Just thought I’d share an incident that happened last night at church…

I’m surprised my church hasn’t fired me from being one of their pianists!   😉
I’m SO forgetful! ….like playing the wrong song intro for choir opener….and then my son, David, (who happens to be the choir director) looks at me with a big smirky smile and says for all to hear….”that’s the choir special.”
“Oh yeah…” I say.

Oh well…at least we could laugh about it… (including the whole congregation)   🙂

                            Anybody else have a similar experience?

Downloadable Link Below

I was going to share a free sampling of left hand improvising ideas for Revive Us Again but I wound up writing a full verse and chorus of this challenging hymn.  It’s not a hard hymn to play but difficult to dress up for congregational singing.

The first line of the hymn is basically the same chord!  Most church pianists realize that they have to adhere to the chord structure in the hymnal when playing for congregational singing IF their congregation sings parts…to prevent chord clashes.  I can’t help but add chord substitutions on this hymn!  Our congregation doesn’t sing parts so I can have fun!  🙂

I’m sharing several improvising ideas for Revive Us Again (congregational style).  I tried to liven up the 1st line of music by creating broken chord tones and alternating bass notes within the same chord. A broken chord tone pattern already exists in the hymnal version but offered a little different one and added a little more variety than the hymnal version.

Revive-Us-Again-congregational-or-prelude

In my opinion, “Saved, Saved!” is one of the most awkward hymns to play for the church pianist.

It pays to have large hands for this song! Lots of octave spreads!  But…there IS an art to playing repetitive octaves in a relaxed touch…making it easier on the hand.  (I learned this art by playing classical music with lots of octave action!)

Classical music helps to develop SO many technical moves which can aid the church pianist in hymn playing. (another post!)

To be honest…I  leave out a lot of melody on this particular hymn when accompanying the congregation…freeing up the hand  to provide more of a  supportive accompaniment and to prevent awkward hand movements.

I didn’t stray too far from the melody in this version to prevent church pianists from getting disoriented. (Hee hee) Want a challenge? I’ll have to share the FUN version another time.

I will share a couple of tips via video soon for the following free pdf of “Saved, Saved!” (congregational accompaniment: verse excerpt)

Click here to download “Saved, Saved!” congregational accompaniment excerpt

Who wants the FUN version sampler?  (VERY advanced)

I know…not all church pianists have big hands like Rachmaninoff!  With that in mind…I created alternative fill-ins for the runs in The Love of God advanced piano solo that I just published a couple days ago.

I hope these alternative fill-ins will be more user-friendly for those with small hands.  The whole piece is really written for a pianist with large hands but maybe those of you with smaller hands can adapt this arrangement with these alternative fill-ins.

  “Diminish” (verb) to make smaller vs. “Augment” (verb) to make larger

A diminished chord is a minor chord with a lowered 5th

Example:  C Eb Gb   Or expressed as: C°

Suggested role of the diminished chord: creates suspense

An augmented chord is a major chord with a raised 5th

Example:  C E G#    Or expressed as:  C+

Suggested role of the augmented chord: generates amazement; surprise; anticipation

The diminished or augmented chord is not found within the scale. The pianist must alter the notes of a chord to create either one of these chords.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Visual examples of the d diminished in the key of C Major

d diminished = D F A flat

*diminished 7ths are more common; create fuller sound

d diminished 7th = D F A flat C

The symbol ° after the chord letter name… represents diminished chord

The / separates the diminished chord from the bass note (the slash is used when the bass note is NOT the root note of the diminished chord.)

Special note:  Yes, I should have included a “slash” indicating the “C” as the bass note for the last example on the word “leads”.  Hope you caught it!  🙂

 I will share augmented examples in the next article asap!

These diminished chord examples are just a tip of the iceberg! 

This lesson does not contain a thorough list of diminished chord possibilities  within a key/scale.

Just wanted to share a couple of spontaneous prelude transitions that I created today for one of my hymn playing students during their lesson.

She’s wanting more help in the area of prelude transitions…and needed to see examples for transition ideas.

Hope they’re a help to other church pianists too!

Prelude Transition tips:

When creating a prelude transition consider the following:

1.  The time signature you’re coming from and going to

2.  The key signature you’re coming from and going to

3.  Mood of approaching song

4.  Add a ritard toward end of first song before the transition to allow breathing space for the player and listeners.

What are diminished and augmented chords?  Where can I use them? The first article on diminished and augmented chords will answer these questions.

The other post I’m creating deals with tips for choosing vocal solos for the male voice.  I enjoy the challenge of looking for solos that fit a certain person’s vocal range/ability.  Singing a song that fits the singer’s range allows for a more positive experience for the soloist as well as the listeners 😉

It’s our responsibility as Christians to be as effective as we can to carry God’s message through whatever means possible and that includes singing.

Looking forward to sharing more soon!

News for my church pianist readers: I’ve been creating video recordings of The Piano Invitation Collection and publishing them on my youtube channel.

I don’t know about other church pianists…but I find myself in the role of “encourager” many times!  I love to get our young people involved in the music ministry.  In order to fully utilize them, I find or write music with their level in mind; prodding them along…equipping them for the ministry.

It’s a rewarding experience.  Any other church pianist having similar experiences?

Down From His Glory requires ALOT of ad lib from the church pianist when accompanying someone to sing this hymn.

I could not help but add runs during the chorus due to the frequent held words. The fingering for the runs is included 🙂

I plan to create an audio of the piano accompaniment as time allows.

Click here to download “Down From His Glory” in E Flat Major

Click here to download “Down From His Glory” in F