Modulating between hymns during a prelude or other background music event can create a seamless presentation.
The absence of this art makes for a disjointed sound when going from hymn to hymn. (unless of course the songs are in the same key) 🙂
Ah….but just because the songs are in identical keys doesn’t mean the songs will always sound seamless without some type of transition. (another lesson!)
Every church pianist should try and learn the art of modulation to the best of his or her ability…in small bits at at time. For starters, learn to modulate between songs with same time signature as I have provided below. (The modulations will feel/flow a little different in 3/4 time versus 4/4 time.)
Below is a free pdf showing how to modulate up a fifth using the chord formula: ii7 to V7 of the new key. I’ve also shared a list of these two chords in the keys found on the free pdf of modulations.
One of my former piano students approached me at church a couple months ago and asked if I would write her an offertory arrangement of “I Must Tell Jesus”.
Well…I finally got around to it! 🙂 But what a surprise! This arrangement just flowed out of my little brain this week and I quickly penned it to paper. It’s not always that easy for me to arrange a hymn!
I tried to arrange this piano solo well within her early intermediate level…hoping she could learn it soon. Even though I’m an advanced pianist…I wouldn’t mind playing this for offertory.
Modulating during any type of prelude (church, funeral, wedding or other occasion)…creates a smooth transition between songs. Without a smooth transition between different keys, the music will sound interrupted or very abrupt. The articles associated with this lesson and future lessons will deal with modulating to a higher key. Modulating to a lower key can also be effective but such a topic belongs in a different set of lessons.
The modulation chord formula that works for most any key change uses the ii7 to V7 chords of the new key.
(I personally like to use the V7 sus instead of a plain V7…but will will illustrate at the appropriate time).
*Part two will provide a FREE pdf with several examples of modulating up a fifth. (C Major to G Major)
Keyboard visuals of the ii7 & V7 chords in the key of G Major are shown below. (The upcoming examples will cover C to G, G to D and F to C using this chord formula)
ii7 of G Major
V7 of G Major
Working on the examples now and hope to share this week!
This post is in reference to yesterday’s article about Ready-Made-Hymns.
How do you like this look? The “x” marks indicate original notes to help the church pianist see what note changes were made.
Is this beneficial to you? Feedback would be appreciated! Thanks for all the comments yesterday! Very helpful! 🙂
Just click on the following image to enlarge for easier viewing.
*Special note: THANKS for the feedback! After reading the comments here and on facebook….I will be putting these type of easy-to-play congregationals into print instead of by hand. I will do away with the original notes from the hymnbook and ONLY type in my (hopefully) easy-to-play congregational/piano solo arrangement. Thanks again for your helpful comments!
For the past couple of months…I’ve been creating “ready-made’ hymn arrangements for some of my church pianist students who are need of improvised hymns for congregational singing. (Can also be used as piano solo)
These hymn arrangements are nothing more than a copy of a hymn from the hymnal with my added improvised notes in red.
Just curious, would this meet the need for others as well? I’m considering adding them to our online music store if there’s enough interest.
The cost would be less than my regular “printed arrangements”.
Here’s a FREE copy of one of these ready-made hymn arrangements. (Also trying to decide what to call them….any suggestions?)
*Also…are you all ok with it being handwritten just as it appears in free arrangement below?
*Special note: THANKS for the feedback! After reading the comments here and on facebook….I will be putting these type of easy-to-play congregationals into print instead of by hand. I will do away with the original notes from the hymnbook and ONLY type in my (hopefully) easy-to-play congregational/piano solo arrangement. Thanks again for your helpful comments! I do have (more involved ) congregational piano arrangements for sale HERE.
I spent this evening writing an intermediate piano solo of “Nothing Between” for one of my piano students….Shelley Roberts.
Shelley is a junior this year and trying to teach her all I can before she reaches college age!
This particular arrangement, written for the piano student in mind, is more structured and straightforward. It’s nice to have pieces like this available for students who play offertories more often. Playing less involved offertories allows us time to focus on other repertoire during the lesson.
I do teach more involved arrangements but try to maintain a balance.
Hope this arrangement can be of use for piano students or church pianists needing an easy offertory!
Click on the following title for your free piano arrangement of “Nothing Between”.
More thots: I want to use this arrangement in an upcoming video dealing with interpretation…a VERY important factor…making for a more effective presentation.
Ever wondered what makes a grand piano sound better than most uprights? Robert Estrin with LivingPianoVideos does a wonderful job answering this question.
I’m in the market for a new piano and educating myself before making such a large investment. Here is what Robert has to say about the upright piano vs. a grand piano.