Just thought I’d share a sneak preview of the advanced piano solo I’m working on of “I’d Rather Have Jesus”.

Sorry for the delay in posting…our household has been down with the stomach bug.

Here is the excerpt of Isn’t the Love of Jesus Something Wonderful which I shared with my hymn playing student last week.  The left hand ideas resemble the improvisation I shared in the free piano prelude arrangement of “I Am Resolved”.

It’s always helpful to see the same ideas in several different keys and songs of like nature for ample reinforcement.

(Due to the copyright still active on this hymn…I could only share a portion as stated in the “fair use” copyright law.)

Having said that…if I could have shared more…I would have branched out the right hand an octave higher during the chorus to stretch my student’s playing ground.

Special note: When trying to apply the above left hand ideas… choose hymns of like nature (same time signature; similar rhythmic structure; peppy mood).

I’m working on an advanced sacred piano solo of “I’d  Rather Have Jesus”.

I just finished the first verse and chorus. (handwritten version)

Just came across a song I had forgotten about… entitled “My Hope is Jesus” by Ron Hamilton.

Ben Everson did a great job singing along with this wonderful choir!  A well written piece…words and music go hand in hand!

I think this song would make an excellent choir piece for Easter…or any time of year for that matter!

I lied!  😉  I said I would publish at least the verse of I Am Resolved tonight…wound up finishing the chorus too…but don’t think you’ll mind 😉

I’ve been working on fill-ins with my most advanced hymn playing student. She plays for chapel at school and has also begun to play for church when the main pianist (her mom) is out of town or sick.  She’s doing a great job but has such a zeal to advance her hymn playing.  Well….LOVE helping her with that!

Below is a result of her lesson this week 🙂

Click here for free piano arrangement of I Am Resolved

Working on “I Am Resolved” prelude arrangement for one of my hymnprovising students.  She was asking about different left hand fill-ins because of all the repeated bass notes so…I was just going to jot down a few ideas for her and wound up writing the whole verse!  Guess that means I need to write out the chorus too.

I’ll share the verse hopefully by this evening (once I enter it into Finale).

This particular student is needing to expand her right hand playground area. She has always played right hand in the middle area of the keyboard.  I’m gradually conditioning her to broaden the right hand playing area… as you’ll notice towards the end of the verse.

My student and I laughed as I observed her trying to improvise on her own…playing the right hand an octave higher.  The funny part was she had no idea what to do with her left hand at that point since she had all that extra space!  😉

She WILL improve as she broadens her horizon!  I look forward to working with her at this stage of her hymn playing and plan to share with you all… what we do each week.

Look forward to sharing the first part of a  free piano prelude arrangement soon!

Done! Finally!  I was extra picky with this collection and hope it’s useful to many church pianists.

I tried to create exciting accompaniments to enhance the congregational singing. Each arrangement contains an introduction as well as a couple verses/choruses worth of accompaniment.  Three of the arrangements even have key changes!

But relax 🙂  The arrangements are written in a lower key than the hymnal (at least two to three half steps lower). We have discovered that the congregation sings out even more when they can  sing in a reasonable key 😉

Congregational Piano Hymn Arrangements (Booklet One)

AUDIO SAMPLER: (product description below) *Downloadable product only

Price: $16.00

10 Late intermediate to early advanced piano congregational arrangements. (All Hail the Power, Are you Washed, Blessed Assurance, Does Jesus Care, Dwelling in Beulah Land, I Love to Tell the Story, Praise Him! Praise Him!, Rock of Ages, Sweet By and By, Sweet Hour of Prayer) 34 pages

The arrangements in this booklet are in lower keys; making it easier for the average congregation to sing. *Three of the arrangements have key changes!

Each arrangement contains an introduction and at least two verses & choruses…several of the hymns contain three verses worth of accompaniment.

*Special note: The arrangements in this booklet do not support the four-part singing found in most hymnals. *Other suggested uses: vocal solos, violin specials, unison choir specials. **Another special note: These arrangements can not stand alone as piano solos since some of the melody is absent during the piano accompaniment. *Complete audios not included with collections.

Just to let my readers know…

I just finished the first congregational pdf booklet this morning!  The collection contains ten piano congregational arrangements. Each arrangement has an introduction and at least two verses/choruses of accompaniment…some hymns contain three verses worth of accompaniment.

The arrangements do contain chord substitutions for extra zest so the piano accompaniment will not be suitable for four-part hymnal style singing.  (Just trying to target the small churches that generally sing unison).

Suggested uses of this collection other than congregational singing:  vocal solo specials, unison choir specials, violin solo specials. (lyrics in the score are included with each arrangement)

The playing level of the collection is late intermediate to early advanced. Can’t wait to get it online!

Sorry for the lack of posts.  We were out of town three times unexpectedly over the holidays and I’ve had the flu since last week.

Plan on posting as soon as I’m better.

Congratulations to Julia Swarner for winning a FREE copy of “I’d Rather Have Jesus” CD by Mary Lynn Van Gelderen.

Julia…I need your email address 🙂  Please email me at jenifer@thechurchpianist.com  Thanks!