The Church Pianist: The Importance of Scales (part two)
Believe it or not…scales are very important to the church pianist!
Click on the following titles to see examples of scale passages in hymn arrangements:
Blessed Assurance (two octave scale) arr. by Marilynn Ham
A Child of the King (one octave scale) arr. by Marilynn Ham
Count Your Blessings (mainly one octave scale) arr. by Faye Lopez
There is a Fountain (one octave scale) arr. by Jenifer Cook
Wonderful Peace (1 and 1/2 octave scale) arr. by Jenifer Cook
Where to insert scales when improvising hymns:
(not an exhaustive list)
1. End of a phrase or held word elsewhere (Wonderful Peace, A Child of the King, Count Your Blessings) *Notice how these runs cover the held word plus glide through the next word without really playing the true note…it’s just kind of understood.
2. To dress up the melody (There is a Fountain)
3. Key changes (Blessed Assurance) adds zest!
Application!
Now…it’s time for you as a church pianist to try inserting scales into your hymn playing. It works best to add scales to your solo offertories or when accompanying a vocalist or instrumentalist. Why? Because the tempo is more flexible when working as a soloist or when accompanying another soloist.
Start with a slow hymn; allowing you time to work a scale in at a comfortable speed.
Thanks, I’ve been looking forward to this. I can’t tell where in the song these scales are located so I still don’t really know where they fit in. Would you be able to tell me the scale is after such and such phrase? For example maybe the scale in Blessed Assurance is at the end of the phrase “Jesus is mine”. Sorry to be a bother, but I really think this will help my playing a lot. It is a weak area for me.