Enjoyed tweeking this free unison choir arrangement of “‘Tis So Sweet to Trust in Jesus”.I wrote it sometime ago  for one of our pianists to play for choir while I was out of town.

One improvising tip to take note of  (no pun intended)…is when I left out the melody here and there in the piano score.

Most of the time this occurred was when the melody note was an eighth note…making for a smoother form of playing for the church pianist. Skipping a quick melody note in the piano accompaniment is similar to the “understood you” in a sentence.  You know what’s implied even though you don’t hear it.  😉

I just played it straight through without repeats. (two verses and choruses)

Click on audio below to hear the entire free unison choir arrangement of “Tis So Sweet to Trust in Jesus”

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Click here to download: “Tis So Sweet to Trust in Jesus”

Tip:  This choir arrangement can also be used as a vocal solo.

 

 

Answers from previous quiz questions for Chord Substitutions:

Minor chords for IV are  ii and vi

Minor chords for V are  iii and vii

Key of C Major:  F chord is the IV chord….so…d minor is the ii chord and a minor is the vi chord.  The V chord is G….so….e minor is the iii chord and b minor is the vii chord.

Review from last lesson:  A Major chord lasting two or more beats can be substituted with a minor chord. Go up or down two chords from the Major chord to find its minor chord substitutions.

For example:  The  C Major chord can be substituted with an e minor or a minor chord.  (The melody note dictates which substitution will sound right).

This is only the beginning…there are SO many chord substitutions!  I’m just covering the basic choices.

New Lesson

Warning label to the church pianist:  Chord substitutions cannot be used for congregational singing IF the congregation is singing parts from hymnal.

Chord substitutions can be used for solo instrumentals or when accompanying vocalists or instrumentalists singing or playing the melody.

Reason for selective use:  chord substitutions do not support the written voice parts in a hymnal.

Our church has a small congregation that mainly sings melody with occasional tenor….giving me more freedom in congregational accompaniment.  Adding chord substitutions just brings what would be a plain hymn…to life!

If you’re a church pianist wanting a warmer sound to your playing…chord substitutions are the answer!  I use a lot of chord substitutions during invitation..creating a more reflective mood.  Our pastor likes background music during the entire invitation…allowing me more freedom to alter the melody and chords.

The following chord substitutions would be better understood if the church pianist had a basic understanding of being able to analyze chords within a hymn…hence….another lesson in the works 🙂

Until then…enjoy learning a couple chord substitutions for the following hymns.  

Layout explanation:  Three different hymn examples; each hymn is represented by an original line from the hymnal followed by an improvised version of that line. The I (CEG) chords are labeled as well as the substituted chord numbers. Each example is in C Major.  *Measures marked with a red square require future post to explain.

 

*Click on the following pages to download:

Page one: Chord Substitution Application

Page two: Chord Substitution Application

 

 

A reader recently requested a piano congregational arrangement for “Joy to the World”.  I had almost forgotten about having this arrangement.  I am forever writing music of some sort and it’s easy to forget what I have 🙂

This is a rather straightforward arrangement of “Joy to the World”…no frills but enough fill-ins to add zest to the congregational singing for this joyous hymn about Jesus’ birth.  Hope it’s a help to church pianists looking for congregational arrangements.

Click on song title below to download your free copy!

Joy to the World: piano congregational arrangement

 

Received a request from a church pianist  just yesterday for this piano solo arrangement of He Hideth My Soul.

This free piano arrangement can be used as a short offertory or prelude special.

I will provide this song in two different keys 🙂

 

He Hideth My Soul in D Flat Major

He Hideth My Soul in C Major

 

Most church pianists find it a challenge to dress-up hymns such as “O How I Love Jesus”.  This particular hymn mainly consists of only two different chords the I and V chords)… with an occasional ii chord.

So…how to be creative with a hymn containing minimal chord changes?  I’m glad you asked!  🙂

(I’m currently working on a congregational piano arrangement book for church pianists that need more than the hymnal to play from.)

“O How I Love Jesus” is one of the ones I’m working on now.  The complete arrangement will have two verses.  Click below to download the first verse of “O How I Love Jesus” FREE!

Hopefully, the following free congregational arrangement will spark some creative ideas of your own.

Oh-How-I-Love-Jesus-one-verse

*Special note: The congregational hymns in my book will be in lower keys than the regular hymnal…making the hymns more singer-friendly.

Playing for funerals is not the easiest task for a church pianist; especially if the deceased person was a close friend.  Over the past year, I’ve had to play at several funerals of people I knew very well.

