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

“The Lily of the Valley” is a nice, uplifting hymn. Several factors make this hymn a challenge for most church pianists.

The hymn is loaded with repeated notes and a very busy rhythm…(what I call….the “wordy” hymns).

You don’t want it to sound like you’re trying to chop down a tree 🙂

The church pianist needs to basically outline or (play) the main beats of the hymn. This particular hymn is in 4/4 time.   So…the pianist should at least play on the 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th beats…creating a steady, rhythmic  tempo for the congregation.

It’s not necessary for the pianist to play “every word” of the song when accompanying. Playing every word would limit the pianist’s ability to improvise. 

The more familiar the congregation is with a hymn…the less dependent they are on hearing the melody.  This allows the  pianist more  freedom to stray from the melody…making it much easier to maneuver through the accompaniment.

Editor notes for today’s free piano sample of “The Lily of the Valley”

Notice the left hand plays the main beats (1,2,3,4) and the right hand skip words here and there for ease of movement.

Measure #3 (beats 3 through 4)  the right hand plays notes within the chord frame being used… “sweeping upward”…for a livelier sound.

Measure #4 (beats 1 through 4) the left hand begins with a dotted rhythm for a peppy tone and drives through with octaves to maintain tempo while the congregation holds the word “soul”.

Measure #4 (beat 4) into Measure #5…the right hand moves into middle range of keyboard for variety in location.

Click here for free piano sample of “The Lily of the Valley”

One of my readers recently asked some excellent questions and thought I’d share them with some answers that may help other church pianists in similar situations.

Question #1

Just wondering how often/how long your groups practice each week….

Answer:

The following answers are not intended to be the best answers for all churches. People and their abilities vary from church to church.

So many of our choir members are involved in various ministries which limits their availabity to practice.

The majority of our choir does not read music but are willing to sing for God’s glory:)  

Our large ensembles (consisting of 6 or more people) practice at least five times before singing.

The practice sessions are usually no more than ten minutes each. Therefore, we learn easy arrangements (no more than two parts). 

Question #2

Do you and the other pianists’ pick the music or the singers?

Answer:

Once again, every church has a different situation. At our church, we have not had a steady song leader for a great length of time.

It seems as though God has called our church to prepare young men going into full-time Christian service:)   We are located a little over an hour from Ambassador Baptist College. Over the past several years, some of the college men have commuted to our church to help out in the various ministries.

 But in time, each of them have been called into full time Christian service elsewhere. It’s hard to see them go but thankful we could play a part in preparing them for what lies ahead in their life.

The pastor is glad to have me and the other pianist work up small and large ensembles for specials.   The pianists generally help choose the small and large ensemble music. Ocasionally, one of the ensemble members will suggest a song and we will use it… if it works well with the entire group.

Question #3

Does your church have a choir?  

Answer:

Yes.  Our choir meets for practice once a week on Sunday nights from 5 – 5:30pm.  Presently, our Pastor, with the help of  another college student, helps lead the choir. 

I will share a video of our men’s large ensemble to give you an idea of what we do.

O Holy Night has a wide note range! As a church pianist, I usually have to lower this song for vocalists.

Maybe you can use  this simple piano arrangement as either a piano solo or vocal accompaniment.

This is part one of O Holy Night.

O_ Holy_ Night_ in _A_ Flat

O Holy Night Part Two

Do any of you church pianists compose? If so, you will
find the following links very beneficial.

As a composer myself, I found the following two part article
very interesting…an interview with the composer…Kevin Costley.

The web address of the interview host is:
http://www.composecreate.com/wendys-piano-studio

Interview links:
http://www.composecreate.com/archives/1784 Part One

http://www.composecreate.com/ Part Two

Are you a church pianist needing to know how to improvise hymns?

Do you play straight from the hymnal…as written?

Would you like to know how to make your playing sound fuller?

If so, this lesson is for you.

I plan on posting Part Two of My First Hymn Improvising Lesson next week.

The article will include a video demonstration of ths lesson.

A free downloadable arrangement of the improvised hymn will also be available.

Please let other piano friends know that may benefit from this lesson.

Part One of this lesson can be found at:

https://thechurchpianist.com/improvise/the-church-pianist-part-one-my-first-improvising-piano-lesson/

Appreciate all your visits and comments!

Just thought I’d share an easy tip with you all this evening.

Just click on this youtube link to hear a tip for church pianists:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ax0YbeKa9f0

I’m just sharing an excellent website for church pianists!

The name of the website is sacredsheetmusic.com

I love this site!  You can download music in pdf format

for a modest price.  My favorite feature is the play button

on the top of the pdf sample page. I always like to ‘hear’ an

arrangement before purchase.

You can also find vocal and other instrumental arrangements!

Here’s the link to the piano duet I’m getting ready to purchase.

http://sacredsheetmusic.com/shop/catalog/images/V-P000093E.pdf

It’s an excellent offertory for me and one of my piano students.

Oh, if you are a song writer or arranger, you can also submit your

music to this website but please read the guidelines before doing so.

  Homepage link:

http://sacredsheetmusic.com/shop/catalog/index.php

Hope you enjoy the resources on this website!

As a church pianist, you all know that the invitation
is a crucial time. It’s a time when many make life-
changing decisions.

Sometimes the pastor has me play while he’s talking
during the invitation.

I try to convey a reflective yet urgent mood as pastor
encourages people to come forward as God leads.

Here is an audio sample of how I might play the background
music for the invitation:

http://www.box.net/shared/ov0upsoc7g