Need Help For Church Performance.

[joplinfreak]

I need something that sounds classical or even jazz but with Christian undertones. My church is really hard core and doesn't allow "non-Christian" music, evidently they don't believe in freedom of expression. I am so TIRED of playing caned pieces with no feeling or emotion and have exhausted every thing I think of. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks

[malaguena]

I used to play for a church like this. Once I was severely tempted to go up one week and bang out an extremely obnoxious version of "Kumbaya My Lord" just to see the expressions on their faces. Oh well, self-restraint ruins so many good opportunities...:/

I just picked jazzy offertories to play; whatever sounded okay to me. I like to pick older offertory hymns such as "When the Roll Is Called Up Yonder" and "The Old Rugged Cross" simply because usually they're written more lively/jazzy

---You can also find offertory books that include actual parts of classical pieces within the hymns. =) They're not my first pick, but if you're looking for a change, you could definitely get one there.

[joplinfreak]

I have played those in my last church, I used to play pieces like Rhapsody in Blue and The Entertainer. This church is not as forgiving . I've tried southern spirituals but they just don't capture my skill level. That's why I'm calling on you guys to see what you come up with.

[theholygideons]

Any Bach prelude and fugue should have christian undertones since they were meant to be played prior to a church service (if my memory serves me correct). Liszt is another choice, he has so many transcriptions or compositions based on religious themes, to hell, even his sonata has the theme of Christ in it.

[hfmadopter]

I've tried southern spirituals but they just don't capture my skill level.

But playing in church is not about capturing your skill level, it's probably more about edification, about promoting spirituality and glorifying God. This is a ministers or a priests job, where the music is an aid not the forefront.. Yes, you would want as a pianist, to break loose with something wondrous musically but the aim of the church is not that? There is a bigger picture here, their job if it is a good church is peoples souls. Maybe you need to play for a more progressive church, one with new ideas on religion. But really, I suspect most churches view would be if you want to display your skills you should put on a recital. Something else you could try is to arrange the pieces they want so they have more oomph. Don't overdo it though. And of course if people also sing while you play then you are kind of stuck.

Some church groups like Baptist or Catholic ( comes to mind off the top of my head) follow very strict guidelines in everything they do. Everything you do is for the church and for God. The music is part of that ministry, so will be within guidelines of church doctrine.

[iansinclair]

I second all of hfmadopter's comments.  And might add a couple of my own.

First, a worship service is not, repeat not, a performance.  It is a worship service.  There are times and places for performances -- I've played a good few organ recitals in my time -- but the service isn't one of them.  Not that your playing should be mousy or subdued -- not at all -- but that whatever you play is an integral part of the service itself.

To hfm's Baptist and Roman Catholic, add -- at the very least -- Episcopalian or Anglican, any of the Lutheran churches, and Presbyterian or Scottish Kirk.  The rubrics regarding appropriate music are variable in each denomination, and the priest (if you aren't one yourself) may have varying attitudes towards interpreting those rubrics.  They are generally much more flexible on Preludes and Postludes, but much less so on music during the service.

All that said, there is a truly incredible amount of really fine sacred or sacred related music -- although more from the Baroque and earlier periods than later periods (although in the field of organ music, which I know much better than piano, there are some wonderful modern compositions by the likes of Healey Willan, Langlais, Franck, Alain, Widor... ).  There is also a huge repertoire of fine tunes in the US from such traditions as Sacred Harp, Southern Harmony, etc. -- and a lot of "country & western" or "bluegrass", never mind so many of the tunes from Celtic tradition both in Appalachia and Nova Scotia, as well as Scotland and Ireland -- many of which have sacred texts and which are quite suitable and usable for really inspired improvisation.

But go back to my first paragraph before you go back to the keyboard.  It is a worship service.  And what you are doing is not a recital or a performance; it is your worship, soli Deo gloria.

[indianajo]

