Are there any church musicians here? Particularly from conservative liturgical denominations?

[Dmmetler]

One of my teen piano students is the DD of a WELS (conservative Lutheran) pastor, and they are between full time church musicians now, so she's getting pressed into playing when there are no volunteers from the congregation (and the only other volunteer is a very elderly retired piano teacher, who sometimes cancels with very short notice). She's an advanced intermediate, and can play at a pretty high level with practice, but of course, doesn't have a lot of time to prepare for weekly services and keep up with high school and dance, even with me pivoting her lessons to supporting church stuff. 

 

So, does anyone have any go-to resources for church music that would be both appropriate and fairly easy to sight read? (I'm guessing she could easily sight read a level 3). We're working heavily on "how to pick up and play from a hymnal" (basically, how to figure out the chords quickly so she can use it as a lead sheet, but she also needs music for the prelude, postlude, Communion, etc.

 

Until she started regularly getting pulled into church playing, she was doing a mix of repertoire and Disney/Harry Potter, so she can't necessarily pull out a lot of past materials. I'm not sure Hungarian Rhapsody or "Fireworks" from The Goblet of Fire are really appropriate. Apparently she played Beauty and the Beast a couple of weeks ago when the service was late starting, and fortunately, the only person who noticed was her mom. 

 

 

[El...]

I have been a church pianist (was until we moved last year). Can she play off a chord sheet with a melody line? It's often easier to play that way when the song is unfamiliar.  

I started out with this book a long time ago and still pull these simple songs out for the times between. 

Maranatha! Music Praise & Worship Collection 218 Songs (Words and Music Edition) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0043BJ8UK/ref=cm_sw_r_apan_glt_i_JNY506YD5GB8TB9Q156J

Goodness gracious, that's expensive! I wish mine were in better condition - I might sell it! 😅 But something like it? 

[El...]

Also, that's cute that she pulled Beauty and the Beast out of her hat. 

[El...]

Maybe this? Top 50 Praise & Worship: Easy Piano https://www.amazon.com/dp/0739091298/ref=cm_sw_r_apan_glt_i_AF6RKHK92NEKGZJ9KFVA

I find that even if a church predominantly sings hymns, a popular praise song is appreciated when played gently as background. 

[kristin0713]

Carol Tournquist is my favorite for this. She has hymns, contemporary and blended solos that are quick to prepare and beautifully arranged. Here is one example  but she has tons of books. Another series I like by her is What Can I Play Sunday and she has seasonal collections too. 

[kristin0713]

Oops - Cindy Berry is the arranger for What Can I Play Sunday 

She’s good but I do prefer Carol Tornquist. 

Edited February 17, 2022 by kristin0713

[kbutton]

Victor Labenske would be good for preludes, etc. Not for congregational singing. 

My son loves his arrangements. I think this is the book he has, but there are others: https://www.alfred.com/sunday-morning-praise-companion/p/00-36556/  The link includes sample pages if you want to assess the level.

I think of my son as pretty solidly intermediate with some spiky skills. He would not play these cold, but they don't take him forever to learn. 

Alfred Music's page gave me this as a recommendation when I pulled up the other book, and it clearly has a Level 3 label (and has Labenske as one arranger). It appears to be a series: https://www.alfred.com/play-praise-most-requested-book-3/p/00-23255/ 

 

[Dmmetler]

@kbutton-I'd say she's probably on a similar level to your DS. She's a kid who really dove into piano when schools were closed for COVID and when she didn't have much else going on, and moved really, really quickly (as in, she started with me at a level 1b/2a, and quickly got to the point that we were working on level 4/5. She tends to prefer hard pieces that take awhile to work up, which isn't really compatible with playing in church every Sunday, sometimes with only an hour or two's notice. 

 

I think the Alfred books  might be a bit more contemporary than the church is, although it may work for preludes/postludes (and at very least is more appropriate than Disney!) . Checking based on arranger may be useful, too-the other arranger on the Alfred book is Tom Gerou, and I use his materials a lot with students who really want to play specific songs-he's pretty good at taking difficult movie soundtrack type stuff and simplifying it to hit a specific level, so I can easily see what she can sight read comfortably and then get a few resources laid in. 

