February 28, 2024  Update:

I am working on a “FREEBIE” for “What a Friend We Have in Jesus”  congregational style.  (Not intended for piano solo since it’s accompaniment style) Download it HERE

Our church LOVES to sing What a Friend We Have in Jesus!  As I was playing for them to sing last night, I thought, “I could just download and capture that part of our service and use it as a teaching tool.

So…You’ll have to listen to the two clips below and notice the instructions embedded in the clips.   These fill-in tips are only meant to be suggestions.

I know each church pianist has their own version of fillers but I thought I’d share a couple for you all to grab by ear.  Of course not every church pianist plays by ear so….I can create up to several of these fillers in written form once I hear from you all.  Please leave your fill-in requests below in the comment section so I can start creating a few in print for you!  🙂

Ah!  I’m hearing you all now!  I will see what I can do about sharing some of these fill-ins for “What a Friend We Have in Jesus”

I’m assuming most of you play this song in F Major…..right?

I’m trying to find a clamp on piano lamp for our grand piano at church.

I’ve looked on Amazon’s site thus far. (I like having the option to plug it in.)

Any church pianist have a suggestion for a good performing piano lamp of this nature?

The only downside to clamp on lamps…they block my view of the song leader and sometimes the special depending where they are on stage.

Hope you all enjoy playing this arrangement of No One Understands Like Jesus.  It’s the first arrangement I’ve written since my Dad passed away in June of 2022.

I thought my heart would ache too much to write after Dad’s passing but God has given me more compassion over the old hymns of the faith because they mean so much more now!

This particular advanced sacred piano solo is geared to the advanced church pianist.  I’ve included four long runs for the right hand.  Tip:  Practice the runs S_L_O_W until they begin to flow and then slowly insert the run into its surrounding measures until you’ve mastered each run.

No One Understands Like Jesus

Advanced sacred piano solo in the key of C Major. Includes: two verses and two choruses arranged by Jenifer Cook. This is the first piano arrangement Jenifer has written since her Dad passed away in June 2022. Jenifer found comfort in her dear Savior during this difficult time as she passionately played "No One Understands Like Jesus! He's a Friend beyond compare!"

Price: $4.95

Just wanted to let you all know that I’m just about finished entering No One Understands Like Jesus into my Finale sheet maker.

Now comes the fine tuning such as adding dynamic and articulation marks.

I plan to publish this advanced sacred piano solo this month (July 2022).

Here’s an excerpt from the first page a (rough draft mode)

The entire piece has two verses and two choruses…at least 2 & 1/2 pages

Since my Dad’s passing…

I have had the song, “No One Understands Like Jesus” on my mind.

The words have brought great comfort to me.

 John W Peterson, one of my favorite hymn writers, wrote this beautiful hymn.

I have secured permission from the John W Peterson Company, to write and publish this arrangement.

At the moment, I’m on the last page of the hand written form.  Hope to publish the sheet music sometime in July.

My dad passed away peacefully on June 2nd with most of his immediate family present.

I wasn’t able to get there soon enough before Dad passed but I did get to talk face to face with him on my phone.

How I miss him but know he’s so much better off.   My Mom is doing well. God has brought much peace to our family.

Thank you all for your prayers and notes of encouragement.

Dad & Mom were a big part of my musical training without them even realizing it.  They always brought the hymns and songs to life by singing with such expression as though they were just speaking the words.  Dad always taught me to “feel” the music.

He would say “Singing is just elongated speech”.  How true that is!

Over the years the words to hymns have been such a balm to my soul.  Now…hymns have taken on a deeper meaning.

Mom and I were talking the other night on the phone…trying to come up with a playlist for tomorrow’s facebook event.

We decided to focus on hymns of heaven & comfort.  Mom reflectively said,  “You know…Dad sang more about heaven

recently than any other time.”

I will be playing live on Facebook tomorrow evening June 16, 2022… at 8pm EST.  Anyone on or off facebook can view the video at the following link:

https://www.facebook.com/thechurchpianist

You may have to scroll down to find me at the link above.

Click below for printable version of my playlist for tomorrow…in case you want to sing or play along.

Hymns of Heaven & Comfort Playlist

I’m almost finished with a tutorial showing how to add sixteenth note runs to hymns.  (For the late intermediate pianist and beyond)

This particular tutorial will deal with adding runs to congregational accompaniment.

There will be five pages of examples for this particular run in various keys, time signatures and different hymn excerpts.

Each example will not only show the run application but will also share a graceful way to work out of the run.

This Sixteenth Note Run tutorial will be available in my online store asap.

I’ll publish a brief you tube commercial before publication.

For adequate preparation on my part….What questions do you have about playing runs in hymns or what difficulties do you face when playing runs etc.?   Thanks in advance for any feedback!

About a year ago…I happened across this video of my two piano arrangement for “Showers of Blessing” on youtube.

This peppy two piano hymn arrangement is great for prelude, offertory or postlude.  I enjoy playing piano with others!

Thanks to Lisa and Andy for doing a good job on this two piano arrangement of “Showers of Blessing”. See link below for the sheet music.

Showers of Blessing

Advanced sacred two pianos, 5 pgs. *Price covers two copies

Price: $4.75

For those wanting more written examples… I’m sharing two more visuals of right hand runs using sixteenth notes.

Runs add a nice driving force to the music and creates energy if played correctly 🙂

Tip:

Emphasize the 1st note in each sixteenth note group for a more shapely sound.  Emphasizing every note can sound mechanical.

In my earlier days of being church pianist, I would often rush a run.  It’s so easy for our fingers to speed too much when viewing a sea of black notes  that need to occur in a brief moment!  I had to  make myself slowly practice the run and count the main beats as I conquered the sea of notes in front of me. In time the run sounded like it fit!  Just remember….not all runs mean “super fast!”

Click on the following title to download free pdf with two more examples of this right hand run:

 MORE RIGHT HAND RUNS

Do you want to add spice to your congregational playing  or playing for  the choir?

As promised…I will be sharing more right hand run examples tomorrow.

For those just stopping by….click on the following link to see the 1st examples of a right hand run using sixteenth notes.

Right Hand Run: Using Sixteenth Notes