One of my church pianist readers recently asked if I knew of any nice intermediate level piano offertory books.

Try the following…

Lost in Wonder by Jim Lucas

Intermediate Collection #1 by Jenifer Cook (unavailable; store under construction)

Hymn Medleys by Phillip Keveren  (recommended by a friend)

A Sacred Collection by Ken Renfrow

Hymns with Style by Jerry Ray

Sacred Silhouettes by Dennis Alexander

I just thought I’d share a couple of sacred piano arrangement books with my church pianist readers that I use quite frequently.

Fairest Lord Jesus  by Dan Forrest (favorite arrangements: “Fairest Lord Jesus, Lead Me to Calvary and Hiding in Thee”)  *Intermediate

Have Thine Own Way Mary Ann Van Geldren (favorite arrangements: all of them!)   *Late intermediate

Draw Me Nearer by Faye Lopez  (favorite arrangements: all of them) *Advanced

As a church pianist, I’m always looking for new/old piano offertory books.  I will share more  offertory books with you soon!

Ever been nervous while playing an offertory?  I’ve never met a church pianist who hasn’t dealt with this issue. (including myself).

A question from one of my readers…

How do you address the issue of nerves with your students? I am completely comfortable playing congregationals, but as soon as it is time for the offertory my hands start shaking!

A music professor shared some sound advice with me several years ago, about my being nervous to play or sing at church.  I’m human too 🙂

He said, being nervous reflects on self.. thinking about how I will sound or look when I’m playing or singing in front of others.  Then he said what I didn’t want to hear….PRIDE.  I know…pride is a sin and therefore…well…

So true!  If you think about it…being nervous hinders us as church pianists from being effective communicators through music.

I still get nervous at times, but this wise man’s words have rung in my ears many times… as a gentle reminder to forget self and focus on the message of the song.  Ultimately, I should rely on God to help me convey His message of truth in song.

I also find it easier to play for congregational singing as opposed to playing for an offertory.  During the offering, the church pianist is more on display right?  🙂  Just forget about all those eyes watching you and focus on the message of the song. I like to sing along in my head as I play…which draws me into the song.  Just ask God to give you peace.

Either my parents or piano teacher once advised me to imagine myself just playing in my own livingroom when having to play in church.  I found this helped me to forget the audience and focus on what I was playing.

I will have to say that experience over time does wonders to ease the nerves.  I’ve been playing for church since about age eleven.  I’m ancient now!  Well…just 46.   But…long enough to have gained some experience.

God has a way of keeping me humble if I get too prideful 🙂

There is another side to being nervous.  Maybe the pianist hasn’t prepared enough and therefore he or she is nervous.  Valid reason! Or…it could simply be…the pianist has chosen a piece above his or her level.  If you can’t play it at home without struggling after sufficient practice…then don’t play it.  It’s better to play a simple piece well than to play a fancy piece poorly.

In closing, I’d like to  encourage all church pianists, including myself, to focus on pleasing God with our music and so much will just fall into place.

Thanks for your visits and comments!  I pray for you all as you seek to please the Lord with the talents He has blessed you with.

As promised, I’m offering a free hymn piano arrangement today for church pianists.  The title of the hymn is “Like a River Glorious”.

This free piano arrangement can be used for prelude, congregational singing or as an offertory.

As a church pianist, I would find this arrangement most suitable for congregational singing.

Like a River Glorious (free piano hymn arrangement)

To start with…I will show you a page of hymn arrangement samples containing scales.  Scales are used to embellish a melody or simply as a fill-in.  In the following examples…both functions are utlizied.

Editor notes for Scale Variations in Hymns

Count Your Blessings  (the opening scale is added as extra filler to  an introduction)

Jesus Loves Me (the scale creates a nice dress-up for the melody)

Let the Lower Lights Be Burning (this scale creates a nice filler on the syllable “more” and blends into the next two words “But to”)

Editor Notes for final page “Practical Scale Exercises”

When trying to master technical passages in hymn arrangements…I will isolate the passage and master it.  Sometimes I create or embellish upon the passage making it more fun to practice.  Hope the following scale exercises will stimulate other church pianist’s creativity.

Practical Scale Exercises

I plan to post part three of scales in hymns by the end of this week.

Some church pianists may not understand where to insert a scale in a hymn.

Scales can be placed in several different places in a hymn.  The upcoming article will show the church pianist how to add a scale to the very first measure of a hymn!

Looking forward to sharing the examples with you!

For the past several months, I have been training one of my students to be a church pianist.  Letha will get her first opportunity to play for congregational singing this Sunday.  (Our church has two pianos in the auditorium.)

I’m excited for her!  I thought I would share us practicing one of the congregational piano arrangements entitled “Higher Ground“.

Many of you may not be familar with my background of music and what music writers influenced my life. Today, I’ll share a video featuring a couple that greatly influenced my style of music through my high school years.

Ron and Shelly Hamilton is that couple.  Shelly’s parents, Frank and Flora Jean Garlock were also a great influence.  I’m so thankful for their godly example through the years and their faithful diligence in sharing the music God gave to them.

I came across a video today that presents the testimony of the Hamiltons.  Ron went through a great trial that God used to thrust him into the music production arena that has influenced the lives of many children, including mine.

God gave Ron a song from his valley experience entitled “O Rejoice in the Lord”.  What a blessing this song has been to me and many others!  I will also share a video of him singing this song after his testimony video below.

Now….to a touching story of God’s grace…

What could possibly be so important about learning to play scales?!

Part One: Benefits to learning scales

*Mobility

*Strength

*Key recognition

(for example…if you’ve been practicing the D major scale…you will remember this scale has two sharps. When you look in a hymnal and see a hymn with two sharps at the beginning… you’ll know it’s probably D major.  (could be B minor but we won’t go there right now.) The majority of the time..it will be D major.

*Structured fingering

*Prepares the hands for complete and partial scale passages in hymn arrangements.

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

Scales are more meaningful when played within a hymn arrangement.

Scales add life to a piece! Sometimes just a partial scale is used depending on what sounds best.

Learning my scales in the beginning stages of piano prepared me for different arrangements I have played through the years with technical passages. 

 In part two of the importance of scales…I will show examples of hymn arrangements containing scales and share ideas of how and where to apply scales in your own improvising.

Part three of the importance of scales will share various ways to play scales preparing the church pianist for real-life application.

 

How can the church pianist possibly benefit from playing scales?!

Do hymns even utilize scales?

In the next article… I will share why I think it’s important for every church pianist to master the scales.  While I’m at it…I’ll share ways to make scale playing more enjoyable.

Looking forward to this next article!