As church pianists, we could use some inexpensive, creative
ideas for offertories, right?

Did you know you can use a piano arrangement written for
a vocalist to accompany say…a violin or flute solo?

Or…use a piano accompaniment written for one of these instru-
ments to accompany a vocalist.

Not too long ago…I shared a free vocal arrangement of
“Haven of Rest”. One of my church pianist readers used it
to accompany her sister, who plays violin.

It turned out so nice that I decided to share this offertory
idea with you… with their video. Links to music included below the video.

Haven of Rest part one
Haven of Rest part two
Haven of Rest part three

Some hymns can be tricky for the church pianist when accompanying congregational singing. One such hymn is “Christ the Lord is Risen Today”.  This hymn has a busy rhythm!  Trying to play every note or word will cause a sluggish tempo or overworked tone.  

The remedy…don’t play every note/word.  The church pianist’s main concern is to play/outline the main beats of whatever time signature is represented. “Christ the Lord is Risen Today” is written in 4/4 time.  Therefore…play on beats one, two, three and four (no in between beats are necessary).  Adding a few in between beats here and there does add spice to the music though.

Since hymns sung during congregational singing are usually familar…I will stray from the melody here and there to add spice; encouraging the audience to sing with even more fervency!  Simply lose yourself in the meaning of the words to bring out creativity you didn’t think existed!  I’m always exhausted after playing for congregational singing…feels like I’ve run a marathon:)

To help   your creativity…I’ll provide an excerpt from the congregational arrangement of “Christ the Lord is Risen Today”.

Editor notes for today’s excerpt: I transferred alot of the  action to my left hand; where it was easier to add eighth note stepping octaves for spice. Occasionally I added sixteenth or grace notes to the right hand to keep it alive.(The full arrangement contains these  right hand additions.)

The complete congregational arrangement of “Christ the Lord is Risen Today” is available in the music store. 

Special Discount offer on this arrangement through the end of March.

Easter is just around the corner and church pianists are looking for Easter arrangements or already practicing one. I thought I’d post my free piano arrangement of “My Saviour’s Love”. 

“My Saviour’s Love”  Early advanced piano solo

I know many church pianists already use chord substitutions but some  of you may not be sure what chords fit where.

Today, I was trying to show one of my hymnplaying students several chord substitutions for the last line of “Just As I Am”.  We were short on time…so I had her video me playing the chord substitutions so I could just email it to her.  The thought occured to me…maybe others could benefit from this very brief video demonstration of chord substitutions.

You may have to pause here and there to get a glimpse of  the chord substitutions. 

Editor notes for today’s quick video…

Scenario:  When the same chord lasts for an entire measure…it’s time to try a chord substitution for a more interesting sound.

For example…the last line  of “Just As I Am”…

“And that Thou bidst me…”  uses a C chord

Chord substitution used:  G minor 7th to a C 7

Next few words…

“…come to Thee O…”  uses a F chord

Chord substitutions used: F , d minor, G7

Next words…

“…Lamb of God, I come!”  uses a C to G chord

Chord substitutions:  a minor 7 on “God”  d minor 7  for  “come”

Church pianists can revolutionize the sound of their  hymnplaying just by adding chord substitutions!

Now…for a quickie video, demonstrating these chord substitutions… 

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

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)

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 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

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.

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