use of the phrase “How Great Thou Art”.

I personally don’t feel they can universally own the phrase “How Great Thou Art” but sincerely want to stay above board on this issue.  (It’s been and is still a very controversial issue with others besides myself).

The reason for my delay was trying to locate the original file to rename the arrangement.  I just found the file this morning while rummaging through old files that I had searched before numerous times.  (I was thinking the file had been lost a couple years ago when I accidentally deleted alot of my music files)

I’ve had MANY requests for this arrangement since taking it offline for awhile during the re-naming process.

Thanks for your interest!  I truly enjoy writing for you all!

Then Sings My Soul

Advanced sacred piano solo, 4 pgs. One of Jenifer's best sellers! See video below

Price: $5.00

The following excerpt was taken from my Easter arrangement “Were You There” (to be published sometime in Feb. 2017)

Many have asked how I play runs so fast and smooth.

My answer: fingering and body movement are important factors in creating a smooth and fast run.

Keep hands close to keys…wrist level with hands. Allow hands to follow shape of the note groups….turning thumb ahead of time to make smooth transition into next group of notes. (The thumb starts each group.) The body…waist up… should also follow the run….bend slightly at the waist to the right… and lean toward keys a little for full body support.

(Watch this video for demonstration of body support movement during similar runs) *Start about 1:10 on this video

Use fingering that follows the natural shape of the run…allowing for ease of movement throughout the run. ( suggested fingering for right hand run at measure 48… 1-2-3-5)

Notice the loose wrist and arm movement as I cross into each group. ( I prefer to play 4 groups of this run instead of 3 but trying to be reasonable 😉

The following video samples begin at measure 47  (first time…fast….second time…slow)

Fast Run

Slow Run

One of the many activities of a church pianist may include playing for weddings. I enjoy finding fresh new piano music that truly fits the occasion.

A couple of weeks ago while playing through  James Michael Stevens’ recently published collection entitled… “Dreams of Jewels”… I realized the songs would be perfect for a wedding! All of the pieces are lovely but I especially like “Opal Dreams” and “Aquamarine Dreams”. (I’ve always loved James’ style!)

“Dreams of Jewels” would make a nice piano collection for any church pianist needing prelude or reception music for a wedding.  The collection provides 15 pages of music.  James has other collections as well that would probably be very appropriate for a wedding.  His music can be found at the following link: SMPress

Samples of my favorite selections from “Dreams of Jewels”…

Opal Dreams

Aquamarine Dreams