At this point in time, I’m the only pianist at our church who plays for the special music.  Looking forward to other pianists getting involved in this area as they become more comfortable with playing in the service.

Music can pile up REALLY fast without a place to call home.  For the past several months, I’ve been using a six pocket binder that has proved VERY helpful and thought I’d share it with my readers.

I know this particular binder may not work for everyone but works great for my needs 🙂  (Binders with more than six pockets can be found on Walmart’s site)

Here’s a picture of my binder from Walmart.

Before watching this video…when you hear me mention “floppy disk”…that’s what our digital piano uses to play recordings.

Please feel free to share your own organization ideas that work for you!

I know this one took me a while but I’m especially picky with vocal arrangements…trying to get them just so for publication.

I’ll probably want to tweak it here and there over time but there’s a time where an artist’s creation must come to a close.

This particular song reminds me that my God is always watching over me. I don’t need to feel discouraged or troubled because God is my constant Friend and He cares for me!

I also plan to publish this in a lower key if there’s a need.

His Eye is on the Sparrow

Sacred vocal solo, High voice--Key of C (7 pgs.) Price covers two copies. (*not a flute arrangement :)) Plan to make one though.

Price: $6.00

I have a friend test-driving “His Eye is on the Sparrow” vocal solo arrangement 🙂

Hope to publish this arrangement in the next week or two.

I know I’m slow but I try to focus on quality and not quantity as my husband kindly reminds me to do.

I just stumbled across this simple yet elegant; free piano arrangement when viewing my latest subscriptions of youtube videos.

Love to hear Suyun’s sacred piano videos on youtube 🙂  Thanks Suyun for making us aware of this free piano arrangement for Spirit of the Living God.

The free piano arrangement for Spirit of the Living God can be downloaded at Olive Huisman’s website. (you will find more free piano arrangements as well!)

A big thanks to Olive Huisman for sharing her piano arrangements for free!

Finished inputting “His Eye is on the Sparrow” (all 6 pages)

I would be to my parent’s house by now for Father’s Day weekend but truck in shop prevented the trip.

So…here I sit catching up on His Eye is on the Sparrow 🙂

This particular arrangement has a very full-sounding accompaniment style which means pretty advanced level.

Now for final editing stage.  Here’s a sample from the piano/vocal arrangement for His Eye is on the Sparrow...(I used a flute for the vocal score in the recording)

His Eye is on the Sparrow

Just to let my readers know I have entered a contest with my advanced piano arrangement of God Bless America.

The contest is hosted by Sheet Music Plus.  The name of the contest is ArrangeMe which involves legally arranging copyrighted songs from a select list.

I normally don’t enter music writing competitions but I’ve always wanted to write a piano arrangement for God Bless America.

The contest rules are:  Whoever brings in the most money in sales between June 8th through July 12th 2016….wins $300

No pressure!  🙂  Available for sale at Sheet Music Plus  (Not for sale on our site due to copyright limitations).

Mina Oglesby, author of many songs such as “We Have a Saviour” and “Rest Will Come in the Morning” is selling her ten remaining song book titles for $1 each plus shipping while supplies last. (Special closeout sale!)

Mina’s songbooks make the perfect resource for church pianists who play for vocal specials.  The arrangements in the books are simplified and perfect for the church pianist who can improvise.

Mina’s songbooks can be purchased on her website at www.minao.com

Congregational playing if done properly, takes ALOT of energy!

Ever feel totally wiped out after congregational playing? If so, you’re doing something right!  🙂

I’ve heard a couple of approaches to teaching exciting congregational playing…first is to play VERY loud the whole time with no room for emotion vs. play with a big sound but leave room for emotion.  Shelly Hamilton refers to this second method as “kneading” into the keys for music quality…you can “dig” into the keys for a big sound-just not banging…to allow room for emotion.  Shelly mentions playing with “back” weight.  After trying the above methods…I prefer the latter way….much more enjoyable; adds warmth…more meaningful way of playing and the congregation responds well to this method!

The church pianist is to provide support to the congregational singing. Play with gusto!  Give solid sounding introductions. Make it sound like you know what you’re doing! 🙂  *It may help to bracket off the section(s) you play for intros in your hymnal or other songbook… so you won’t get lost.

Energetic playing is contagious!  Your congregation will catch on real quick!

Video Example:

Super excited to announce the publication of my advanced piano solo arrangement of God Bless America!  I’ve always dreamed about being able to publish such an arrangement but copyright prevented that.

Thanks to SMP Press, aka Sheet Music Plus,  ( a site I also publish sheet music through) … now offers a chance for its publishers to arrange 1000’s of copyrighted songs through ArrangeMe with SMP Press.  I plan to use this platform of opportunity as time allows.

The advanced piano solo arrangement of God Bless America is only available through SMP Press at the following link:

Just sharing the Mother’s day song that my Dad, Reece Yandle, wrote many years ago.

The sheet music is available in our store at:  https://thechurchpianist.com/music-store/vocal/unison/

or….   

My Mother

Sacred vocal solo or group special; unison. 3 & 1/2 pgs. *Price covers two or more copies. No audio included; pdf only

Price: $6.00

My piano accompaniment isn’t an exact replica of the printed piano score but close enough.