Christian Hits for Christmas: Piano Book

Bober's arrangements capture the emotional warmth and accessibility of contemporary Christian music while respecting the pianistic voice. The collection spans 24 beloved seasonal selections with carefully considered fingering and clear performance times, making it straightforward to build a cohesive Christmas service program or recital without hunting through multiple books.

These arrangements shimmer with the sincerity of contemporary Christian worship while maintaining the sophistication expected at this level. The harmonies feel modern and warm, with supportive accompaniment patterns that never overshadow the melody's emotional clarity.

Church pianists preparing Christmas services or special events will find ready-to-perform arrangements of familiar contemporary Christian hits. Piano teachers can assign these pieces to late intermediate and early advanced students seeking repertoire that combines accessibility with genuine musical substance, and solo pianists looking to build a seasonal recital program.

• Lean into the contemporary harmonic language by allowing slight flexibility in tempo during key cadences; these pieces reward a conversational rather than metronomic approach.
• Pay attention to Bober's fingering suggestions even in passages that feel comfortable with different choices; the marked fingerings often facilitate smoother voice leading in the accompaniment patterns.
• Balance the melody against the accompaniment by thinking of chordal textures as supporting rather than competing; let the top voice sing while keeping harmonic movement uncluttered.
• Use the approximate performance times to sequence pieces strategically within your program, grouping shorter selections with longer ones for dynamic variety.

Build an entire Christmas Eve or Advent service around a selection of these pieces, using shorter arrangements as prelude and postlude material and longer ones as featured performance moments. Alternatively, weave individual titles throughout a holiday recital to provide accessible but musically substantive options alongside more challenging works.

• Contemporary harmonic language and extended chord vocabulary
• Balancing melody and accompaniment in homophonic textures
• Interpreting fingering choices that optimize voice leading
• Managing varied rhythmic accompaniment patterns (stride, block chords, arpeggiation)
• Connecting repertoire interpretation to liturgical or seasonal context