 

 

Edited February 17, 2022 by Dmmetler

[kbutton]

10 minutes ago, Dmmetler said:

I think the Alfred books  might be a bit more contemporary than the church is, although it may work for preludes/postludes (and at very least is more appropriate than Disney!) .

I think a couple are solely books of hymns: https://www.alfred.com/sunday-morning-companion/p/00-28315/

 

[QumaCote]

Lorenz https://lorenz.com/ has many different levels of arrangements from many different composers that would be very appropriate. I haven’t ordered from them since pre-COVID. However, you used to be able to see the first page of each arrangement in the book and many of them could be purchased digitally. 
 

I hope they aren’t having difficulties. They have been an amazing resource for me. 

[forty-two]

My dh is an LCMS pastor (and my oldest dd has an open invite to become the church pianist, if she ever gets up the courage).  For our services, we have the liturgical music (mostly the same week to week, although we rotate between three different settings every few months, which each have different music), four hymns (opening hymn, hymn of the day, distribution hymn, and closing hymn), and preservice/postservice/offering/extra-communion-music. 

The hymns and the liturgical setting are picked by people not-the-musician, and the musician's expected to use the hymnal settings (or simplified versions of the hymnal settings), and they are the most important ones, too.  (Which is to say I think your focus on learning to sightread from the hymnal's a great idea.)

The pre/post/offering/communion music are kinda extra - it would work fine to just play one of the week's hymns before the service (often hymn of the day), one of the week's hymns after the service (closing hymn again is fine), and another during the offering (hymn of the day again would be fine); extra communion music could be one of the service hymns (probably the distribution hymn played quietly again) or she could learn a communion-themed piece and play it each week.  If she had extra time, or as she built up her hymn repertoire, she could learn a couple of "fancier" versions of hymns that match the liturgical season (Lent, Easter, etc), and use them for those sections - I bet her church has lots of preludes and postludes she could look through, see if any are at her level.  (The norm of most LCMS churches I've been to is match preludes/postludes to the liturgical season, and often the postlude is a version of the closing hymn, while the prelude is often a version of the hymn of the day.  And for a novice church musician, I think using the regular hymnal version as a prelude/postlude is just fine.)

Which is to say, when planning with my dd, we've been putting our focus on getting solid on the liturgical music and on sight-reading hymns, and she can just use easy hymns for the "quiet background music" parts.  There's no need to get fancy or get extra music unless she really wants to (esp because, at our church, the only use for non-hymnal music is for the background music).   Also, if it's not ridiculous timewise, it might be worthwhile for her to spend an hour or so each week going over and familiarizing herself with the upcoming hymns, even if she's not scheduled to play, so she's ready and also building up her hymn repertoire.  Our hymn schedule is usually set at least a month in advance, and as the pastor's daughter, it ought to be easy to get the info.

Edited February 17, 2022 by forty-two

[lauraw4321]

Generally prelude, postlude (and likely even interludes during communion ) can be standard classical music. Things like well tempered clavier, moonlight sonata, ode to a wild rose would all be appropriate. 
 

 

[Katy]

I was going to suggest she ask her dad what the upcoming music will be. I went to a WELS church in middle school. I fell in love with Love Divine, All Loves Excelling after hearing it on Return the the Blue Lagoon and begged my pastor to choose it. He shrugged and said they follow a liturgical calendar and that one was only allowed 3 weeks a year. 

[Beth S]

Absolutely, she should feel free to ask for the hymn choices at least a week ahead of time.  Usually two weeks advanced notice is possible (knowing there could be some changes needed).

I was in a similar situation (slightly more informal, but liturgical), & I could "veto" if the hymn choice was excessively difficult for me.
Honestly, the church will be grateful for whatever she can do.

IMO, it's far better to play something simple . . . without mistakes . . . than to attempt something beyond her ability & stumble a lot.

This is great opportunity, but my similar experience was that it was FAR more difficult to play in a more formal setting (rather than a more casual contemporary setting).

It also may help for her to have someone (a friend?) sit next to her on the piano bench, to reassure, sing along, & help keep track of "what comes next".

ETA = For me, the worry was not what to play for the prelude or offering, but worrying that I'd forget what part of the service was coming next . . . and everyone would be waiting for me to play the intro to the hymn (for example).  So practicing the ORDER is just as important as practicing the actual hymns.

