piano duets for worship

8 Solo Piano Collections for Worship

8 Solo Piano Collections for Worship

This year, with the COVID-19 pandemic, churches have relied more on instrumental music in worship than choral music.

There’s been a need for more solo music vs. ensemble music and in some cases, music that can be recorded ahead of time or even recorded from home.

As any church pianist will tell you, having collections that you can pull out and play from over and over again is golden, especially at times like these when you’re providing the majority of the music in the service.

Looking for something new to play this year?

Here are eight solo piano collections to consider adding to your library.

"Come, Christians, Join to Play!" and 12 Other Piano Duet Books for Worship

"Come, Christians, Join to Play!" and 12 Other Piano Duet Books for Worship

Piano duets are a fun way to include other pianists from your congregation and add something special to your worship services. Plus, they’re just fun in general, am I right?

In my experience, even small churches have at least one person in the congregation who has some playing experience. Often, they just need to be asked and invited to participate.

Reach out to a few people in your choir or congregation who you know play the piano and ask if they’d be interested in playing a duet with you in worship sometime. If so, choose a collection (I recommend purchasing two copies so you can each have one to practice with). 

Find a time when you can get together to practice.

If the person you’re playing with is fairly accomplished and feels comfortable sight-reading, spend some time reading through some of the pieces to get a feel for what they sound like with both parts. If that’s not realistic, choose a few pieces to begin working on, decide who will play what part, and set up a few rehearsals in the coming weeks.

Tried-and-True Favorite Collections for the Church Pianist

Tried-and-True Favorite Collections for the Church Pianist

As all church pianists know, good piano arrangements are a necessary part of what we do. From preludes to postludes (and everything in between!), having collections that you can pull out and play from over and over are golden! I've collected several books over the years that I go back to again and again. The arrangements are fresh, accessible, and versatile, they fit well in various parts of the worship service, and they're fun to play! Looking for something new to play this year? Look no further. Here are my top 10, tried-and-true favorite collections for church pianists:

1. Classic Hymns We Love (various)
Twelve favorite hymns arranged by arrangers such as Mary McDonald, Pepper Choplin, Mark Hayes, and Ruth Elaine Schram. A go-to for preludes, offertories, and postludes!