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apple, I need your help!
Topic Started: Dec 5 2011, 07:12 PM (115 Views)
Luke's Dad
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Emperor Pengin
So the pianist at our church has moved. The organist (not real organ, digital piano on organ setting) is moving over to take over the piano, and somehow/someway I "volunteered" to play the organ for the hymn packages. So I was handed a hymnal and a handshake. My question is this, am I supposed to just play the straight choir parts as written in the hymnal? Am I just supposed to play the chords? What exactly am I supposed to do?
The problem with having an open mind is that people keep trying to put things in it.
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jon-nyc
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Cheers
Maybe KK can chime in too, she's been a church organist for years.
In my defense, I was left unsupervised.
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apple
one of the angels
first of all don't worry.

are you playing with a bit of backup? a choir or cantor?

The hymn parts as written for choir are fine.. they might be a bit unweildy. The digital piano on organ setting is very forgiving. A lot of the more recent music has been written for piano with flowery arpeggiated accompaniment, which is hard for a congregation to follow unless they have a leader (cantor).. the music may need a bit of simplification or an attempt to stay closer to the melody.

In accompaniment hymnals, intros are marked by brackets, often the first line or two of the piece. I play the intro, take a big breath then start the song. Play confidently with plenty of volume.. those elec. pianos are not very loud unless you have great amplification.

If you will be choosing your own intros, the final chord of the intro needs to 'resolve' into the first phrase.. or at least make sense musically.


I take a bit of pause betw/ verses and slow slightly at the end of the song, to let the congregation know what is going on. Hopefully you'll be able to play with a cantor and usually they are very consistent and have their own ways to do things. Altho traditionally the 'organist' leads, the cantor has other thoughts on their role and are often the 'leaders'. whatever.

Are you familiar with the piano? On some you can build sound, combining settings.. organ AND violin for instance. Tempo is especially important and perhaps you can add a subtle beat with some percussions settings.

good luck.. feel free to further ask.
it behooves me to behold
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