What Praise Can I Play for Easter?: Piano Book

Tornquist has curated thirteen beloved Easter songs and arranged them in a way that honors both the texts and the contemporary worship sensibilities of modern churches. The practical addition of performance times for each piece makes real-world scheduling straightforward; you'll know exactly what fits your service without guesswork. Her harmonic language keeps these familiar songs sounding fresh while remaining fully accessible to pianists at the early advanced level.

These arrangements breathe with the clarity and openness of contemporary worship music while maintaining the reflective depth that Easter subjects deserve. Each piece combines accessible piano writing with harmonic language that feels current and alive, creating a musical setting that complements both the joy of resurrection and the gravity of redemption narratives.

This collection belongs in the hands of church pianists preparing Easter worship services, whether you're a volunteer seeking repertoire that sounds polished with reasonable preparation time or a paid musician wanting to expand your sacred contemporary catalog. Late intermediate to early advanced pianists will find the arrangements well within reach yet sophisticated enough to keep them musically engaged.

• Honor the contemporary style in the accompaniment patterns by listening to the dynamic shape of the harmonic progression rather than playing metrically rigid comping figures; let the emotional arc of each song guide your touch and voicing balance.
• Plan your registration and practice any modulations between pieces well in advance, especially if you'll be playing multiple selections in a single service; smooth transitions elevate the entire spiritual experience.
• Study the given performance times and use them to set a tempo that allows you to play expressively without rushing; Easter texts demand space for reflection, and hurried playing undercuts the message.
• Balance the melody against contemporary harmonic textures by reserving your full tone for the right hand while letting the left hand provide supportive context; avoid letting elaborate chord voicings overshadow the song itself.

Build an Easter Sunday service around several selections from this collection, using them as a prelude, postlude, and offertory to create musical continuity through your worship hour. The variety of tempos and emotional tones means you can program contrasting pieces throughout the service; use a triumphant selection like 'The Wonderful Cross' as your postlude and more meditative arrangements earlier in the hour to shape the spiritual arc.

• Playing contemporary harmonic voicings with clarity and independence between hands
• Shaping phrase contours across hymn-like structures while maintaining rhythmic stability
• Interpreting dynamic and expressive markings in contemporary worship styles
• Sight-reading and preparing repertoire efficiently for performance-ready use
• Understanding functional harmony in modern sacred music contexts