Every now and then I have a splurge of music ideas run through my head. Last week was one of those times.  The results: an early intermediate piano arrangement of “I Must Tell Jesus” and a new melody for an old hymn “A Passion for Souls”.  (Here’s a sample of the new tune)

A Passion for Souls

At the time of my overwhelming inspiration, I was in final editing stage on “Jesus Paid it All” ladies two-part arrangement, “Nearer My God to Thee” adding violin bow marks….thanks to help from one one of my violin friends… Abby Phillips AND an updated version of my advanced piano arrangement of “Abide With Me” written as I performed for the recent Composer’s Symposium.

Just so you know…silence doesn’t mean I’m not writing 🙂

Modulating between hymns during a prelude or other background music event can create a seamless presentation.

The absence of this art makes for a disjointed sound when going from hymn to hymn. (unless of course the songs are in the same key)  🙂

Ah….but just because the songs are in identical keys doesn’t mean the songs will always sound seamless without some type of transition. (another lesson!)

Every church pianist should try and learn the art of modulation to the best of his or her ability…in small bits at at time. For starters, learn to modulate between songs with same time signature as I have provided below.  (The modulations will feel/flow a little different in 3/4 time versus 4/4 time.)

Below is a free pdf showing how to modulate up a fifth using the chord formula: ii7 to V7 of the new key.  I’ve also shared a list of these two chords in the keys found on the free pdf of modulations.

Key of C

ii7 = D-F-A-C

 V7 = G-B-D-F

Key of G  *see visual of these 2 chords HERE

ii7=A-C-E-G

V7= D-F sharp-A-C

Key of D

ii7= E-G-B-D

V7= A-C sharp-E-G

Modulating up a Fifth Free PDF

One of my former piano students approached me at church a couple months ago and asked if I would write her an offertory arrangement of “I Must Tell Jesus”.

Well…I finally got around to it! 🙂  But what a surprise!  This arrangement just flowed out of my little brain this week and I quickly penned it to paper.   It’s not always that easy for me to arrange a hymn!

I tried to arrange this piano solo well within  her early intermediate level…hoping she could learn it soon.  Even though I’m an advanced pianist…I wouldn’t mind playing this for offertory.

I Must Tell Jesus

Early intermediate sacred piano solo, 2 pgs. Approx. length 1:24

Price: $3.00

So much music is racing through my little brain…can’t get it on paper fast enough!

Just had this one race through my mind this morning of “I Must Tell Jesus”.  I’m writing this for one of my former students who I’m conditioning for church pianist.

I Must Tell Jesus

Introduction 

Modulating during any type of prelude (church, funeral, wedding or other occasion)…creates a smooth transition between songs. Without a smooth transition between different keys, the music will sound interrupted or very abrupt.  The articles associated with this lesson and future lessons will deal with modulating to a higher key.  Modulating to a lower key can also be effective but such a topic belongs in a different set of lessons.

The modulation chord formula that works for most any key change uses the  ii7 to V7 chords of the new key.

(I personally like to use the V7 sus instead of a plain V7…but will will illustrate  at the appropriate time).

*Part two will provide a FREE pdf with several examples of modulating up a fifth. (C Major to G Major)

Keyboard visuals of the ii7 & V7 chords in the key of G Major are shown below. (The upcoming examples will cover C to G, G to D and F to C using this chord formula)

ii7 of G Major

V7 of G Major

Working on the examples now and hope to share this week!

Do modulation and transposition mean the same thing?  They ARE closely related but describe two different actions.

Modulation is the transition process (the key change itself)… that takes the pianist to the new key.

Transposition is playing a song in a different key than what’s written.

Next post will share a modulation chord that is commonly used for modulating from one key to another.

“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