organ music

What I Purchased This Summer: New Piano and Organ Books

What I Purchased This Summer: New Piano and Organ Books

What will I play on Sunday?

As all church musicians know, it can be a struggle to find interesting but accessible arrangements that are well-written to play in worship week after week. 

A few years ago, I wrote these posts about some of my favorite organ and piano books:

10 Practical Collections for the Church Organist
Tried-and-True Favorite Collections for the Church Pianist

These collections are still great, but I’ve since updated my own library a bit and come across some new books I thought I’d recommend. So, in case you’re looking for some fresh new music for this year, here are my newest organ and piano books:

10 Practical Collections for Church Organists

10 Practical Collections for Church Organists

Earlier this week, I shared some of my all-time favorite church music collections for piano. Today, I'm adding to that with a list for organ! These collections are particularly well-suited for new organists, or those of you may not have played for a while and are looking for a way to ease back into all-out, full-pedal-work playing. As someone who's getting back on the bench this year after a few years away, I'm with you! These are some of my go-to resources right now:

1. Five Preludes on Familiar Hymns (Hopson)
Accessible writing makes this book a must-have. Five hymn preludes you can pull out and play with little preparation!

2. Baroque Music for Manuals #1 (Wolff)
A great series of books with a wide variety of (Classical) music (with optional pedal). Great for weddings or service music.