A few months ago, I received an email from a friend:

“Hi Ashley! I am looking for hymn accompaniments for four hands at the piano. Not arrangements, but the actual hymn. We will be without our organ for some months and I want to beef up the piano sound by adding hands. Do you know of any books with this? Or websites? I guess we could just play in octaves, but maybe there is something interesting out there."

Can anyone relate?

Whether the organ is undergoing repairs, that F# is in need of a good tuning, or you show up one morning and the power is out…

Sometimes, you need to use the piano to accompany the hymns.

But if you’re in a large space, the piano may not be enough on its own to really support and lead the congregation in song. What’s a church musician to do?

Hymn harmonizations are a great way to add musical interest to your hymn-playing and congregational singing. Use them to highlight particular verses, create a certain mood or expression, or heighten an important point in the worship service.

The trouble is, where do you find these hymn harmonizations?

Your denomination may have a few hymnal supplements available, offering some re-harmonizations, but these can be expensive and sometimes, not all that exciting.