A Hymnal with hymns mainly in A, B, C, D, E, F & G
I'm looking for a baptist or non-denominational hymnal with the majority of hymns written in A, B, C, D, E, F & G rather than so many in Ab, Bb, Db, Eb & Gb as in the older traditional hymnals
Any website/hymnal suggestion?
You're not going to find it. One of the best sites to find public domain hymns is: www.hymnary.org. You can research your own hymnals there, but I don't think you'll find one like you're requesting. Sorry.
Michael
P.S. I had a thought. Alfred and other beginning music lesson book publishers sell/sold a book of hymns for beginners.
P.P.S. Did you know you can play the same notes in Eb, but instead of 3 flats, play it in 4 sharps. The total of sharps + flats should equal 7 for it to work.
P.P.S. Did you know you can play the same notes in Eb, but instead of 3 flats, play it in 4 sharps. The total of sharps + flats should equal 7 for it to work.
A great way to gain facility in playing in other keys is to take a key (like Eb major) and play in its equivalent (E major.) It is also useful if you need to transpose a hymn to make it a bit easier for the congregation to sing.
Last edited by myorgan; 08-24-2019, 02:19 PM.
Reason: Fix superscript in original post.
Bill
My home organ: Content M5800 as a midi controller for Hauptwerk
E and B are not really easy keys to play in! I wonder if the o.p. has some other design in mind besides making things easier. I don't find it hard (anymore) to play in E from music written in Eb and use it as a modulation trick. Sadly, none of the other keyboard musicians I work with can do this, despite the youngest of them being 15 years my senior. They can only play what they see in front of them, and when a hymn is written in a high tessitura A major and I suggest taking it down to Ab they simply won't (can't) do it.
I'm wondering... how is a hymn in A (3 #) easier to play than a hymn in E flat (3 b)? Oder E (4 #) easier than A flat (4 b)?
B major is great for manuals only - the scale is so much easier than a scale in C major regarding the fingering, but can be a pain in the pedals. I don't think I've seen hymns in B major anywhere yet. E flat and B flat are rather common, though.
What's interesting is that many of our F major hymns used to be written in G major until the 1950s or so and have been transposed later.
Sometimes I get requests to play D major hymns in C major because the "d" is "such a high note".
Transposing a hymn directly is a skill that needs practice, but can certainly be mastered. I do it from time to time, but in some case I've cheated and told people I would play the hymn lower and they sang like angels despite the hymn remaining unchanged. O:-)B-) But that's another story.
Now we want to hear that other story! I can usually transpose a half step up or down by sight, but I also use the transposer of my Allen Organ. But once I forgot to turn the transposer knob during the live worship. As in your story, they sang just fine in the original key.
. . . Transposing a hymn directly is a skill that needs practice, but can certainly be mastered.
It's a great skill that every organist should pursue along the way. I learned about transposing in my first year of organ study, and that has always been something of value to me. I can, at will, transpose any hymn at sight. I do have a transposer on the organ I play, but I mostly can't use it because I have perfect pitch. There are no transposers, that I know of, on a piano, so all the more reason to learn how to transpose at sight.
Start with an easy hymn, say in the key of Eb ... memorize it well. Then try playing it in a different key - do not look at the music while doing that - play from memory. Eventually you will be able to play any hymn in any key even while looking at the music.
I'm wondering... how is a hymn in A (3 #) easier to play than a hymn in E flat (3 b)? Oder E (4 #) easier than A flat (4 b)?
B major is great for manuals only - the scale is so much easier than a scale in C major regarding the fingering, but can be a pain in the pedals. I don't think I've seen hymns in B major anywhere yet. E flat and B flat are rather common, though.
The theory is also explained in the threads, that a right-handed person will prefer flats, whereas a left-handed person will prefer sharps. The threads linked above will certainly challenge any pre-conceived notions regarding the subject.
Unfortunately, the OP has not signed on since (s)he posted, so we may never know the intent of the post (post-and-run member), but as "praise bands" come into their own, I do wonder if (s)he didn't make the post from the point of a frustrated guitarist. Beginning guitarists who do not know how to use capos or barre chords generally prefer keys and chords with sharps in them (i.e. C, D, E, G, or A). I do wonder if that might have been the intent of the original post.
Michael
Way too many organs to list, but I do have 5 Allens:
I also was wondering why the request for those keys, especially A, E, or B. Flats are effortless for me on the organ or piano, but more contemporary Christian music is written in sharps - for the guitars I presume.
The theory is also explained in the threads, that a right-handed person will prefer flats, whereas a left-handed person will prefer sharps.
Interesting observation. I'm almost ambidextrous and so far haven't found any preference in this regard, but will have a look at the links provided. Thanks.
Andrea,
The theory is also explained in the threads, that a right-handed person will prefer flats, whereas a left-handed person will prefer sharps.
Michael
I never heard this explaination before, however, I have noticed that French composers of the 19th and 20th century seem to write in sharp keys more frequently. It would be interesting to know if they were also left handed. Of course another thing that influences earlier composers of the organ is the temperament that their organs were tuned in.
Bill
My home organ: Content M5800 as a midi controller for Hauptwerk
Great point, Bill. It would be quite interesting, if I had the time, to research the temperaments and/or keys of historic compositions, countries, and composers.
From the OP:
I am a country guitarist first. Telecaster, Bass & Pedal Steel Guitar. B is not one my favorite keys, but the rest of the OP is where I'm at.
Do not like the capo, but can use one. Can't find a capo for the B3 at church. :-)
To all of you, thanks for the posts!
Check out openhymnal.org. It's all public domain, so no copyright issues. Also, they provide the typesetting source files so if you want to mess around with ABC+ format (the typesetter programs are free too) you should be able to put in the instructions to transpose it to whatever key you want. It's a very simple format (much much much easier than lilypond if you are familiar with that).
I'm looking for a baptist or non-denominational hymnal with the majority of hymns written in A, B, C, D, E, F & G rather than so many in Ab, Bb, Db, Eb & Gb as in the older traditional hymnals
Any website/hymnal suggestion?
It seems odd that someone who is out to have as few sharps or flats as possible (even if we're talking a preference for guitar keys) would choose B with 5 sharps and not want Bb with only two flats. My assumption was that if you could only play in one key but you had a capo, you were ready for anything.
It seems odd that someone who is out to have as few sharps or flats as possible (even if we're talking a preference for guitar keys) would choose B with 5 sharps and not want Bb with only two flats.
Perhaps that key was included either in error or ignorance?
Check out openhymnal.org. It's all public domain, so no copyright issues. Also, they provide the typesetting source files so if you want to mess around with ABC+ format (the typesetter programs are free too) you should be able to put in the instructions to transpose it to whatever key you want. It's a very simple format (much much much easier than lilypond if you are familiar with that).
timnc,
Thank you for the lead to openhymnal.org.
I'll get some MIDI files, load them into
a sequencer, transpose, and use a Score
program.
I'm sure using "ABC+" could
produce the results I'm looking for.
Thanks again!
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