Edited February 17, 2022 by Beth S

[Carol in Cal.]

I agree with Forty Two, and would add—if she has a book of simple 4 part Bach chorale settings, (like, a Schirmer edition), that’s just one little step up from the hymn tunes themselves but pretty accessible.  Most of the Bach chorales would be familiar to liturgical Lutherans, whether they are in the hymnal or not.  (For instance, ‘Bist Du Bei Mir’ was often used as an offertory or postlude when I was a kid, even though it’s not used as a hymn in English.  So I knew the tune as sacred music long before I learned the German words as an adult.). Bach, of course, was Lutheran.

[forty-two]

16 minutes ago, Beth S said:

It also may help for her to have someone (a friend?) sit next to her on the piano bench, to reassure, sing along, & help keep track of "what comes next".

Our previous pianist said she'd pick out a strong singer in the congregation and use him/her as a guide to speed, pacing, etc.  She also offered to bring in a second keyboard and let dd play alongside her, to help her learn and get comfortable - I wonder if the other volunteer would be willing to do something like that.

36 minutes ago, Katy said:

I was going to suggest she ask her dad what the upcoming music will be. I went to a WELS church in middle school. I fell in love with Love Divine, All Loves Excelling after hearing it on Return the the Blue Lagoon and begged my pastor to choose it. He shrugged and said they follow a liturgical calendar and that one was only allowed 3 weeks a year. 

I really want to know which three weeks he meant.  In our (LCMS) hymnal, Love Divine is in the Sanctification section, which isn't really tightly tied to particular Sundays the way some other sections are (Holy Week, Holy Trinity, etc.)  I'm curious if the WELS hymnal is different (I think dh has one at church - will have to look), or if they had a Sanctification focus for particular weeks in the Season of Pentecost, or what.

[Katy]

20 minutes ago, forty-two said:

Our previous pianist said she'd pick out a strong singer in the congregation and use him/her as a guide to speed, pacing, etc.  She also offered to bring in a second keyboard and let dd play alongside her, to help her learn and get comfortable - I wonder if the other volunteer would be willing to do something like that.

I really want to know which three weeks he meant.  In our (LCMS) hymnal, Love Divine is in the Sanctification section, which isn't really tightly tied to particular Sundays the way some other sections are (Holy Week, Holy Trinity, etc.)  I'm curious if the WELS hymnal is different (I think dh has one at church - will have to look), or if they had a Sanctification focus for particular weeks in the Season of Pentecost, or what.

I don’t know. I do know my mom & stepdad got in a big fight one Sunday morning so we skipped church that day. The pastor teased me for it and said they wouldn’t select it again until the following year. If I had to guess I’d say it was Spring, but lent doesn’t make any sense so idk. 

[HSmomof2]

I was the pianist for a LCMS church for many years. She should be able to get a list of the hymns at least a week in advance, and they’re not really hard to learn. 
There have been good suggestions in previous posts. But also for preludes, offertory, etc. there’s a series of books by Andrea Dow that I really like. They’re pretty easy to sight read but sound really nice. They’re based off of Bach, Beethoven, Chopin, etc. 

The Sebastian Sessions

The Beethoven Sessions

The Chopin Sessions

The Amadeus Anthems

 

[kristin0713]

@Dmmetler I thought of another great one!!  Jennifer Eklund of Piano Pronto / F.M. Sheet Music. She often has a few arrangements of the same piece at different levels. F.M. Sheet Music  She has a section for praise music. 

I remember being in your student's exact situation in high school. It was stressful, but was a great experience. I used to photocopy hymns, enlarge them and cross off the notes that I decided ahead of time to skip. 😂 Eventually, I learned how to leave out the notes I didn't need and it was the beginning of developing great accompanying skills. Best of luck to your student. 

[Dmmetler]

I use a lot of Andrea Dow's materials (Wundeekeys is my go to for younger kids) and I have several of the sessions books from Piano Book Club, so I can copy those and give them to her. I also use a lot of Jennifer Eklund's arrangements-but usually am looking for movie or pop ones for students who are dying to play songs from X, so I'll definitely check that out. 

 

Does anyone know if the hymnal she would use has an accompanist's version? I know the Red Methodist Hymnal does, and it's much easier to play from. 

