David Carr Glover Method for Piano: Hymns with Chords, Level 2: Piano

Flatau heard what teachers actually needed and delivered exactly that. These arrangements honor the hymn melodies while remaining idiomatic to the piano, so students play figures that feel natural under the fingers rather than transcriptions forced onto the instrument. The singable keys make this book genuinely flexible for both solo performance and accompaniment work.

These hymn arrangements offer the satisfaction of playing music with genuine harmonic depth while staying within reach. The melodies ground the pieces in something familiar and meaningful, while the accompaniments provide texture and movement that engage both hands fully. Playing through this collection feels like learning to speak a new musical dialect while still holding onto songs you already know.

Intermediate piano students working through the Glover Method series or any comparable Level 2 curriculum. Directors and classroom teachers seeking supplementary material that combines familiar melodies with practical harmonic content. Settings where students need both solo repertoire and pieces they can use to accompany singers.

• Balance the melody against accompanying voices by listening to the overall texture rather than isolating treble from bass. Let the hymn tune breathe without dominating the sound entirely.
• Choose tempos that allow the harmonic progressions to land clearly. Rushing through these pieces obscures the voice leading that gives them their character.
• If using these as accompaniments, practice singing or playing the melody separately first. This clarifies what the piano arrangement is supporting, not competing with.
• Pay attention to the chord symbols when they appear. They often suggest comfortable fingering patterns that make the pieces more accessible than traditional notation alone.

Integrate these throughout the year as supplementary study alongside method book lessons. Pair specific hymns with related church services or school assemblies, giving students a real performance context beyond the practice room. Use them as sight-reading material in group lessons, rotating through selections so students build confidence with unfamiliar harmonic language while the melodic core remains accessible.

• Reading and executing chord symbols
• Voicing triads in both hands across multiple registers
• Supporting a melody line with complementary accompaniment patterns
• Interpreting figured bass concepts through keyboard arrangement
• Recognizing and playing common harmonic progressions
• Sustaining musical line across hand position shifts