My church is like that. I played George Winston's "The Holly and the Ivy" when I first got there, and everybody stared at the ceiling like I was wearing a speedo swimsuit.  Holly and Ivy is a five hundred year old English carol! but it is not acceptable to my group of American Baptists.
I tried to get the accompanist to play Brahms variations on St Anne Chorale for a postlude (four hands version) and she suggested she did not want to be fired.  St Anne's chorale is a five hundred year old church tune also, but anathema to local American Baptists.   Perhaps after 400 years they have a little trouble forgiving and forgetting Pope Leo's indulgence program? Much of the high church tradition is great art, it is a shame to ignore it.  
I tried singing in the church choir, but after ten years they were singing variations on the same old forty tunes.  I gave up. That is as trite as the "vintage Rock" radio format, forty songs every hour of every day, but wordly talent is not a Christian virtue.  The church choir have added "praise choruses" to the beginning,  which are written for sopranos and tenors, have no counter melodies, and mostly have the same 6 words repeated over and over.  They also change the chord structure on different passes through, so making up a countermelody is not an option either. I don't even sing any more in the congregation.  
If I tried to play any JS Bach or Luther, say Ein Feiste Burg, I'd probably get the same reaction from my congregation.  That is in the hymnal but they never sing it.  They would rather sing Janice Joplin's Amazing Grace every other Sunday, at least that is the first artist I ever heard sing it.  The Southern Baptist church I grew up in was more into Fannie Bryce hymns.  
I have to say The Entertainer author Scott Joplin got started in  bars or whorehouses, and probably should not be played in the sanctuary.  I have played Scott Joplin in the fellowship hall for the charity dinner for the poor, and got away with it.  But not at my church, just when the charity committee was visiting cooks at another congregations fellowship hall.  
By contrast to the hidebound know-nothings that run my church, it says in Revelations when we get to heaven we get to sing a new song.  I look forwards to seeing a lot of shocked faces on people in charge of our congregation.  Oh, the  power of big donations and a successful marriage.  JS Bach had this problem, he started writing for four harpsichords in coffee houses instead of pipe organs.  
I've been in other denominations that are more flexible on music in the service, but they allow people in obvious irregular romantic relationships to lead their congregations, which is off my toleration list.  Let the sinners sit in the back with me and be silent.  I wrote some new evangelical words and performed Reggie Dwights Blue Canoe and Carole King's One Fine Day in that church but those days are over.  I left that denomination when the State Bishop was leading protest marches in the street for the rights of Saddam Hussein to oppress and torture his Shiite citizens and tax his richer neighbors at the 100% level. Pacifists are a long tradition in that church, stretching to WWII and beyond, but pacifism not part of my culture.  Somebody has to clean up the garbage of the world; my father and uncles did their bit starting in 1940 before the Congress got around to noticing any problem. My grandfathers served in WWI, one as an infantry "scout" cutting the barbed wire before attacks.  I've done my bit demonstrating our Army's level of training against the Soviets, and the  "cold war" turned out well, ending in a change of venues to commercial and political competition instead continued military conflict.  
I pray for the music committee members of my church every day, in the vein of "pray for your enemies" but I won't sing or play their pablum.  A new accompanist has been hired, may they pay him well to limit his repretoire.  Fortunately, there are charity dinners and nursing homes I can perform in.  

[joplinfreak]

The thing I forgot to mention is that I will be playing a special not the service. When I play the service it's usually straight out of the hymnal, but the special is where I play the solo. Most churches generally allow a little freedom when it comes to specials. I recently learned that Southern Baptists don't like anything remotely secular, so I have to find something "churchy."

When it comes to worship I believe the most important thing is playing your heart out. Music in general should be played with joy and worship music especially. Regardless of genre, if you play your best and give God your all then that is a form of worship. King David danced on many occasions a thing most churches would consider unacceptable. On a side note, I am very traditional and do not care for modern churches.

Thanks for the suggestions so far, if you could give me specific pieces that would be great!

[j_menz]

Do the Liszt transcription of Mozart's Ave Verum Corpus.  It's lovely, and should confuse the heck out of 'em.

[joplinfreak]

Indianjo I would never play Jazz or Rags in a church service. I just wondered if there were any Christian pieces in the same genre. The only reason I could play them at my last church was because I was taught there, and it was relatively small with only 30 or so members.

[lelle]

Do the Liszt transcription of Mozart's Ave Verum Corpus.  It's lovely, and should confuse the heck out of 'em.

Or play Liszt's A la Chapelle Sixtine which is a passacaglia inspired by Miserere mei Deus by Allegri alternating with the same Mozart transcription. It's an amazing piece which is rarely heard, has a very religious sound to it, and got some difficult arpeggio passages if you were looking for something more challenging.

[indianajo]

Keith Green's Only By Following Jesus is so syncopated and up tempo I've never heard it on WJIE-FM, the local "Christian" station.  If it is not mush, it must be sin.  Following has a very evangelical message, but I played piano and sang it for our church at an evening "talent show" meeting.  I then told the music director I was ready to sing this in a service anytime.  It has been 16 years, they haven't found time for it yet.  The next "talent show" they changed the rules to where only "vocal groups" could perform.  
Pick up George Winston's December CD or LP, besides the Jazz Holly and the Ivy it has a nice Carol of the Bells and Some Children See Him plus some austere secular winter music.
Rich Mullins Winds of Heaven Stuff of Earth has  If I stand, Such a Thing as Glory and Ready for the Storm in addition to the mainstream Awesome God. My church has adopted Awesome God as one of the choruses but they have turned it into a torch song with random chord backup.  Neither will they pay Mullins heirs any royalties,  the guy killed himself in a car wreck trying to make a buck out of his talent, but churches take the American Tobacco option and show the lyrics on the screen instead of paying to hand out copies of the music.  Another reason I won't sing with the choir, I've told them what I think about intellectual property theft, and they could care less.  I met Rich Mullins at Ichthus music festival, I miss him and his talent. 

