Learning to play hymns is a goal that most of my piano students (or their parents😉) have. Although 4 part harmonies are usually out of reach for first-year students, I've found several stepping stones that allow students to have the satisfaction of playing familiar hymns and primary songs until they gradually build the skills needed to play from the "real" hymn book.
Primer & Elementary Level Hymns and Primary Songs - Melody Only
For the first weeks of piano lessons, I let students choose some of their favorite hymns or primary songs that are simplified off-staff versions by D'net Layton including "Love One Another" and "I am a Child of God."
They quickly move on to the melody-only staff versions starting with simple rhythms, then adding sharps and flats and dotted rhythms (see pieces organized by level on this post). There are many free option on Piano Song Download (Level 1) or in Layton's Simplified Primary Songs Files
Using music that includes duets definitely adds to the fun and these are a few of my go-to books with melody-only arrangements.
Play Mormon Hymns Book 1 -Arranged by David Love and Linda Christensen
This is my favorite hymn starter because all 12 pieces include a teacher duet and the student parts include dynamics and phrasing to foster expressive playing. The intros and outros add interest and the rhythms are limited to quarter, half, dotted half, and whole notes similar to what students would encounter in primer-level method books. The duets are in various styles and a student favorite is the upbeat finale, "There is Sunshine in My Soul Today."
I Can Play the Hymns Primer- by Brent Jorgensen
The 24 pieces in this book are familiar favorites for members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints with teacher duets included. There is a wide range of rhythmic difficulty with true "primer level" rhythms in the easiest pieces, "Love One Another" and "O My Father." The trickier dotted eighth/sixteenth combos in "Secret Prayer" and "Choose the Right" can look daunting for beginners, but if they are familiar with the tune, I've found they can still play these hymns using their ear to guide them with the rhythms.
Primary Passages Book 1 - by Vicky Hammond and Judy Dalby
This thrift store find contains more primary songs than hymns with a few less familiar original pieces by the authors. Of the 26 pieces, the hymns are "Come Follow Me," "Beautiful Saviour," "Love One Another," and "Do What is Right" Some pieces contain key signatures with 2 flats or 2 sharps which is definitely not a primer level concept, so I write the accidentals in the score for easier playing. There are also a couple of student-level duets.
Late Elementary Level Hymns and Primary Songs
Play Mormon Hymns Book 2 -Arranged by David Love and Linda Christensen
The 12 pieces in this book are written in the keys of C, F, and G with similar features that I love from Book 1 including teacher duets, intros/outros, phrasing, and expressive dynamics. These hands-together arrangements include single-note, harmonic intervals, and I/V7 chords left-hand harmonies with the difficulty of pieces similar to those found in Piano Adventures 2B/3A method books. The texture is thinner than a regular hymn but melodies in the right hand with left-hand harmonies give students a lot of practice developing legato phrasing and navigating fingering changes.
PianoSongDownload.com has some easier hymn arrangements that are free. Level 2 includes hands-together hymn arrangements with very simple rhythms and just one note in each hand. Level 3 moves on to eighth notes, triplets dotted rhythms and some thicker textures.
Super Mormon Bignote - Arranged by Brent Jorgensen
Almost 40 pieces are in this book including primary songs, hymns, and some other sacred pieces like "I Heard Him Come" and "In the Hollow of Thy Hand." The "Easy Piano" label on the cover may be a little misleading as it is more suitable for pianists with a couple of years of music experience and includes some 6/8 time signatures, dotted rhythms, triplets, etc. Although there are no duets, chord symbols are included for each piece which allows for lead sheet-style playing.
Simplified Hymn Lead Sheets
The Hymns Made Easy book although simpler than a 4 part hymn arrangement is actually not that easy for beginning piano students! I start with easier hymns that include primary chords and have students adapt the left hand by using the chord symbols to play different versions lead sheet style.
Early Intermediate Hymn Arrangements
The Simply Sacred Piano Solos by Marshall McDonald are my favorite arrangements of sacred music not only because they are easy to sightread 😉, but because I love the variety of styles from the calm soothing simplicity of "I Know That My Redeemer Lives" (in Simply Sacred 1) to the upbeat pop sounding primary song "Give Said the Little Stream (in Simply Sacred 2). You can read more of my thoughts about these simpler hymn arrangements here or try out Simply Sacred Christmas to brighten your next Christmas season.
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