What Can I Play on Sunday?, Book 2: March & April Services: Piano Book

Berry's arrangements honor the hymn texts while giving pianists engaging material that doesn't demand hours of woodshedding. The collection moves deliberately through the liturgical calendar, so you can grab exactly what you need for each service without flipping past irrelevant repertoire. Late intermediate pianists get to sound confident and supportive without technical complications that would eat up rehearsal time.

These arrangements combine reverence with musicality, allowing the weight and tradition of each hymn to shine while adding warmth and harmonic depth. You'll encounter moments of gentle complexity that reward careful listening without becoming a distraction from the text or the liturgy. The writing feels grounded in genuine worship rather than performance for its own sake.

Church pianists and musicians directing from the keyboard who need reliable arrangements of familiar hymns for Sunday worship. This book serves pianists who want strong, musically substantial arrangements but don't have the luxury of unlimited rehearsal time. It's also useful for pianists working in liturgical settings where multiple hymns are needed across a single season.

• Balance the hymn tune with any obbligato or counter-melody so the familiar melody remains the anchor. Singers will rely on hearing it clearly.
• Allow the harmony to breathe at phrase endings, even if the score doesn't mark a ritardando. These hymns need space for congregational participation.
• Listen to how the arrangement handles modulations or key changes. Some hymns shift tonality mid-piece, so mark those moments in your score ahead of time.
• Consider the acoustics of your worship space. A church with live reverberation may need slightly less pedal than you'd use in a dry practice room.

Use this collection as your primary resource for March and April services, pulling arrangements that align with your specific liturgical calendar and communion observances. The selections for Lent provide contemplative textures suitable for midweek services or quiet Sunday moments, while the Easter hymns work equally well as preludes, postludes, or service music. You might also pull individual arrangements as piano interludes between choral or congregational pieces.

• Playing hymn arrangements with proper harmonic voice leading
• Coordinating melody awareness with accompaniment texture
• Managing pedal use in spaces with varying acoustics
• Navigating key changes and modulations within familiar hymn melodies
• Balancing rhythmic precision with the flexibility required in congregational singing