The Church Pianist: O Store Gud (Part Two)

February 24th, 2010

Here is part two (the remainder) of O Store Gud in G Major.

It’s probably the shortest part two I’ve done in a while 🙂

This free arrangement is written with the beginning church pianist in mind.

A more advanced church pianist can add their own embellishments to this arrangement.

I  just wanted to provide this hymn in a lower key for church pianists having to accompany bass or alto vocal solos.

O Store Gud  (part two) of free piano arrangement

O Store Gud  (part one) of free piano arrangement

The Church Pianist: Free Arrangement of O Store Gud (part one)

February 22nd, 2010

I’m offering another free arrangement entitled “O-Store-Gud” to church pianists. This will be part one.

How many church pianists have needed to play O Store Gud in a lower key?  I have… plenty of times.  I usually play O Store Gud in G major when accompanying male solos. Altos also like this key.

This free arrangement (part one)  is written at a basic level; allowing the pianist freedom to add their own embellishments.  The arrangement contains chords not found in the hymnal version of “O-Store-Gud”.

Church pianists are always needing hymns in lower keys. Periodically, I will provide such arrangements.

Click here to download O Store Gud (part one)

Click here to download O Store Gud (part two)

 

The Church Pianist: Sacred Vocal Solo by Reece Yandle

February 21st, 2010

Just finished playing for a creation conference here this week. Due to limited time, I’m sharing a sacred vocal solo by my dad, Reece Yandle.   He wrote this song several years ago entitled “When I Looked Up to the Cross”.

The following songs  by Reece Yandle, have been published by Soundforth.  Each of these songs are included in a book of sacred solos and or duets.

Who Will Go? (with a mission emphasis)

By the Grace of God

Nevertheless, Thy Will be Done

I recently added another one of dad’s songs, “Cleft of the Rock” to the music store.

Now…on to dad’s video of the sacred vocal solo…”When I Looked Up to the Cross”

The Church Pianist: Piano Hymn Fill-ins…Part Three

February 16th, 2010

One of my church pianist readers recently posted the following question…

“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”?

 ~Stephanie~

I’ve been answering  her question with this series. Part One and Two of Piano Hymn Fill-ins, shared fill-in ideas for the end of verses leading into the chorus. Part three deals with fill-ins for the end of choruses leading into the next verse. The examples in part three are for choruses ending with a whole note.

Editor notes for part three piano hymn fill-ins…

 The fill-in for both examples are similar; making it easier for church pianists to learn and apply to other hymns ending in whole notes.

Piano Hymn Fill-ins Part Three

The Church Pianist: Piano Arrangement

February 10th, 2010

I enjoy playing medleys for offertory. The following arrangement entitled “Prayer Medley” contains two hymns that are very dear to my heart.

Link to piano arrangement: Prayer Medley

 

The Church Pianist: Piano Hymn Fill-ins…Part Two

February 6th, 2010

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

 

 

 

The Church Pianist: Piano Hymn Fill-ins (Part One)

February 2nd, 2010

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.

The Church Pianist: Free Audio of Jesus Loves Me

January 31st, 2010

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

The Church Pianist: Free Piano Hymn Arrangement

January 30th, 2010

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

The Church Pianist: Jesus Loves Me

January 27th, 2010

 JESUS LOVES ME Pictures, Images and Photos

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.