Piano Introductions For Hymns – What Should You Play?
Church pianist often wonder what they should play for the introduction to a hymn. The introduction is the “front door” to a song and it should be both beautiful and useful.
You should play an introduction that is easy to follow so that the congregation will know just when to begin singing! Of course, they will be following the worship leader.
The hymn introductions play a vital role in congregation singing. We serve a living God! Therefore, the church pianist’s introduction should reflect this message. Remember that we express emotion through music.
Most modern hymnals have brackets located above the score that suggest a suitable piano or organ introduction.
Before playing a hymn introduction, scan it to make sure that you see the complete introduction. You may want to highlight the brackets in your personal hymnbook, especially if the introduction marked is in more than one place or the final phrase of the introduction does not happen to be at the end of the hymn.
Some introductions are at the beginning of the hymn or completely at the end of the hymn. These are the easiest to play. Some introductions will include a phrase at the beginning and a phrase at the end of the song. Look at the brackets before you begin playing to make sure that it is clear to you where to make the skip from the first phrase to the last.
In the following hymn it is a little more difficult to play the hymn introduction because the jump is made in the middle of a phrase. It is recommended that you practice this intro until you are comfortable playing it. In measure six you play the notes for the first two beats and then you go to measure 14 for the third beat. Then you finish the introduction with the last two measures of the song.
It is OK to shorten or lengthen the suggested introduction. If the hymn is unfamiliar to the congregation, you might want to play the hymn completely through so that the congregation will feel more comfortable with it. If the hymn is well known, the last line or phrase may be a sufficient introduction.
Other Tips For Playing hymn Introductions
- Be excited about each song you introduce!
- Give a rousing, loud introduction which will encourage the congregation to join in song.
- Keep the introduction moving to the very end and do not observe any holds.
- Don’t slow down because this will destroy the singing tempo and my cause confusion for the initial entry of the singers.
- Don’t play an arpeggio of cascading notes to end the introduction.
- Keep the introduction moving
- Make sure that the introduction ends with the chord that the song will use to begin.
- You probably want to play a rousing introduction for peppy songs and a more subdued mood for devotion type hymns.
When the church pianist applies these tips for playing hymn introductions it should make a huge difference in the congregation singing.
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