Trying to figure out what to play for piano introductions can be tricky at times for church pianists.

The previous article entitled: Piano Introductions (part two) provided a piano introduction of “Wonderful Words of Life” using only the verse.  Sometimes it works better just to use the starting and ending phrase of a verse. Other times, the entire first line of the verse works well for the introduction.

Always remember to end the introduction with the one (I) chord for the key you’re using. For example, if the song is in C major…make sure you end on a C major chord to provide a “finished” sound.  Otherwise, you’ll have everybody guessing when to enter.

There are times when a V 7 chord works well at the end of an introduction or during the invitation when you’re providing background music and you’re in the middle of a phrase and need to end on a chord that makes sense before the congregation starts to sing…but I will cover that at another time.  SO much to talk about!  🙂

In today’s example, you’ll notice a fairly, easy piano introduction for “Count Your Blessings”. The faster the hymn, the less frills the church pianist has time to play 🙂

Click here for: Piano Introductions: Part Two (second example)

Have you discovered how it doesn’t always work to play the first and last phrase of a hymn for an introduction? A lot of church pianists have been asking me for help in the area of piano introductions.

Sometimes it works to just use phrases from the verse for the whole  introduction.  In today’s example, I share two ways of playing an introduction for “Wonderful Words of Life”.  Decide which example sounds best to you.  I prefer the first example because the melody follows a more logical flow as opposed to the second introduction.

Click here for: Piano Introductions (part two)

I do plan to share more introduction tips and examples!

Click here for: Piano Introductions (part one)

How long should a piano introduction be?  What part of the song do I play for the introduction?  

I hope the following video and free pdf sheet of piano introduction examples will benefit church pianists needing guidance in this area.

Free PDF Sheet: Piano-Introductions-Part-One 

Piano introductions play a vital role in the music of the church service.  Listen to the following audios and decide for yourself which one better prepares the congregation to enter with confidence.

Jesus is Coming Again (introduction #1)

Jesus is Coming Again (introduction #2)

Why are piano introductions so important?   I plan on answering this question and sharing several introduction examples from commonly used hymns in the next article on piano introductions for congregational singing.