A lot has been going on since about March.  All is well but just a lot of major events that are now settling down 🙂

One of the major events is we will be fostering a child around the age of 11 or 12 this summer.  A lot of prep goes into this!  🙂

We’re excited about giving a kid a chance in life.  It’s the least we can do to reach out while we’re still young enough to do so.

I’m hoping to have a little more wiggle room this summer to create more posts here on my website.

I’ve been writing arrangements for my piano students as of late and also working on an advanced piano arrangement of “God Will Take Care of You’.

Next Thursday, I’ll be hosting a fundraiser event for one of my piano friends on facebook live…

May 20th at 8pm EST. I’ll be playing comforting hymns for the Meister family. Please join me in supporting this family through prayers and other help if God lays it on your heart.

Event link:  https://www.facebook.com/thechurchpianist

I’ll be playing live on facebook March 18th, 2021 at 8pm EST

You won’t need an account to view this event.  Just click on the link below… around 7:55pm that evening to give yourself time to find me.

Once you’re on my facebook page….you may have to scroll down the page to see live video of  me or the piano in my livingroom. You’ll see the same view as the picture below.

Event Link:  My Church Pianist Facebook Page

I’m sharing the rest of “The Call for Reapers” as promised last weekend.

Tips for the complete arrangement:

1. For those who don’t like playing sharp keys…just easily transpose to E flat major. The notes are the same….just think three flats instead of four sharps!
2. Try applying the accompaniment pattern of the chorus to hymns of like nature and chordal structure such as:
3. Measures 25 – 27 would go well for the words “softly and tenderly Jesus is” for the hymn “Softly and Tenderly.”
4. Read the note at the bottom of the sheet music that you’re about to download…

Click here to download the chorus of “The Call for Reapers”

Part One can be found by clicking this line… “The Call for Reapers”

Part One:  The Call for Reapers 

This past Sunday I had to play in E Major (four sharps) for a male vocal solo and survived! He was singing “The Call for Reapers” out of the hymnal. The hymnal version was in the key of A flat major.

In his first practice I discovered E Major was the most suitable  key for his baritone range.  I decided I would brave the sea of black notes and make it work!

Usually I would have had the vocalist go to another nearby key that I could reasonable transpose to.

As I’ve mentioned before….E major is NOT my most comfortable key to play in.  Some of my readers are sharp key lovers but I’m quite the opposite!

A simple sketch of  “The Call for Reapers” was all I needed to keep me on track.  It worked wonders!  I was able to follow the piece fairly easy. The gentleman sang two verses and choruses but I just wrote out one verse and chorus as more of a guide.

Most hymns in the church hymnal don’t go beyond three sharps or five flats.  That explains why I don’t feel as comfy beyond the hymnal key range.

Maybe there are other church pianists who could benefit from this  simple sketched out arrangement of “The Call for Reapers”.

This particular hymn makes a great choice for Mission’s Conference or other mission related meeting.

I’m sharing the verse in this post and will publish the chorus by hopefully next weekend.

Click on following title to download your FREE copy of the verse

Part Two (chorus) by next weekend.  (March 8 – 10, 2021)

The Call for Reapers

“Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus”…an excellent reminder to focus on Jesus as we travel through this earthly life.

As I grow older…the words to these old hymns become even more meaningful.

Here’s a homespun hymn arrangement of “Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus.”   I just played from my heart and tried to replicate via paper 😉

I especially love the last verse:

“His Word shall not fail you_HE PROMISED 🙂

Believe Him and all will be well.

Then go to a world that is dying, His perfect salvation to tell!

This arrangement is VERY advanced due to at least a half dozen runs…measure #42 contains a run I’ve never used or seen before…but it just seemed to fit.

I will admit it’s the hardest run for me to play in this arrangement.  But…with practice it can happen 🙂

Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus

Advanced sacred piano solo, 4 pgs. A majestic entrance to this arrangement opens up to the chorus and then goes into a verse with a final chorus. At least a half dozen runs are included in this exciting arrangement!

Price: $4.00

I just finished the final copy of “Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus”.

This is a very advanced piano hymn arrangement with at least a half dozen runs sprinkled throughout the piece.

To be honest, I didn’t think this arrangement was worthy of publication.  Why? Sometimes I feel like my homespun arrangements aren’t that interesting.   But this is the style I like to play….just straight from my heart.

My piano friend, Meryt Wilson encouraged me to publish this piece.

Maybe there are other church pianists that could make use of this homespun arrangement.

I’ll be creating the video today and hope to publish it by no later than the end of this week.

Headed to meet up with one of my piano friends, Meryt Wilson!  We try to meet at least once a year to trade ideas and just have fun playing the piano or pianos together!  I’ll try to share the highlights of our meeting asap!

I’m almost finished with a very advanced arrangement of “Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus!”

Meryt will test drive the piece for me today before final publication.

Be in touch soon!

Right after the service this past Sunday night…I noticed my oldest grandson sitting on the front pew with an open hymnal in his lap wearing a perplexed expression.

“Whatcha doing?” I asked.   He points to the hymn title “Doxology” and says to me with a concerned look, “Grandma, this is a weird word and it’s not even one of the words in this hymn!”

Trying not to show my amusement, I explained to him what the word “Doxology” meant and how not all hymn titles are found in the lyrics but how the title will in most cases reflect the main topic of the hymn.

Across the page I noticed the hymn title “Security” and asked him what he thought that hymn was about.  He wrinkled up his face in thought and replied, “Security has to do with policemen.”    I explained it was about feeling secure in God’s arms; God’s protection.

My grandson has had such a fascination with our church hymnal since he was very young.  (He’s now almost nine and hasn’t lost interest in the hymns.)

He actually learned to read by singing through the hymns he knew from the hymnal on their 40 minute commute to church!

On Sunday afternoons, you can usually find him singing through the hymnal as his repertoire has greatly increased!

I LOVE the hymns too!  Sometimes I join in and sing along with him on Sunday afternoons.

My advanced sacred piano solo of “The Lord’s Prayer” is now available through Sheet Music Plus.

This particular arrangement took two weeks to create.  I always like to allow breathing space when creating the more advanced pieces…always chiseling away…trying to smooth the rough edges.

As a church pianist, I always played the vocal accompaniment for someone to sing but never as a piano solo.

I’ve never come across this particular song as a piano solo. How about you?  I’m sure there’s piano solo arrangements out there for “The Lord’s Prayer” but I haven’t seen one at the advanced level.

I tried to stay true to the flow of the melody score even though I stretched it out a bit with tuplet time.  The tempo  should be brisk to avoid dragging out the melody.  I tried to maintain a clear melody path while meandering through many twists and turns.  😉

I thought The Lord’s Prayer was in the public domain. I searched out the title before creating the arrangement.  Somewhere along the way I discovered that this certain melody of the Lord’s Prayer was still under copyright.  Fortunately I was able to publish it through Sheet Music Plus.  Yay!!!

Click here to buy the Lord’s Prayer (off site product) This link will take you to Sheet Music Plus