Music Matters
February 2008
Filling Out a Hymn
The church accompanist finds a variety of opportunities as they fulfill their
ministry to the congregation. Well planned and appropriate playing make a major
contribution to the mood of the service.
If you are a keyboard musician who needs assistance in finding ways to
provide creative hymn accompaniments that inspire and enable your congregation’s
singing, here are a a few suggestions for ways to start.
Change the hymn without changing the harmony:
1. Use the variety of sounds on the organ and change the registration between
verses. Begin, for example, with principals 8’,4’,2’ and mixture on stanza #1.
On stanza #2, subtract the mixture. On stanza #3, drop to another manual using
that division’s full chorus though the mixture without pedal, and for the
final stanza go back to the Great manual with principals 8’,4’,2’ adding a
mixture and 8’ reed with the pedal.
2. Use passing tones and neighboring tones to fill in skips and leaps in the
melody or bass (pedal).
3. Use descants. Transfer one the other parts, ideally the alto
or tenor, to the top part, above the soprano (melody). If there are a couple of
fine soprano sight-readers in your choir, invite them to sing the alto or tenor
one octave higher to heighten the experience for one and all!
4. Solo out the soprano melody on one manual while playing the alto, tenor
and bass parts with the left hand and pedal.
Practice these skills until you become proficient. Then, use the text of each
hymn stanza to inspire your creative use of these techniques to add meaning and
variety to your congregation’s song.
—Aaron Jaynes
If you have suggestions or ideas for future columns, please contact:
Jan Kraybill
Principal Organist and Director of Music
Community of Christ Headquarters
Independence, MO, USA
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