Hi all,

What sort of standard do you need to be, to comfortably play hymns e.g. in school assembly or in a residential home sing-along? Nothing too complicated, just the old favourites, eg. "Sing Hosanna", "Onward Christian Soldiers" and "I Danced in the Morning" etc.

I'm occasionally asked if I could help out at various places with requests like this, but always chicken out, since I haven't played piano for about 25 years. The sight-reading aspect doesn't phase me, but I wanted an idea of the sort of grade / skill level that hymns are usually arranged at.

Hoping to get a piano / digital keyboard at Christmas, when the in-laws finally reclaim the sofa that we have been looking after for the last few years which is taking up the only available space Will probably aim to re-learn alongside the kids then - perhaps I'll do my grade 1 challenge

Hazel

Depends how much work you're willing to put in. I passed G6 several years ago and have been trifling with the idea of entering grage 8 for the last 5 or 6...I can sight-read most hymns put in front of me. Not many of those modern ones though!

I've used some to teach my current G4 student (she's entered G7 sax this term and we were catching up on theory & helping out for GCSE music ). She managed to 'get through' them but would not have been confident playing them for people to sing. That was after two or three run-throughs.

Of course, you don't have to play all the notes all the time!

Hi Hazel,
They vary quite a bit of course - but I'd say around grade 3-4 for most hymns. It's comparatively rare to find complicated keys used. Why not see if you could borrow a hymn-book from someone and look through a few - maybe ask one of the places that do the asking if you could go and have a quiet practice to see how you get on? The syncopated aspect of some of the more modern ones can be a challenge - but on the other hand, if you're playing familiar ones you're likely to know how they go, so less of a problem. It's possible there might be some easy arrangements of some of the popular ones around - might be worth a look.

Good luck with getting rid of the sofa!

This collection is at Grade 1-2:

http://www.kevinmayhew.com/Shop/Sections/I...px?item_id=3712


I've seen several books like this around, covering both established and more modern congregational songs.


The main thing when leading people is to be confident. If you do make a mistake (and most of us do now and again), keep going and smile. It's also good to practise introductions, so that they are clear.

Have fun!

It has always amused me that every "congregation" seems to have a built in pause between the end of the introduction and when they expect to start singing they also have fixed ideas of the speed they will sing. If you wait too long they will start without you. If you start to soon they will be thrown into panic and termoil. Enforce your will on them and after about 6 weeks they will get used to you and work to your style. They will probably still be muttering "I don't like that new pianist/organist" for about 15 years though.

As others have said - play with confidence and keep going - they know the tune anyway.

Like it

Thanks for all the advice folks. Kevin Mayhew's website is not working properly at the moment so can't check that book out, JohnS, but it sounds ideal as a starting point.

Now I need to work on losing the sofa...

Hazel

The thing with 4-part "traditional" hymns is to keep the tune & bass line going as a priority and fill in the alto/ tenor when possible. And keep going at a reasonable speed (nothing worse than hyms that draaaaaag) but remember the congregation do have to fit the words in!

One tip I was given on choosing a speed was to decided at what speed the words would make sense if you were reciting them.

Agrees, I remember "40 days and 40 nights" being played at the sort of speed that would mean it would take all of Lent to sing it, but that one can't afford to be too fast.

I normally play SAB and fit the tenor part in where I can. I started playing hymns when I was grade 4-5 standard. Unless you get simplified versions, they can be tricky, and congregational leading is interesting. Much better with an Organ, you can drown them out by selecting the loudest stop!

Surely the standard required for most hymns is the same as the standard required for most hers?

It's much easier to practice the hymns in an empty church , or at home on the piano, playing with a congregation can sometimes be , like herding cats!!!
If you can manage to persuade the priest, minister or whoever to let you try a limited repertoire, and get cofident with that, then build on it. First , hymns in C or Gmajor, then Fmajor, D and A major, and so on , most don't go beyond 4 sharps or flats.
Mentally sing as you play, that's always a good speed indicator. A friend of mine showed me how to vamp, and for those hymns with a tricky tenor and bass, I try for soprano and alto and appropriate chords.Ancient and Modern is a great book as is Songs of Praise. Some hymn settings in other books are awful.
It's very satisfying playing for other people to sing to, enjoy it. Our parish music director reckons that most people can play for a service with about grade 4 piano.

My teacher made me play along with Songs of Praise (recorded, so we knew what was coming!) as sight reading practice! Sure helps with the *above everything, keep going* mantra

I started playing in church and assembly about 2 years after I'd done Grade 3 Piano.

David