Hymns in Praise Style: 25 Traditional Hymns in Contemporary Musical Settings, Book & Online PDF (Sacred Performer Collections) Paperback – January 1, 2016

The important thing to understand about this book is that it is not meant to necessarily be the extremely imaginative piano solos we have come to love and expect from Carol. This is supposed to be relatively straight forward, standard renditions of hymns with some altered chords and set into a somewhat contemporary beat like what a praise band would be. This book’s primary use is for accompanying congregational singing but can be used and even ad libbed as piano solos. I’ve written to Carol many times and she’s consistently said she encourages people to improvise on her arrangements, that’s why they usually are not very hard, especially these ones where many will use this book for congregational singing! Having said all that, great book and unique resource! Thanks a million, Carol. You were a great friend and I know you’re singing and dancing with the angels now!

These are some of my favorite hymns. Great Compilation of Favorite Songs. This will give me lots of songs to record.

Arrangements are a bit on the easy side but are just what I need starting out as a church pianist

HYMNS style bookI agree with several other reviewers; the music is simplistic. I have dozens of piano arrangement books, based either on hymns or praise-and-worship songs, most at the intermediate to early advanced level. While this is certainly not for a beginning pianist, it is more for a beginning church pianist. If one can play from a traditional hymnal, he or she could probably read through these pieces and use them without much practice. That is not what most church musicians are looking for, though I will probably not return the book. I intend to play one on a Sunday night, souping it up a bit, and embedding it in a prelude of three or four more intricate pieces. Doing this will cut down a tad on practice time.Oddly, the music is so simplistic and staid, I am also able to play a couple of the pieces on the organ for our early, traditional Sunday worship service, doubling the bass notes on the pedals. I can't do this with what I consider good piano music, with runs and flowing in a way not meant for an organ. For those of you pianists who do not play the organ as well, it differs from piano in that it has no sustaining pedal; sustaining is done solely with one's hands.The pieces in this book are not only simplistic, but formulaic. The hymn melody is presented with a bit of alteration in chords, followed by a short, simple bridge leading to a variation in another key, equally easy to play. Most often the variation is in the key of G major, though at times D major, pleasant but predictable.This is not an inherently bad book, just one that will challenge few church pianists. Most of us like to stretch a bit musically, hoping to thrill ourselves and our congregation with at least some of our selections. That will probably not happen with this music. Carol Tornquist has produced far more interesting work and I recommend you try some of the other books that include her more challenging arrangements.

I've been enjoying playing these hymn arrangements! The arrangements are a more upbeat tempo and best suited for prelude playing at my church, if you are buying it for solo music. I'd call myself an intermediate player and I've just needed to play them once or twice before feeling comfortable playing them in church. Usually each song has 1 key change for the last verse.

Really nice arrangements, pretty easy to play if you are just wanting to sight-read some things for church. Occasionally, the key changes get a little annoying but I guess that's how you vary strophic pieces.

Great addition to my library of music. I play for our church services every Sunday and this offers some variety for offertories, etc.

Loved the arrangements, hymns in a more relaxed updated style