Thanksgiving hymns for piano

Thanksgiving falls on the second Monday of October in Canada and on the fourth Thursday of November in the United States, and these are hymns sung at both: We Gather Together, Now Thank We All Our God, Come, Ye Thankful People, Come, For the Beauty of the Earth, Praise to the Lord, the Almighty, and Old Hundredth, the tune of Praise God from Whom All Blessings Flow, here in John Dowland's setting with the melody in the tenor. Each is printed as a hymn book prints it, four voices on two staves, and each has easier versions made from the score itself, starting with the melody alone.

Pieces: 6
Level: 3
Key signatures: 1 flat to 2 sharps
Length: 12 to 21 bars

Playing a hymn for people to sing

Play the whole tune once as an introduction, at the speed you will keep, so the room hears the key and the pace before anyone sings. Then play it once for each verse. Between verses, hold the last chord for its full length, take a breath, and start the next verse on the beat.

Keep the beat steady from the first bar to the last. People sing with the piano, so a piano that slows down for a hard bar slows everyone. Choose the speed you can hold through the hardest bar and practise at that speed. If both hands together are too much yet, play an easier version: the melody alone, played steadily, leads singers better than all four parts played unevenly.

Each piece says roughly how long it takes to play through once. An introduction and four verses is five times through, so time one pass at your speed and plan from that.

Level 3

Both hands busy, the hand moves around, a sharp or flat or two.

Open a piece to print any of its versions free, or to play it at your MIDI keyboard with every note marked. New to reading? The level 2 sight-reading exercises are a good warm-up.