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!
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:
You will enjoy this mission song…”Bring Their Faces into Focus” by James Cordell and arranged by Jenifer Cook.
The song begins with a Christian’s plea to God… seeking a vision for lost souls amongst the busyness of life and its distractions.
A reminder for Christians to focus on a world full of faces in need of the Saviour.
James shares the story behind this beautiful song…
“The last scene of Duey Whitfield’s missionary presentation showed an outline of the Unites States filled with faces of people. However, the faces were intentionally blurry.
Duey made the point that we so often pass people in our lives, but that they are a blur to us.
We do not take the time to focus on their faces and their need of Christ. Out of that thought, this song was born.”
James has dedicated this song to his friends, Duey and Melissa Whitfield, missionaries to the Spanish in the United States.
Sacred vocal solo, Medium voice, 4 pgs. Great mission song! *Price covers two copies. The following audio is a close enough representation of the piano score.
I’ve had many requests for this mission song after posting it on youtube a couple of years ago. We’re excited to be publishing James Cordell’s mission piece entitled “Bring Their Faces into Focus”. Look for this song to be published by noon (EST) tomorrow.
Publishing a Mother’s day song tonight! I wasn’t sure if I would have it ready in time…barely though!
A sampling of the first page is listed above.
My dad wrote this song years ago and now it will finally be available in print! The song is sung from an adult or kid’s perspective of their Mother and how she faithfully prays for their salvation and how thankful they are for their Mother’s love.
A mixed adult ensemble and children’s group from our church will be singing this on Mother’s day.
I’m excited to have my grandchildren singing for the first time in this special!
I will try to provide a video of our church group singing this arrangement asap.
My heart is full…had to share an experience that just happened today…
Just returned from playing for a funeral. It was the funeral of a former piano student’s grandmother.
The Lord’s presence was unmistakable! I played about a half hour prelude and it was as though God was moving my hands…you could have heard a pin drop….everyone else must have sensed God’s presence too. Nothing to do with me.
God’s presence was felt upon meeting Nathan’s warm and caring grandfather sitting by his wife’s casket prior to the service. You could tell he walked with God and God’s peace surrounded him and his sweet family. I would love to have known his wife. How he will miss her…married for 67 years. What a testimony!
I taught Nathan years ago when he was first learning piano. He took so well to the old hymns… which he enjoyed playing for his now deceased grandmother. He’s now in his second year of college. At the beginning of the service, Nathan came up and played one of my arrangements I taught him many years ago….”It is Well”. What I didn’t know until the end of the service..was that he played this very arrangement for his grandmother as she entered heaven’s gates.
Sorry…getting a little emotional as tears run down my face while typing.
All I can say is, “God…thank you for allowing me to have a small part in your training of young people for your service and for using my music as a balm for dying saints.” God is good!
I discreetly videoed Nathan while he played “It is Well”. You can tell he was giving all he could for his grandmother. But now…she was hearing Nathan from heaven above 🙂
