Be An Organized Church Pianist

Playing in front of a congregation each Sunday is no easy feat. Make sure you are well prepared before giving your best for God and before others.

1) Practice the piano and more preferably the songs you will be playing early in the week and often.

2) Sing while you play so you can have a feel for how well your playing will mesh with the singing.

3) If you use sheet music make sure it is organized and ready to go. Write up your introductions and endings or make sure the ones you have used before are the ones you will want to use this time.

4) If you are accompanying a soloist make sure you set aside good time to practice.

5) If you are still working on your craft then make sure you are studying your piano lessons and practicing those in ADDITION TO practicing your Sunday songs. Don't stagnate. Add to your skills. Learn new songs or new ways of playing old favorites.

6) If you are the worship planner also a nice resource to have is an index that lists songs by scripture,by topic, and by key.

7) Don't give up because you don't have a piano. A keyboard will keep you going until the Lord sees fit to bless you with a piano. Truly. This happened to me.

8) Do you want to play in a particular style? You could just purchase music that is arranged in the style you want to play. But an easier option is to learn what specific notes or chords are making that special sound.

Use these ideas for how you can keep yourself together so come Sunday morning you can concentrate on making a joyful noise for the Lord!

See more ideas for a beginning church pianist in my book The Struggling Church Pianist

Kemi is a church pianist and author of the book The Struggling Church Pianist. Visit her website and download some free musician tools at... http://www.strugglingchurchmusician.us

---

Piano Playing is Easier than You Think When You Understand Musical Form

Form is the key that unlocks the musical map of a song or a musical compostition. Like a house has rooms, so a song has rooms or sections.Chord progressions come in sections, like... Read More

Be An Organized Church Pianist

Playing in front of a congregation each Sunday is no easy feat. Make sure you are well prepared before giving your best for God and before others.1) Practice the piano and more preferably... Read More

Building A Good Relationship With Your Guitar

The guitar is considered the friendliest musical instrument there is. It is because the guitar is the handiest musical instrument that could stand on its own. A group can enjoy music with just... Read More

Social Networking and Music: MySpace Puts It All Together in a Virtual Community

Today's music fan interacts with a "community" that is far larger than anyone ever dreamed possible before the widespread personal use of the Internet. This social networking is changing the way people market... Read More

6 Tips for Organizing Your Music Files

If you're a digital music fan, you probably have problems organizing your music file collection. For me, I used to have hundreds of MP3 files lumped in one folder in my hard drive.... Read More

Piano on the Right-Side of the Brain

Some of you may remember a book titled "Drawing on the Right-Side of the Brain" by Betty Edwards.In this book, Betty Edwards tried to teach you how to see differently. She reasoned that... Read More

Piano Music - How to Begin and End a Piece

How do you begin a piece of music? That's a question I'm often asked. The answer I usually give is that you begin as soon as you start playing - that is, if... Read More

How to Find Musical Ideas

The Russian Composer Igor Stravinsky once said: " A good composer does not imitate; he steals."I think what he meant by this is that it's OK to use a technique developed by another... Read More

Piano Playing and Performance Anxiety

I'll never forget the first time I played the piano for an audience.It was my first concert and it was fairly full up. I was to play my first CD "La Jolla Suite"... Read More

Learn Piano the Easy Way!

There are essentially two ways to learn piano - note reading or chords. For those who want to spend years learning how to play other peoples music, note reading is the way to... Read More

How the Internet Helps Musicians

Everyone talks about the negative impact of the Internet on the music business. Illegal file sharing and copyright violations have decimated the profits in the industry. Record labels are less willing to take... Read More

Play Too Loud And Well Cut The Power!

"Turn it down!"How often have you heard that command in your musical lifetime? It's a plain fact that old people just don't like loud music. They should all be taken to soundproofed old... Read More

Interview With An Up And Coming Musician From Toronto

Today, Norm Goldman, Editor of Sketchandtravel.com and Bookpleasures.com is delighted to have as our guest, Dan Goldman, Guitarist, Song Writer, Poet, Arranger and a musician of many other talents.Dan is here to discuss... Read More

Things To Know When Shopping For A Guitar Amplifier

Guitar amplifiers are a major part of your tone. Some amps can do many things well, while others excel at producing specific tonal qualities. When shopping for a guitar amplifier, you will have... Read More

Where To Download Music On The Internet

Virtually all of you have probably heard of the RIAA's quest to crush online music piracy. The illegal sharing of copyrighted songs via the MP3 format on top the Internet costs the music... Read More

Music & Emotions: Can Music Really Make You a Happier Person?

How many times have you turned to music to uplift you even further in happy times, or sought the comfort of music when melancholy strikes?Music affects us all. But only in recent times... Read More

How To Dress Up Naked Music On The Piano

What in the world is "naked music?"You know it when you hear it, but the words that describe it sound strange, don't they? We've all heard of popular music and rock music and... Read More

Shut Up And Sing

What is it with these performers and their politics? Do they really think that people who pay $100 or more to hear them sing want to hear them utter political opinions? The audience... Read More

The Record Industry Continues Battle Against Free Music Downloads

Movie and record producers alike are saying file-sharing networks that permit its users the ability to make copies from other network member's computers are infringing on the copyright laws and costing billions of... Read More

Is Your Child Capable of Composing Music? Maybe the Next Mozart?

We've all heard of them. Child prodigies who begin composing music at some ridiculously young age. For instance, history reports that Mozart was writing minuets by the time he was five years old.... Read More

Music Industry Insider: Tess Taylor of NARIP and LAMN

Members of LAMN (founded in 1988) and NARIP (founded in 1998), are able to more quickly gain the insight, knowledge, and contact information they need for career development and career enhancement.The success of... Read More

The First The American Idol Kelly Clarkson

There is a lot more to the story that meets the eye, at least, where Kelly Clarkson, the American Idol, is concerned. Her rise to the top of the charts was not an... Read More

Flaming Guitars! Minarik Fuels The Excitement Of A New Generation Of Musicians

Celebrating an endorsement between G-Man Music and the fiery axe-makers known as Minarik Guitars, Scott G (The G-Man) reviews the Minarik Inferno X-treme.From the Telecaster to the Flying V to the Iceman to... Read More

Avoiding Injuries When Playing Guitar

To avoid any sort of injuries when playing guitar a common sense approach is recommended. Just what do I mean by that?Well, there are many simple and obvious precautions you can take that... Read More

Is the Mainstream Ready Once Again for Dance Music?

Not since the heyday of Dance/Pop Artists like Taylor Dayne and Paula Abdul has Dance Music been a mainstream category. Today, "Dance Music" as defined by Billboard's Dance Club Chart represents only a... Read More

What is Guitar Tablature and Can I Find It Online?

The guitar is one of the most popular musical instruments and the online guitar community probably the most popular of its kind. There are thousands of guitarists connected via online communities sharing guitar... Read More

Dance Musics Most Popular and Enduring Theme: The Declaration of Independence

It all started with Gloria Gaynor's "I Will Survive" in 1979, perhaps the biggest fluke in popular music history. To follow up her hit "Never Can Say Goodbye", Gloria's label issued a song... Read More

Piano Lessons For Adults: More Fun, Easier, & Faster Than Piano Lessons For Kids

Piano lessons for adults is generally LOTS more fun than it is for kids, primarily because the only adults that play piano are people who really want to, which is certainly not true... Read More

Internet Jams

Today's technology for the recording musician has been getting better and better with each passing month it seems. Software and computer interfaces are getting much less sophisticated and more user friendly for the... Read More