God has given me the grace to make it through these funeral services. I like to play songs that comfort the family as well as myself.  I avoid too slow of a tempo on purpose…making it less of a sad tone and more bearable for the family.  Hymns with a medium tempo/mood such as Tis So Sweet to Trust in Jesus, He Hideth My Soul and Like a River Glorious are a few of what I call comforting tunes to play at such a time. Check out my piano funeral collection consisting of about 18 minutes playing time.

Several readers have emailed me lately asking for funeral tips.

Automatically I think of the prelude (music played before the funeral).  The length of the prelude can vary according to many factors.  For example, the last funeral I played for took place at a funeral home.  The family of the deceased person had many relatives that attended the viewing across the hall from the chapel.  The funeral home provided music over their intercom system during the viewing time.  We worked it out for me to start playing the prelude once the people started entering the chapel which was about twenty minutes prior to the service.

Playing for a funeral at a church can vary depending on if the viewing is held at the church or not.  At our church,  the sound man provides soft taped music in the background during the viewing and sometimes a little longer prior to the service;  to avoid having me play for an extended period of time.  The background music is just a collection of suitable recorded instrumental music from our church services.  I usually begin playing about 15 to 20 minutes before the service.

Unless you all do things differently,  the immediate family members start filing into the area of the funeral service right before time to start the service.  This is one of the most emotional times of the funeral.  I make sure I continue providing music during this difficult time to avoid an awkward time of silence. I finish playing when I see the last member of the family being seated or when the pastor looks at me and steps up to the pulpit to let me know he’s ready…whichever comes first.

Once again, at the end of the service, I begin playing when the family begins to exit and continue until the majority of the crowd disperses.

Some pianists have asked me where to expect the soloist(s) to sing.  Depending on the order of service, the special music can be placed just about anywhere. Here are  the different places I’ve seen vocal specials during a service:  at the beginning after family members are seated, after an initial welcome and remarks from pastor, after pastor’s message, after a prayer, for the conclusion of the service (especially if it was a favorite song of the deceased person).

Playing for a funeral service is the church pianist’s opportunity to minister to  both family and friends during a difficult time through God’s gift of music.

 

“Christ Arose” is a very well-known hymn that most churches only use around Easter.  We use this beautiful hymn periodically throughout the year as a reminder of Christ’s glorious resurrection.

Robert Lowry, a well-known hymn composer/preacher, wrote “Christ Arose”

Click on song title below to download your free congregational arrangement:

Christ Arose in B Flat

Christ Arose in A Flat (lower)

 

 

 

I have been grabbing my rare spare moments….trying to finish the “funeral collection” for church pianists!

I hope to complete it by no later than mid-March.  All the arrangements except for one have been entered in Finale.  Now the finishing touches begin such as: key changes between each song; dynamics,visible lyrics for each song to help the church pianist focus on the message of each song. Each arrangement in the funeral collection can also stand alone as an offertory.

Each piece is written in (hopefully) a simplistic yet artistic style…making it easier for the average pianist to prepare with minimal practice.  Most of the songs are in easy keys such as: C, F and G Major with the exception of at least two in the key of E flat Major.

The funeral collection will consist of at least fifteen minutes playing time.

Looking forward to publishing this collection soon!

Just thought I’d let you all know what’s going on in my little corner of the world 🙂

I’m trying to complete the funeral collection I’ve talked about for the past 5 or so months.  The collection is almost finished!  The hymns in this funeral collection are songs of comfort..played from the heart.

We have had so many funerals this past year at our church and so these songs have been soothing to me during the arranging process.

Song list so far for this funeral collection:

Rock of Ages,  Amazing Grace, Trusting Jesus Medley, Saviour Like a Shepherd Lead Us…(this amounts to about 8 minutes of playing thus far).  I hope to add a couple more.

Writing has come slow for me lately but it’s flowing more now 🙂  I hope the flow continues!

I just finished the hand-written  organ accompaniment for my recent free congregational arrangement of “Amazing Grace”.  Hope to publish it for FREE by this weekend.    I even created an audio of the piano and organ part including the vocal score…turned out real nice!  Looking forward to sharing all of this soon!

Until then…may God bless you all as you seek to honor Him in your music ministry.

I love to sing “Amazing Grace”! It reminds me of when I accepted Christ as my Saviour at the age of 29.

A quick tip for church pianists on how to enrich congregational singing…

1. Start in a lower key. The congregation sings out better in lower keys…especially if you have a congregation like ours that mainly sings melody.

2.  Modulate up a half or whole step higher on the final verse.

In the following video…we started in E flat major and ended in F Major.

The church pianist CAN add zest to congregational singing! Learn to play a hymn in different keys for added enrichment.

I will attempt to write out Amazing Grace  in a user-friendly version for congregational piano accompaniment within the next two weeks and share for FREE! (transposed verse will be included)

Click here for this FREE arrangement of Amazing Grace 🙂