The "Hymns Made Easy" book already has chord symbols identified for you. If no chord root is indicated above the measure, play the chord root from the previous measure.
I decided to create my first hymn arrangement using the melody of this hymn in the style of other Simply Sacred arrangements that I love by Marshall MacDonald. I love the simplicity of a thin clear melody line with broken chord accompaniments instead of the heavier thick texture of a traditional hymn and wanted something easy enough for early intermediate piano students to play.
The Hymns Made Easy book although simpler than a 4 part hymn arrangement is actually not that easy for beginning piano students! But with a few tricks, students can play some hymns using their knowledge of primary chords and even create simple arrangements.
Playing the piano or organ for church worship is something I do on a regular basis, and while I can "fake it" on the organ I love piano arrangements of church hymns so much better! Sometimes I sneak in a little piano prelude music with my favorite arrangements of pieces from Marshall McDonald's Simply Sacred books like "More Holiness Give Me" or "As Now I Take the Sacrament" before heading over to the organ for prelude.
Introducing piano students to lead sheets and lyric sheets empowers them to play their favorite pop songs with greater ease.
Instead of playing complicated left-hand accompaniment patterns, lead sheets allow students to ease into a piece by starting with simpler root notes in the bass and gradually working up to more sophisticated rhythms or chords if desired.
I remember the frustration as a younger pianist trying to play accompanist versions of my favorite Christian songs but being frustrated because it's hard to play 3 parts with only 2 hands!
And without the melody line that is often omitted in the accompanist part, the song does not satisfy... unless you sing along!
I created this simplified excerpt of "I Can Do All Things With Christ" (the 2023 youth theme song from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints). Now my students can enjoy playing the piece while learning some basic skills for arranging and playing from a lead sheet. The original version is available for free download so students can compare the scores and spot the differences. It pairs perfectly with the Greensleeves lead sheet in Piano Adventures 3A, giving students extra practice reading a lead sheet.
The following steps can be applied to create lead sheets from other pieces.
Start with the melody only from a part of the song. You can play just the theme or chorus without having to arrange the whole piece.
Double the value of the rhythms if needed to make it simpler to read (quarter notes become half notes, half notes become whole notes).
Transpose to a different key if needed to make it easier to play. (For example to change a piece in B to C, move every note up a half step to avoid having to play a lot of sharps!)
Add chord symbols. If not included in the original song, analyze the bass notes to figure out which chord to use. You can also play I, IV or V chords and listen to which sounds best in each measure or phrase.
Experiment with different bass styles (root only, blocked chord, broken chord, syncopated rhythms, open intervals, etc.).
Lead sheets give you the flexibility to imitate the style of the original or create your version.
For example, by playing broken intervals in Forrest Gump style, the Piano Guys transformed this traditional classical piece into a more modern version.
Playing music from a lead sheet opens up a new world of possibilities so that you can make familiar tunes have their own special flare.
Free Christmas Lead Sheets
These free Christmas lead sheets from Michael Kravchuk allow pianists to practice chords or prep to accompany a Christmas sing a long. Starting with the key of C is definitely easier for a beginner pianist, but playing in other keys can sometimes make it easier to sing along. Here are a few familiar favorites I like to star with but there are over 30 to choose from on MichaelKravchuk.com with options to select from multiple keys for each song.
Each October in my piano studio, I give my students a challenge full of choices. There are so many fun Halloween-themed resources to use in piano lessons, but rather than just choose one for my students, I let them select from a list of "tricks" to "treat" me with at their October music lessons.
This week at piano camp the activities that students sampled were based on the 4 Arts of Music: Improvising, Reading, Arranging and Composing (see Forrest Kinney article) This pedagogical framework in piano instruction enables students to become more expressive and creative at the piano as well as entrenching a solid understanding of the reasons behind the organization of the music they read on the page.
Improvisation
We started out with a simple improvisation duet on the black keys (key of F#) using the MusicClock app as a backtrack.
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