Learn all about playing piano hymns below
Are you interested in learning how to play hymns on the piano? Playing hymns is fun and a great way to improve your piano-playing skills. Most hymns are meant for singing, and so they’re perfect for learning to play the piano while singing or while others are singing with you.
In the following paragraphs, we will discuss easy piano hymns that you can learn to play at home, provide you with resources so that you can learn hymns at home, and give you other performance and practice tips! Read on to learn more.
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What are easy hymns to play on piano?
Below is a list of easy hymns that you can learn to play on the piano! If you’d like to download the sheet music to these songs, visit our store here or click on the specific song’s link! Some of these hymns are free (such as Amazing Grace) and the others are included in Hoffman Academy Premium Membership. If you don’t have Premium, you can still purchase the sheet music downloads for a small fee! In the next paragraph there are videos that can help you learn some of these hymns.
Famous Hymns:
- Amazing Grace – Elementary Level
- Amazing Grace – Early Intermediate Level
- A Mighty Fortress – Early Elementary Level
- A Mighty Fortress – Late Intermediate Level
- Be Thou My Vision – Early Intermediate Level
- Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing – Early Elementary Level
- Down By the Riverside – Early Elementary Level
- Down By the Riverside – Elementary Level
- Go Tell It On the Mountain – Elementary Level
- Go Tell It On the Mountain – Intermediate Level
- Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring (J.S. Bach) – Early Intermediate Level
- Jesus Loves Me – Early Elementary Level
- Jesus Loves Me – Late Elementary Level
- Kumbaya – Elementary Level
- Simple Gifts – Elementary Level
- When the Saints Go Marching In – Early Intermediate Level
Christmas Hymns:
- Angels We Have Heard on High – Elementary Level
- Carol of the Bells – Intermediate Level
- Deck the Halls – Elementary Level
- Deck the Halls – Intermediate Level
- God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen – Early Elementary Level
- Good King Wenceslas – Early Elementary Level
- Hark! The Herald Angels Sing – Elementary Level
- Here We Come A-Wassailing – Elementary Level
- It Came Upon the Midnight Clear – Elementary Level
- Joy to the World – Elementary Level
- O Christmas Tree – Early Elementary Level
- O Come, All Ye Faithful – Elementary Level
- O Come, O Come Emmanuel – Early Elementary Level
- The First Noel – Elementary Level
- Silent Night – Elementary Level
- Silent Night – Early Intermediate Level
- Silent Night – Intermediate Level
- We Three Kings – Early Elementary Level
- What Child is This? – many levels
How to play piano hymns for beginners
Learning to play hymns for the first time isn’t always easy, especially on your own. For a little help, check out this list of Hoffman Academy videos in which Mr. Hoffman and other excellent Hoffman Academy teachers guide you through the learning process!
- Amazing Grace – Elementary Level
- Amazing Grace – Early Intermediate Level
- Amazing Grace – How to Improvise an Accompaniment – Intermediate Level
- When the Saints Go Marching In – Early Intermediate Level
- Carol of the Bells – Intermediate Level
- Deck the Halls – Elementary Level
- Deck the Halls – Intermediate Level
- Silent Night – Elementary Level
- Silent Night – Early Intermediate Level
- Silent Night – Intermediate Level
- When the Saints Go Marching In (Left Hand) – Early Intermediate Level
How to play hymns with chords on piano
Playing hymns with chords on the piano takes time and effort. Many traditional hymns have chords completely written out in the sheet music. These chords will often have two notes in the treble clef and two notes in the bass clef to match the voicing for singers in four-part harmony. To improve your reading skills as you learn these hymns, check out these Hoffman Academy blog articles:
Reading Music vs Playing By Ear
Seven Steps to Super Sight Reading
Modern hymns or modern editions of older hymns often include chord symbols. To learn more about reading and playing from chord symbols, check out these blog articles:
Diatonic Chords in Major and Minor Keys
For help practicing and memorizing chords, check out our downloadable Piano Chord Chart here!
Tips on how to accompany hymns on piano
In the last paragraph we discussed materials that can assist you while learning chords with which to perform hymns. Here are some tips on how to play piano hymns while other people sing along!
- If the chord symbols are included in the music, accompanying hymns on the piano can be done simply by playing the chords while other people who know the melody sing the hymn.
- If the singers don’t know the melody well, playing the melody and chords at the same time will help them sing along.
- If there are no chord symbols, practice playing only the bass (lowest voice) and soprano (highest voice) lines of the music. The soprano part is usually the hummable melody and the bass line helps keep the singers in tune.
- Always remember to briefly pause when the words have a comma, period, or other type of punctuation. This will allow the singers time to breathe before continuing on.
- Listen to the singers and try to stay with them, even if someone makes a mistake! Over time, this exercise will make you an excellent hymn accompanist.
Now that you’ve learned a little about playing piano hymns and finding resources that you can practice with, you’re ready to practice on your own! Have fun and remember that a little practice every day can go a long way!