[Carol in Cal.]

Forgot to mention--The Lutheran Hymnal (1941) was used in both WELS and LCMS churches for literally decades, and in many cases has richer but also more 'normal' harmonies than the newer hymnals.  So she could get one of those and use it for occasional pieces and they would be familiar to all of the oldtimers (because I think the current WELS hymnal just came out in the early 90s) and also a very slightly different slant on the familiar hymns.

These are easy to find used and I think still available from the Concordia Publishing House.  There might be a few in the dusty back shelves at her church as well.  

[Danae]

If her church is using the new WELS hymnal it has an accompaniment version.  Link.

 

Edit:  it came out in 2021, so they may not be.

Edited February 18, 2022 by Danae

[Lucy the Valiant]

Having the music selected 1-2 weeks in advance would also give her the option to transpose it into an easier key (or play it out of a different hymn book), assuming there are no other instruments playing with her. 😉

[forty-two]

1 hour ago, Dmmetler said:

Does anyone know if the hymnal she would use has an accompanist's version? I know the Red Methodist Hymnal does, and it's much easier to play from. 

Here's a link to the accompaniment version of the WELS hymnal that came out in 1993, Christian Worship: https://online.nph.net/christian-worship-accompaniment-for-hymns.html

Her church likely has one floating around already, if she can find it - just have to share it with the other volunteer.

1 hour ago, Carol in Cal. said:

Forgot to mention--The Lutheran Hymnal (1941) was used in both WELS and LCMS churches for literally decades, and in many cases has richer but also more 'normal' harmonies than the newer hymnals.  So she could get one of those and use it for occasional pieces and they would be familiar to all of the oldtimers (because I think the current WELS hymnal just came out in the early 90s) and also a very slightly different slant on the familiar hymns.

These are easy to find used and I think still available from the Concordia Publishing House.  There might be a few in the dusty back shelves at her church as well.  

Here's the link to TLH on CPH's website: https://www.cph.org/c-2813-the-lutheran-hymnal.aspx - they even sell the organist edition, too.  It's also listed on the WELS publisher, Northwestern Publishing House, too, albeit out of stock.  I hadn't realized WELS used it, too.

Edited February 18, 2022 by forty-two

[forty-two]

Also, the Guitar Supplement for Christian Worship isn't too pricey; it doesn't have all the hymns, but it has a lead sheet for 67 of them - that could be helpful.

[Carol in Cal.]

23 minutes ago, forty-two said:

Here's a link to the accompaniment version of the WELS hymnal that came out in 1993, Christian Worship: https://online.nph.net/christian-worship-accompaniment-for-hymns.html

Her church likely has one floating around already, if she can find it - just have to share it with the other volunteer.

Here's the link to TLH on CPH's website: https://www.cph.org/c-2813-the-lutheran-hymnal.aspx - they even sell the organist edition, too.  It's also listed on the WELS publisher, Northwestern Publishing House, too, albeit out of stock.  I hadn't realized WELS used it, too.

Yes, it was used by the whole Synodical Conference back in the day.  The first time I visited a WELS church I was shocked to recognize the hymnal.  

[MercyA]

You are such a good teacher. She's lucky to have you!

[SoCal_Bear]

I can scan some easy version of hymns that I have. 

Does anyone want an organist wedding songbook I have? I've been sitting on this thing for years.

 

[SoCal_Bear]

What about this book from Hal Leonard. 150 Hymns. It's called The Easy Humn Fake book ...everything written in the key of C.

https://www.amazon.com/Easy-Hymn-Fake-Book-Hymns/dp/0634047361/ref=sr_1_21?keywords=easy+hymn+arrangements+for+piano&qid=1645155211&sprefix=easy+hymn+arra%2Caps%2C129&sr=8-21

 

Edited February 18, 2022 by calbear

[forty-two]

31 minutes ago, calbear said:

What about this book from Hal Leonard. 150 Hymns. It's called The Easy Humn Fake book ...everything written in the key of C.

https://www.amazon.com/Easy-Hymn-Fake-Book-Hymns/dp/0634047361/ref=sr_1_21?keywords=easy+hymn+arrangements+for+piano&qid=1645155211&sprefix=easy+hymn+arra%2Caps%2C129&sr=8-21

 

We have this.  Looking through it, a lot more of our hymns are in this than I thought, plus several unfamiliar titles have turned out to have familiar tunes.

