Need a church pianist? Don't have time to learn? Here's a quick guide to get you started right away!

Playing the piano for church is a unique skill. It requires a rare combination of sight-reading abilities and creative abilities. In this article, we will share Ten Tips on Playing the Piano for Church.

#1 - Choosing Songs to Learn

Oddly enough, choosing a song to learn to play is usually the first and last thing many pianists do.

When selecting the songs to learn, pick songs that have as few sharps or flats as possible in the beginning of the music. Consider the song "At Calvary." In most song books, this song has no sharps or flats between the treble clef and the time signature. This means that you will primarily be using white keys as you play.

Using solely white keys is generally more comfortable and also much simpler than using a combination of white and black keys. While many song books will vary, we have included a list of songs that you could consider choosing.

Common songs that use primarily white keys are:

"Jesus Loves Me"

"When We All Get to Heaven"

"There Is a Fountain"

"Christ Arose"

"It Is Well"

"Sweet Hour of Prayer"

"Hold the Fort"

"I Owe It All to You, Lord"

There are also many more songs that use only one black key (either F# or Bb). You could also consider choosing some of these.

You should also choose songs that you know well and could sing easily. This makes playing them much easier. For instance, if you wanted to learn the song "My Redeemer" but had never sung it before, it would be more difficult to learn to play it than it would be a song such as "Amazing Grace."

#2 - Singing While You Play

Once you have chosen a song that you can comfortably learn, it is paramount that you sing the song (out loud or in your head) a lot before playing it. You could sing while working, driving, etc., but the important thing is to sing.

Singing a song makes it very easy to learn. It also adds a natural element to your piano playing. The voice was the instrument that God created, and He has given every human being one of their own to use for His glory. Singing (vocally or mentally) while playing will make a world of a difference in your piano playing.

#3 - Learning the Melody

When you can sing a song easily and comfortably, then it is time to actually learn to play the notes of the melody. Most of the time, you should learn to play the melody with both hands, even though you will end up playing it for church with your right hand.

In most church song books, the melody is usually the top note in every stack of notes. (Sweeter Sounds will be soon producing a church song book for pianists that includes just the melody and chords to make playing them easier.)

Let's take the song "Jesus Loves Me." The notes highlighted in blue are the melody notes. The melody is the top note in every stack of notes.

Try playing just those blue notes while singing the melody of "Jesus Loves Me" to yourself. It may not be easy at first, but this is the most effective way to quickly learn to play the melody. It will get easier!

While you are learning the melody, make sure you focus on just one section at a time. Perhaps you could learn one line at a time, or learn two measures at a time. There are several ways to break down a song into bite-sized pieces.

As you progress, make sure that you keep singing.

#4 - Expanding on the Melody

Now that you have learned the melody, you are probably interested in playing other things to. The melody alone is not ideal to play for church. There are many ways to expand the melody. You could expand the right hand by playing through the alto line (the note right under the melody in each stack of notes), or, if your hands are able to, you could even expand the right hand by playing in octaves. This is a delightful sound!

(An octave is simply the note exactly eight letters above the starting note. If the melody is G, then count through eight letters: G A B C D E F G, and you will reach an octave above. C to the next C is an octave. F to the next F is an octave.)

#5 - What to Do with Your Left Hand

While expanding the right hand is a wonderful idea, perhaps you are interested in using your left hand while you play. Playing with both hands will add a lovely depth to your piano playing.

The left hand has two main responsibilities in church piano playing. The first is to establish the beat of the song (this is the pulse of the music, not a fleshly beat). The beat of music is simply the pulse that you feel when you sing. It is what you would naturally walk to or clap along with.

The second job of the left hand is to establish the harmony of the song. Usually this is done by simply strumming the appropriate chords. We will look at chords later in this article.

Putting both of the left hand's duties together means that your left hand will basically be strumming the appropriate chord for every beat in a song. Check out this video to see some examples of it.

#6 - Chords

Ugghh. Even music theorists who have studied music for ages disagree on ideas here, so we will not get too involved at all. Regarding chords, there really are just two things to keep in mind.

One, there are certain chords called primary chords. These are excellent to use while you are learning because of their simplicity and frequency. What are primary chords? Primary chords are three different chords that can be used to play just about any song you'd like!

So which chords are the primary chords?

Well, if your music has no sharps or flats before the time signature, then that means you are likely going to be using the C Major chord, the F Major chord, and the G Major chord. Below is a list of the major chords.

If your music has just one sharp before the time signature, then your primary chords will likely be G Major, C Major, and D Major.

If your music has only one flat before the time signature, then your primary chords will likely be F Major, Bb Major, and C Major.

#7 - When to Use the Different Chords

This is where it is important to practice. There are two methods to this madness: one is to use your ear, and the other is to use the music. Both are equally acceptable. It simply depends on which comes more naturally to you. If you struggle hearing chords, then perhaps you should follow what is written.

If you choose to use your ear to determine what chord to play, make sure that you experiment with each of the three primary chords before committing. Once you have found the one that sounds best, consider writing it above the music in your song book.

If you choose to use the written music, then you will need to look through the song ahead of time. Take all the notes that are written in every stack of notes, and see which of the primary chords includes all or most of those notes.

For instance, if we take the word "loves" from "Jesus Loves Me" and write out every note that is used in the chord stack for it, we would find the notes E, C, G, C (top-to-bottom). Since there are no sharps or flats before the time signature, this means that our primary chords are C Major, F Major, and G Major. Of these three, C Major includes all of the notes for the word "loves."

#8 - How to Master Church Piano Playing

Practice.

Sorry! Practice is the only way to master playing the piano for church. Check out our other article on practice tips to help you achieve more!

#9 - The Key to a Good Music Service

When serving the Lord through music, church musicians should make sure that they communicate with each other. The pianist and song leader should set aside time to practice and talk through the songs. If there is to be special music, the singers and pianist should practice and talk through the song. Communication is very important. It is necessary to a successful music service.

#10 - For the Glory of God

The whole purpose of the church service is to glorify God. As musicians, we must keep that in the forefront of our hearts and minds as we serve God through the wonderful gift of music.

Sing the words in your heart to God so that He receives the glory.

Spend time practicing so that when you play for church, God receives the glory.

Learn more and more about music as you improve so that God can receive the glory through you.

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I hope that this has been a help and encouragement to you!

Kind regards,

Aaron Dempsey

I Corinthians 15:58