The theory and inspiration behind Piano at Daybreak, my series of new age hymn arrangements
There is a lot of appeal in piano arrangements that dazzle the listener with lush harmonies, technical pyrotechnics and fun and unexpected rhythms. Having played at churches in and around New Jersey for over 10 years, I have gravitated to crowd-pleasing arrangements by Mark Hayes and other big names in Christian music publishing. Mark’s arrangement of All Creatures of Our God and King is one of my favorite, and his “miniatures” books are useful for when you are short on practice time.
For my own arrangements in the Piano at Daybreak series, I have decided to take a slightly different direction. I’m using the term “new age” which is a somewhat loaded term and can be applied to a broad swath of music. In my usage I am thinking of music by David Lanz, Yanni, George Winston, Liz Story, and others. The acoustic Windham Hill recordings of the 80s and 90s in general are an influence here. The term “new age” can also be applied to meditative or spa music, and while many of my arrangements are soothing and easy listening, they’re still designed to be played live for a congregation or any other audience.
I usually start by familiarizing the hymn’s melody and harmonies as found in a hymnal. Then I pare down and smooth out the harmonies, in search of what I think are the essential harmonies for the given melody. Sometimes this is just one chord! But if that is the case, I usually broaden the harmonic palette after the first verse or improvisation. This is the case with my arrangement of Amazing Grace. There is a tonic pedal and do-ti-la-sol above in the left hand. It opens up into a cinematic section in the bridge before returning to the tonic pedal and the second (and final, in this instance) verse of the hymn.
Other times I try out modal harmonies, a minor key, or a progression that wouldn’t be expected with a given hymn but still sounds pleasing. Examples of this are Be Thou My Vision and Jesus Loves Me. I like to use repeated progressions with these arrangements, and it becomes a fun puzzle finding a chord progression that repeats but still works well harmonically and contrapuntally with the melody. One of my favorite recent examples of this is Guide Me, O Thou Great Jehovah. I discovered that the descending scale in the left hand is a beautiful counterpoint to the melody. I like using a repetitive figure for the left hand — I think of them as modern Alberti bass accompaniments, or guitar-like figures. This is common in contemporary solo piano music. That said, I still let my inner composer out with these, as there is a lot of variety among the arrangements. The left hand part of Nearer, My God, To Thee is almost a cluster of the first five notes of the tonic scale. For The King of Love My Shepherd Is, I channeled Eric Satie’s Gymnopédie and used the mixolydian mode. I used to play David Lanz’s Cristofori's Dream as a young pianist, and I use a similar triplet accompaniment in Once to Every Man and Nation and Come, Thou Long Expected Jesus. As for the melody, I typically use the higher register of the piano. In a lot of the arrangements I have played by other composers, the upper register is saved for the climax or the big finish. I decided to flip this around and start gently in the upper register and then move lower for subsequent sections. I often let the melody sing as a solo line with folksy embellishments. There are a lot of grace notes! These should feel organic, expressive, and spontaneous. Brethren, We Have Met to Worship is a fun example. I sometimes add in a bridge section with improvisation before repeating a melody or modulating to a different key, and this might be repeated at the end. One of my favorite interludes is from The Lone Wild Bird. I also really like the ending improvisation in Come Christians Join to Sing. These arrangements can be used in a variety of ways in a church service: as prelude, or before the prelude, or as reflective music during communion or an offertory. They can provide gently uplifting music for a memorial service, or incorporated into a service where meditation is central, such as Taizé, or a candlelight Christmas service. I hope that by my sticking to a “genre” of arrangements, you’ll know where to go if you need a new age arrangement of a hymn, and my arrangements will be a welcome addition to your library. The Piano at Daybreak series is available in print and digital versions. If you’re just looking for a specific arrangement, you cand find individual pieces on Sheet Music Plus, Sheet Music Direct, and on Musicnotes — however you’ll get much better value by purchasing the book! Recordings are available wherever you stream your music, including on Spotify, Apple Music, and YouTube. The piano visualization videos were created with See Music, and those are on YouTube as well! Comments are closed.
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AuthorIan Good is a published composer and arranger. ArchivesCategories |
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