Revive Us Again - Piano Cover - How to Make a Hymn Sound Contemporary - Christian Music Videos

Some examples of what you can do to make an old hymn sound more contemporary using Revive Us Again, originally attributed John Jenkins Husband and William Paton MacKay.

Performed and recorded on my Roland RD-700NX in the key of G.
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I can't call this a tutorial or instructional video as I'm not really teaching. Informational? Inspirational? You can pick a word after you've watched it! : )

A hot topic in worship right now is how to rearrange an old hymn into something that fits into a contemporary worship setting. A lot of the older hymns have some great words to them; but because they were meant for 4-part harmony (SATB), there are chord changes all over the place and they can really make the flow of the song sound rather jumbled and busy.

So, here I present some tips/guidelines/thoughts/whatever that might help to explain how to take hymns and turn them into contemporary arrangements-- without touching the melody!

Original time - The hymn as it's in the hymnal
First Repeat - Illustration of simplifying the chord changes

Second Repeat - Illustration of making the chording more interesting

Third Repeat - Illustration of contrasting dynamics and instrumental bridges

Fourth Repeat - Illustration of changing the arrangement of the verses and choruses

Fifth Repeat - Illustration of additional improvisation and a new vocal bridge

I hope this is helpful to someone! And if anyone has any specific questions, please let me know! Thanks!