Good for beginning pianist

Easy to Play Praise & Worship Tunes Book 1 (2002); Book 2 (2003) Songs Arranged for Piano-Vocal-Guitar by Trevor Olfert. All Arrangements Copyright by Open Sky Music. $15.00 each.

As a piano teacher and worship leader, I was excited to see two excellent worship books for the aspiring pianist. Trevor Olfert of Winnipeg has done an excellent job at choosing and arranging the music. Easy to Play Praise and Worship Tunes, Book 1 includes popular worship melodies from the mid-to-late-90s. It features music by Matt Redman, Martin Smith and Darrel Evans and Darlene Zschech. Examples are: “Heart of Worship,” “Better is One Day,” “Shout to the North,” “Trading my Sorrow.” Written in singable and easy to play keys for the novice player (keys of G, D, F, C), these arrangements provide a great opportunity for learning to play syncopated rhythms and interesting melodies. They are geared for a beginner pianist with several years of experience (approximately Grades 1–3 or even a bit higher for several pieces). Trevor includes one of his original pieces, “I will Follow You.” He mentions in his “Foreword,” that these arrangements provide an opportunity for improvisation even for the advanced player. The chords are included so the guitarist also has a great source of worship tunes.

Some of the songs in Book 2 are: “Above All,” “Forever,” “God of Wonders” and “Here I am to Worship.” These songs, again from a variety of composers and publishers, and featured by a host of artists (Delirious, Newsboys, Sonic Flood), are mostly written in the late 90s and early 2000s and offer a great balance of slow and quicker songs. Trevor has included the first few lines of four more advanced arrangements of “Come Now is the Time to Worship.” These are great examples of how one can take a simple arrangement and “work with it creatively.” To add a little spice to the variety of songs, “Pharoah, Pharoah” is included for some fun.

I highly recommend these two volumes of Easy to Play Praise and Worship Tunes to beginning and intermediate piano players, worship leaders and anyone who loves making music and has a heart for worshipping the Lord. Piano teachers will enjoy using this series to enhance their teaching library; students will love the opportunity to experiment with the arrangements and make them their own.

Carol Riediger, a registered piano teacher lives in Chilliwack, B.C. She works as receptionist at the Health Unit and is involved in worship and music at Central Community Church. Formerly she has been involved in music and evangelism at Saskatoon Youth for Christ and Bethany Bible Institute.