[joplinfreak]

They have a very hard time recognizing my talent for the piano. I told them I love to play the 20s and 30s Rag and Jazz; since then I can't seem to get onstage. My biggest problem is that they constantly ask me why I'm not singing, they never once asked me to play the piano. I DON'T want to show off or turn my 5 minute special into a recital, but I DO want them to understand that I play not sing. Singing has never been my passion. The strange thing is that I've already played for them, right out of the hymnal too. I didn't play anything extreme in fact I only played well known Baptist songs. There are a few people such as my youth pastor who appreciates my talent but they all belong to the minority. Don't take this the wrong way I'm not trying to sound arrogant in the slightest. Just trying to figure out how to play my favorite instrument for a crowd of unwilling people.

[j_menz]

Or play Liszt's A la Chapelle Sixtine which is a passacaglia inspired by Miserere mei Deus by Allegri alternating with the same Mozart transcription. It's an amazing piece which is rarely heard, has a very religious sound to it, and got some difficult arpeggio passages if you were looking for something more challenging.

I'm embarrassed to say I didn't know about this one. Thanks for the heads up. A looming wet weekend is looking more fun!

[pianoplunker]

They have a very hard time recognizing my talent for the piano. I told them I love to play the 20s and 30s Rag and Jazz; since then I can't seem to get onstage. My biggest problem is that they constantly ask me why I'm not singing, they never once asked me to play the piano.

Or maybe they do recognize your talent for the piano. Just tell them you dont sing because it makes the piano player screw up, Then humble thy self. Nobody owes you a piano or a stage. Dont blame the secular for wanting secular.  As you can see it wont get you very far in church music. 

[pianoplunker]

I. I've tried southern spirituals but they just don't capture my skill level. That's why I'm calling on you guys to see what you come up with.

Music never captures your skill level, it is the other way around. And southern gospel music is at the heart of blues, and jazz. Yet you dismiss it. that is just musically ignorant. You are not seeing any light at all to make a comment like that.

[indianajo]

My church insists I should also sing instead of play, as long as I sing exactly what they tell me.  The few times the church choir has stumbled on a piece I liked, say a simplified Handel Messiah chorus,  the leader said "we'll put that away and do that later", and in 16 years, later has never come.  I think they would rather I sang soprano, since they change the chords to the choruses so frequently, but I am not gifted that way.  I'm a baritone.  
As far as gospel music, the roots of blues etc, there is still a huge split in the denominations that call themselves "Baptist' and "Methodist". Majority church choirs will now sing songs out of the 1860 "spiritual" publication (I saw it on PBS History detectives, in the original) but they won't sing anything like the Blues etc of the minority branches of the church.  Experiments at melding the two traditions don't seem to go well.  I played the Sunday before Christmas in a Methodist church that has hired a black song leader, and they are giving it a go.  But it is a very tiny church, about 60 people on the pre-Christmas Sunday, which is usually a big attendance day.  
So my advice is- find a church where the sermons and programs feed you spiritually.  You may not find one that also believes in art as a musical experience.  Playing in low  church doesn't pay anything, even the music director makes about $14k a year, whoopy.  So don't worry about it, to some people the deadly dotted quarter and eighth note is irremediably associated in their minds with the sex and drugs they did in college/young adulthood.  The fact that the only drug I did in those years was antihistimines and I've had one sexual partner and no children, doesn't lessen the general feeling of sin and corruption among the judgemental.  All we can do is confess our own sins, and not worry about those who promote themselves to be in charge.  Our pastor confesses his obvious faults fairly regularly which I respect him for.  The fact of his pride in his team's musical tunnel vision is something I just have to wait out.  

[joplinfreak]

Southern Spirituals are some of my favorite pieces of music because they ARE the origins of Jazz. Unfortunately I don't have anything very advanced in technique that's what I meant by "skill level." It's all rather plane, and I don't currently posses the skills to make it sound better if you know what I mean . Please, don't misunderstand me when I say "I can't seem to get onstage." I have no intentions of sounding arrogant. You see, in this church you are required to perform a special as a member. Everyone does something, whether it be singing, skits, or even a short video, all participate at some point. My problem is that they want me to perform a special, but they don't want me to play the piano. It's all very ironic if you ask me. 

Thank you all for the very kind suggestions, but I will no longer need to wary about it. I am moving back to my old town at the end of this month and wont have time to complete a special here at this church. A la Chapelle Sixtine sound's great, and it's next on my list of music to get thanks for the comment! Again I want to reiterate I'm trying to be as humble as possible it's not like I go around flaunting my talent, never. I just want them to understand that I can play and that I have a good time with it. Musically ignorant is not a term I would use either, I was truly at a loss of what to play. If I had a piece to play, then I wouldn't have posted. That's not the case any more I will definitely play the suggestions. Thanks again!

[doreen]

Hi,

Try Lorenz publishing they have everything church piano.
Some really nice arrangements of hymns to play at
all skill levels.
The best part is if you purchase them and don't like the music
they will take it back.
https://www.lorenz.com/‎