The group of church pianists visiting this site range from beginner to advanced level.

Part two of piano hymn fill-ins is designed for the church pianist who is looking for simple; practical fill-in ideas.  If you have not seen part one for piano fill-ins…follow this link  Piano Hymn Fill-ins…Part One  .

It would probably be easier to print the free pdf music handout at this time before viewing the remainder of this article.

Click here to print

Editor Notes for: Piano Hymn Fill-ins…Part Two

A reader recently asked me to share some fill-in ideas for long-held words; such as the end of a verse leading into the next verse.  I decided to start with the end of verses leading into the chorus.

The fill-ins on this sheet work well when the last word of the verse ends with a I chord and the chorus also begins on a I chord.  I tried to maintain the same fill-in idea for all four examples.

Are you lost?  Hmmm…learn your chords by number. (Another lesson…another day)   🙂

Back to the lesson…A IV chord acts as a nice bridge or (fill-in)  between long-held words.

Try today’s fill-in on the following hymns:

Lord I’m Coming Home

Is My Name Written There?

Trusting Jesus

God Leads Us Along

I Am Resolved

This mini-series resulted in one of my reader’s recent comments.

She asked some excellent questions! The comment reads….

 “I have trouble filling in the blank spaces in songs (for example, whole notes, or the end of a verse, leading into the next verse).

I have no idea what to play in those spots and sometimes, that creates an uncertainty for the congregation about when to start singing again. What can I play to help sort of “lead in”?   Thank you!”

~Stephanie~

 This mini-series is designed for the church pianist who plays from the hymnal but would like to learn simple fill-ins for long-held notes such as dotted half notes, whole notes or tied notes. (I’ll address the latter part of Stephanie’s question in another mini-series).

 For starters, let’s focus on fill-ins at the end of a verse leading into the chorus. Two factors determine what can be played for any fill-in:

1. Note duration (length of note at end of verse)
2. Chord progression from verse to chorus (see music below for more details).

 To keep things simple, I will show one fill-in idea using examples in easy keys.

A. Fill-in for chord progression: I to IV  ( view and print PDF Music Examples)

Challenge: Try same piano fill-in on the following hymns:

I Know Whom I Have Believed

What a Day That Will Be

Glory to His Name

 This is just one fill-in idea! There are many more 🙂  No need to overload your brain at this point 🙂

Part two of piano hymn fill-ins will include more fill-in ideas!

Thanks Stephanie for the questions! Hopefully this will help other church pianists needing to learn more fill-in ideas.

I meant to include this audio for the free piano arrangement of Jesus Loves Me. 

Audio of Jesus Loves Me

Free Pdf piano arrangement of Jesus Loves Me

Every church pianist can use a free piano hymn arrangement:)   “Jesus Loves Me”, although sung mostly by children, is still an excellent hymn to play for offertory sometime.

This arrangement is best suitable for the pianist attending a small church.

I hope you enjoy this simple, homespun offertory.

Click title below to get your free arrangement:

Piano  Hymn Arrangement of “Jesus Loves Me”

Post by Jenifer Cook

A hymn which has truly stood the test of time…Jesus Loves Me.

This hymn was born from a story read by the co-author…William Bradbury.

The story goes…

A young boy was dying and a dear friend read the boy this beautiful poem for comfort…

“Jesus loves me!  this I know, for the Bible tells me so. Little ones to him belong, they are weak but He is strong.

Jesus loves me! He who died Heaven’s gate to open wide; He will wash away my sin, let His little child come in.

Jesus loves me! He will stay close beside me all the way.; He’s prepared a home for me, and some day His face I’ll see.”

What comforting words!

William saw this poem as an excellent song for children. He wrote a melody for the poem and added the chorus as we all know…

“Yes, Jesus loves me! Yes Jesus loves me! Yes Jesus loves me! The Bible tells me so.”

This hymn has reached the hearts of  young and old alike.

The next article will provide a free piano arrangement of this well-loved hymn.

James Koerts and I attended the same church many years ago. I have always enjoyed his style of playing. 

He has an excellent website that offers resources to church musicians. You’ll find several free sacred piano arrangements as well!  My favorite arrangement is  For the Beauty of the Earth.

His latest piano tip article entitled, Tips for Playing Piano Preludes, emphasizes how the songs used in the prelude should be familiar to the congregation…so important! 

 Visit Jame’s website at koertsmusic.com

“The Lily of the Valley” is a nice, uplifting hymn. Several factors make this hymn a challenge for most church pianists.

The hymn is loaded with repeated notes and a very busy rhythm…(what I call….the “wordy” hymns).

You don’t want it to sound like you’re trying to chop down a tree 🙂

The church pianist needs to basically outline or (play) the main beats of the hymn. This particular hymn is in 4/4 time.   So…the pianist should at least play on the 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th beats…creating a steady, rhythmic  tempo for the congregation.

It’s not necessary for the pianist to play “every word” of the song when accompanying. Playing every word would limit the pianist’s ability to improvise. 

The more familiar the congregation is with a hymn…the less dependent they are on hearing the melody.  This allows the  pianist more  freedom to stray from the melody…making it much easier to maneuver through the accompaniment.

Editor notes for today’s free piano sample of “The Lily of the Valley”

Notice the left hand plays the main beats (1,2,3,4) and the right hand skip words here and there for ease of movement.

Measure #3 (beats 3 through 4)  the right hand plays notes within the chord frame being used… “sweeping upward”…for a livelier sound.

Measure #4 (beats 1 through 4) the left hand begins with a dotted rhythm for a peppy tone and drives through with octaves to maintain tempo while the congregation holds the word “soul”.

Measure #4 (beat 4) into Measure #5…the right hand moves into middle range of keyboard for variety in location.

Click here for free piano sample of “The Lily of the Valley”

Just to let you know… I’m compiling a list of free piano music that I’ve offered over time on this website or elsewhere.

There are vocal arrangements of different sorts and piano solos.

You can find this free music at the top of the page under the music store title.

Do you struggle when trying to play a choir arrangement  for the first time?

You’re not alone. I remember in my younger years…taking all the choir music home with me and learning the pieces real well.

Sighteading can benefit the church pianist in many ways!

The more you sightread…the easier it becomes to read music.

My piano teachers advised me to sightread music within my reading capablity. Why? So I would feel comfortable wading through a song that I had never seen before…which would increase my confidence. It worked! 

Always look at the following things in an arrangement before playing for the first time:

1. Time signature

2. Key signature

3. Tricky rhythms

4. Accidentals

5. Now…play the piece at a slow tempo; allowing your brain to compute what’s on the page 🙂

6. Try to look at the music as much as possible while playing…only looking down for awkward moves.

Try sightreading at least two songs a day well within your reading ability. Remember…it must be songs you’ve never played before.

The hymnal would be a good place to start for those at the intermediate level. (Example: Faber Lesson Book 3B)

I have been spending time adding a few things to my music store. Several audio samples have been added to existing arrangements.

The newest piano duo arrangement was just added today. It’s a piano duo of “Since I Have Been Redeemed”.

This arrangement is one of our church’s favorite offertories.  The piano duo is very lively and easy to learn in a short amount of time.

Sample audio of page one