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:
Note duration (length of note at end of verse)
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.
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.
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!
“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.
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)
One of my readers recently asked some excellent questions and thought I’d share them with some answers that may help other church pianists in similar situations.
Question #1
Just wondering how often/how long your groups practice each week….
Answer:
The following answers are not intended to be the best answers for all churches. People and their abilities vary from church to church.
So many of our choir members are involved in various ministries which limits their availabity to practice.
The majority of our choir does not read music but are willing to sing for God’s glory:)
Our large ensembles (consisting of 6 or more people) practice at least five times before singing.
The practice sessions are usually no more than ten minutes each. Therefore, we learn easy arrangements (no more than two parts).
Question #2
Do you and the other pianists’ pick the music or the singers?
Answer:
Once again, every church has a different situation. At our church, we have not had a steady song leader for a great length of time.
It seems as though God has called our church to prepare young men going into full-time Christian service:) We are located a little over an hour from Ambassador Baptist College. Over the past several years, some of the college men have commuted to our church to help out in the various ministries.
But in time, each of them have been called into full time Christian service elsewhere. It’s hard to see them go but thankful we could play a part in preparing them for what lies ahead in their life.
The pastor is glad to have me and the other pianist work up small and large ensembles for specials. The pianists generally help choose the small and large ensemble music. Ocasionally, one of the ensemble members will suggest a song and we will use it… if it works well with the entire group.
Question #3
Does your church have a choir?
Answer:
Yes. Our choir meets for practice once a week on Sunday nights from 5 – 5:30pm. Presently, our Pastor, with the help of another college student, helps lead the choir.
I will share a video of our men’s large ensemble to give you an idea of what we do.
