If you're a pianist who plays for a church that uses the hymnal, you may be wondering how you can expand on the SATB (soprano, alto, tenor, bass) notes that make up the hymns to give the music a fuller or more complex sound. In this article, I want to lay out a simple way to begin adding to the notes in the hymnal for congregation accompaniment.

The music I will be showing examples of is from Hymnary.org and can be found here.

Step 1: Moving the Tenor

The first step (that might be a bit tricky to get used to) is moving the tenor note from the left hand into the right hand. This will often put the tenor note in between the soprano and alto, creating a full chord in the right hand that lends to a more complete sound. In the below example of Amazing Grace, you can see where the tenor would land in the right hand by looking at the red notes.

As you can see, there was only one exception where I couldn't move the tenor into the right hand. That was on the Em chord in measure three since the G is the soprano as well as the tenor. In this case, I just added the E to complete the Em chord. At some point once you're very used to doing this, you could even throw in an extra soprano note an octave lower than the melody to create an octave chord in your right hand. This provides a more majestic sound, but you will want to make sure you have practiced the simpler three note chords well first.

Since the tenor is now in the right hand throughout the song, you can drop the tenor in the left hand and play only the bass notes. Once you feel confident in this, you can begin to experiment with playing the bass notes as octaves rather than a single note.

What will make transferring the tenor easier is if you can look at any one of the given four notes and quickly recognize what chord they make. The above example where the chords are given for you is a more modern addition to hymnals, so it is not super likely you will come across it often quiet yet. You will want to make sure that when you practice this, you play as many different hymns as possible. You don't want to simply memorize how to do this with one song. You want to become proficient at doing this for any song you are asked to play. It will likely seem daunting at first, but recognizing the chords for yourself will become easier in time as you get used to playing the tenor in the right hand more and more.

Step 2: Expand the Left Hand

Now that you are used to transferring the tenor note to the right hand, it's time to expand on the left hand. You may have already begun do this if you have experimented with playing the bass notes as octaves already. This is improvement from what is written in the hymnal, but you may still feel like things sound disconnected or choppy. Now you can begin trying to play with left-hand patterns. The easiest basic left hand pattern to start out with is the 1, 5, 8 pattern. For example, if you have a G chord, you will play the first note of the G scale (G), the fifth note of the G scale (D), and the eighth note of the G scale (another G, just an octave higher). This simple pattern will really smooth things over and give the hymn a more elegant sound.

Now, often in hymns, you will see that the bass note is often different than the chord played on top of it. For instance, you might see a G chord being played with a D in the bass. In this case, you will need to alter the 1, 5, 8 pattern. You will need to play notes in the G chord in a different order (like D, B, D, or 5, 10, 12, for a G/D chord). This will come in time and if it is too difficult at first, you don't need to worry about it. You can simply move the bass note back to the "root" (bottom note, or G in this case) of the chord. Below, you can see an example of how I would play this pattern (playing the red notes only) using the same line from Amazing Grace as above. Notice how the G/D chord in measure two uses the variation of the notes in the G chord to reflect the change from G to D in the bass. You may also notice that on the Em chord in measure three, the left and right hands overlap. In this case, you need to either lower your left hand an octave or adjust what notes you play in either hand.

Once it has become easier to use this left-hand pattern in various hymns and various keys, you can try adjusting the pattern to achieve different sounds. For example, try a 1, 5, 10 pattern (numbering the G scale, these notes on a G chord would be G, D, B), a 1, 5, 8, 9, 10 pattern, etc.

Conclusion

This gives you a good, simple starting point for expanding on the hymns. From these basics, you can start trying to experiment with new ideas to create a style of your own that best fits your church music and congregation. These steps will each need to be practiced until you are proficient at them. Being able to "translate" the SATB notes quickly is key for being able to play the hymns well for congregational singing. It may take some extra work to prepare for your Sunday mornings services at first, but I am sure that you will find in the end that it was worth it, as your playing will help lead the congregation better!

As always, feel free to contact us if you have any questions!