{"id":78,"date":"2013-08-30T14:11:12","date_gmt":"2013-08-30T14:11:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.christiancompositions.com\/blog\/?p=78"},"modified":"2015-10-29T22:41:02","modified_gmt":"2015-10-30T02:41:02","slug":"practical-tips-for-church-pianists-playing-offertories-part-i","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.christiancompositions.com\/blog\/practical-tips-for-church-pianists-playing-offertories-part-i\/","title":{"rendered":"Practical Tips for Church Pianists \u2013 Playing Offertories, Part I"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Practical<\/a><\/p>\n

Playing a solo piano special during the offering can be a challenge for the church pianist.\u00a0 What is expected or required of you can vary from church to church, and even from one service to the next.\u00a0 As always, it is important to know what the expectations of the pastor are, and to do your best to fulfill them.<\/p>\n

Practically speaking, this interval can be a great opportunity to minister to the congregation through your instrumental selection.\u00a0 Because of this, you should choose your songs deliberately and endeavor to make this time a blessing.<\/p>\n

I must admit that one of my biggest pet peeves at church is those who feel that the offering time is the appropriate time for chatting with their neighbor in the pew. \u00a0Unless this is the designated \u201cfellowship time\u201d, it is frustrating to work hard preparing a special, and then to feel that it is being ignored entirely!\u00a0 However, part of that reason that attitude is prevalent in some churches is because the pianist doesn\u2019t work hard to prepare something that will keep the attention of the congregation.\u00a0 So rather than get frustrated or annoyed, or develop an \u201cI-don\u2019t-care\u201d attitude, I would suggest that we work to be a blessing to those listening, and make them want to listen to what we are playing!<\/p>\n

Here are a few suggestions that I have tried to incorporate over the years:<\/p>\n

1.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/strong>Choose familiar songs<\/strong><\/p>\n

Although beautiful music can be enjoyable without any words, in a church setting, you want people to understand and think about the message of the song.\u00a0 This is best accomplished if they can \u201csing along\u201d in their minds while you are playing.\u00a0 Choosing songs that are familiar to your audience will encourage them to listen actively rather than passively.<\/p>\n

2.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/strong>Choose appropriate songs<\/strong><\/p>\n

Select songs that are appropriate for the type of service you are in (Sunday morning, Wednesday evening, revival, special occasions).\u00a0 Consider what is going on.\u00a0 Is it a patriotic service?\u00a0 A missions conference?\u00a0 Does your church have a theme for the day\/month\/event?\u00a0 Is it a prayer meeting?\u00a0 While none of these things dictate your choices, they can help you make selections that will be well-suited to the service in which you are playing.<\/p>\n

Also, be aware of what is going on and the \u201cmood\u201d of the service.\u00a0 While you can\u2019t always know this, be sensitive to your surroundings, and to the leading of the Holy Spirit.\u00a0 Is your service a celebration?\u00a0 It would not really be appropriate to play something slow and contemplative.\u00a0 On the other hand, is your church going through a time of challenge or even grieving?\u00a0 Be discerning in your choices.<\/p>\n

Choosing the proper song for the service in which you are playing is a subtle, but effective, way of being \u201cin tune\u201d with the overall service.<\/p>\n

3.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/strong>Choose practiced songs<\/strong><\/p>\n

This is a given, and probably doesn\u2019t need to be stated, but I\u2019m going to say it anyway.\u00a0 Be prepared!\u00a0 Practice, plan, prepare.\u00a0 Anything done for the Lord deserves to be done well.<\/p>\n

4.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/strong>Choose interesting arrangements.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Whether you like to play from published piano pieces, create your own piano arrangements, or simply play from the hymnal, one of the keys to being a blessing (and not losing your audience), is to play something interesting.\u00a0 Now, I\u2019m not suggesting that you play something strange or weird just to get attention. \u00a0Some arrangements stray so far from the original melodies and harmonies of the song being played that they are no longer recognizable.<\/p>\n

There are many ways to create interest, and to keep a piece from sounding stale or boring.\u00a0 Good use of dynamics, simple modulations, changes in tempo, and even creating a medley of related songs are just a few easy ways to keep your pieces stimulating.<\/p>\n

5.\u00a0Choose timely arrangements<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Every church varies on this, but be mindful of the time. It is a good rule of thumb not to play much longer than it takes for the ushers to finish receiving the offering.\u00a0 Now, in a small church like the one I attend, the whole process takes about 60 seconds.\u00a0 It is very hard to play any kind of arrangement in that amount of time, but I try to limit my selections to 3 minutes maximum, and usually less than that.\u00a0 In a larger church, you may need to play a much longer arrangement.\u00a0 It is a good idea to time your pieces, and then edit accordingly.<\/p>\n

While these are some practical pointers, the most important advice I can give in every part of our playing is that we never forget that our service and ministry is unto the Lord.\u00a0 Be prayerful about your playing, and remember you are ultimately playing for Him.\u00a0 When I start to get lazy, or begin to feel irritated or ignored, or even prideful, I try to remember that I am playing for the Lord, and He is always listening!\u00a0 More than anything else, this keeps me motivated to do my best.<\/p>\n

These are just a few simple tips that have helped me in choosing and preparing an offertory.\u00a0 What tips would you add?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Playing a solo piano special during the offering can be a challenge for the church pianist.\u00a0 What is expected or required of you can vary from church to church, and even from one service to the next.\u00a0 As always, it … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":309,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[43],"tags":[83,10,131,132,11,130],"class_list":["post-78","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-practical-tips-for-church-pianists","tag-christian","tag-church","tag-musician","tag-offertories","tag-pianist","tag-practical-tips"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.christiancompositions.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/01\/PracticalTipsblogtitle.png","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4L3GS-1g","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.christiancompositions.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.christiancompositions.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.christiancompositions.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.christiancompositions.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.christiancompositions.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=78"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/www.christiancompositions.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":323,"href":"https:\/\/www.christiancompositions.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78\/revisions\/323"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.christiancompositions.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/309"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.christiancompositions.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=78"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.christiancompositions.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=78"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.christiancompositions.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=78"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}