Friday, November 21, 2008

The Church Pianist: Congregational accompaniment (A Shelter in the Time of Storm)

New website: http://thechurchpianist.com


Accompanying congregational singing
demands a lot of creativity when sing-
ing more than one verse of a hymn.


If able, the church pianist should
vary the accompaniment for each
verse.

I always try to use accompaniment
that matches the text of the hymn.

In today's example, I show variations
of accompaniment for three verses of
"A Shelter in the Time of Storm".

Things to note:

Verse one:
on the word "storm"....I use dotted rhythm in the left hand to
depict God'strength as our shelter.

Verse two:
Lighter chords (for variety)
5th measure: The right hand will play
an octave higher for a while starting
on the word: "No"

Verse three:
Heavier, brighter accompaniment for
final message: God is our refuge and strength!

Learn to play with variety to enrich the text
and boost congregational singing.







2 comments:

Unknown said...

Your piano blog is wonderful.My printer isn't working right now, thus, preventing me from practicing your sample sheets, but I enjoy reading all the tips. I'm really trying to use the pedal properly as you suggested in a previous post. Its nice to have a simple, down to earth explanation/instruction of these things. I hope your posts don't disappear, because I plan to print all the sample arrangements you've provided once my printer is up & working. Thanks.

Anonymous said...

Hi Ayesha,

I do not plan on deleting any of the posts.
I'm glad the pedal tips helped.

Thanks for your feedback!