[forty-two]

Hey @Dmmetler - how did it work out? 

I'm especially curious because my dd16 has started as our church accompanist a month ago, and it's a lot more work and time commitment than I realized.  I just spent several hours making up a practice chart through Christmas, because with all the extra services and the new service setting to learn (itself the equivalent of about 10 hymns), we've got to plan ahead (there are 14 unique hymns between Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, for example, and that's with dh deliberately repeating several - most years he tries *not* to repeat, and there are over 20 unique hymns between the two services).  She's currently spending 30-60min a day, 6 days a week, working two weeks ahead, for three hymns a week plus one liturgical setting, with no preludes/postludes or other special music yet.  She'd rather practice hymns than do school <sigh>, but I'd rather she didn't eat up school time with it.  I can't figure out how much is just the brutal learning curve when she has no hymn repertoire at all, how much is that we need to work smarter, or how much is that it's just plain hard work <shrug>. 

In any case, I can't fathom how your student was able to fill in at short notice - how was she managing?

[kristin0713]

1 hour ago, forty-two said:

She's currently spending 30-60min a day, 6 days a week, working two weeks ahead, for three hymns a week plus one liturgical setting, with no preludes/postludes or other special music yet.  She'd rather practice hymns than do school <sigh>, but I'd rather she didn't eat up school time with it.  I can't figure out how much is just the brutal learning curve when she has no hymn repertoire at all

Hymns can be quite a learning curve. I was her age when I was thrown into it, and it was TOUGH. I learned how to leave stuff out. I used to cross out notes before I figured out how to just do it. That made a big difference. If the arrangement can be flexible, she can get arrangements that are more friendly. There may be others, but this was one of my go-to books for popular hymns written in a more friendly arrangement: https://www.amazon.com/Maranatha-Music-Praise-Hymns-Choruses/dp/3010130368/ref=sr_1_8?crid=174XSV19Q56XN&keywords=maranatha+praise&qid=1667868393&sprefix=maranatha+praise+%2Caps%2C253&sr=8-8 

[Dmmetler]

We’ve been focusing heavily on lead sheet playing and hymns-a lot of “what can you leave out”, and having a collection of classical pieces she can draw from as needed. It’s definitely changed the lesson focus a lot. I will say that she’s probably one of the most gifted students I’ve ever taught-she both learns really quickly and has a lot of drive and determination. I’m sure being the pastor’s DD has helped-she obviously knows the hymn tunes very well. 

 

I have another who is playing piano in the middle school jazz band and it’s the same thing. Lessons are spent just trying to give him the skills he needs. 
 

Edited November 8, 2022 by Dmmetler

[forty-two]

Sounds like it's just a lot of work, then <shrug>.  Especially as dd is just doing this on her own time - her lessons (and lesson-related practice) are working toward preparing her for music school.  Right now my little perfectionist is refusing to simplify anything <sigh>, but I bring it up when she gets frustrated, just to remind her it's an option (she's so quick to help her younger siblings find ways to simplify music to make it manageable, but resists doing it herself).  She sounds like your student, Dmmetler - learns quickly and has a lot of drive and determination.  And it definitely helps that she is familiar with all the music.

We've been getting into a groove with practicing, figuring out just how much work - and what kind of work - is needed.  It's been helpful to do a "dress rehearsal" of sorts the day before the service - going through all the music exactly as in the service, with me singing along.  It's also been helpful to go through all the verses when *starting* a hymn, instead of just playing through the first verse repeatedly until the dress rehearsal - more hymns than I thought have slight variances between verses, and it's good to know about them with plenty of time (looking at you, "For All the Saints").  And we made a schedule for Nov/Dec working in the new setting and the extra hymns, to spread out the work and make sure nothing is overlooked.  Overall, I think she's starting to settle in.

And wrt the time investment cutting into school, once she starts getting paid (hopefully at the start of the year, they are discussing it ahead of the budget meeting), I've told her it will have to cut into her free time, not school, just as if she had gotten a job at the grocery store or something.  She agreed that was fair, albeit grudgingly, so we'll see how it goes.