Have you been asked to play for a friend's wedding or in church, but don't think you have anything long enough? No worries. Use what you have creatively. Short pieces in the same key can be bundled together to make an interesting longer arrangement out of what you already know.
My students have made great use of this practice by taking their very eary pieces (which most keep in a repertoire book so that they always have music ready to play.
These simple solos are some of the first things they'd use in public. Originally, each was in the key of C major or A minor (key signature of all naturals), so they were easy to pair with anything in the key of A minor or C major without a key change. Overtime, more keys became helpful. Below you'll find several options to try for yourself. You can pair any relative keys together without a change of key signature, so pair C major with A minor for an interesting contrast between your sections of music.
Start with a simple A-B-A format - play one theme first, then the second, then repeat the first. It's a common form in music because it's satisfying to the listener.
Look through music that you already know and see what you can find that would compliment another piece in your repertoire and creatively piece together something uniguely yours.
Listen to the first option, Beside Still Waters, then grab the music below and make something new with it.
free sheet music downloads:
Beside Still Waters in A minor
Beside Still Waters in B minor (key signature of two sharps, pairs with keys of B minor or D major)
Beside Still Waters in D minor (key signature of one flat, pairs with keys of D minor or F major)
Hope in C major
Hope in F major
Hope in D major
Comfort in A minor
Comfort in D minor (key signature of one flat)
Comfort in B minor (key signature of two sharps)
Here's an easy version of Were You There?, with the hymn played twice, and Still Waters as the interlude between the two verses.
Also, try It is Well, in a Skill Building version, with or without a second page of material to lengthen the piece. You can "play the ink" on that one, or finish by restating the hymn tune on the first page. I've also included a lead sheet here as well (because it's a helpful skill to consider adding to your bag of tricks).
There are two lever shifts to be made in the Skill Building version, four in the longer versions. Don't let that give you pause. With each lever shift, your right hand will have been placed on strings very close to where you need to reach with your left hand. Use that to help guide your hand to the right lever. This will allow you to need your eyes a little less in the effort. If you need more help with this, go to the page with Odd-Ludes and find the download for the teaching notes. You can apply those to this piece, or learn the two pieces in Odd-Ludes that help get experience with this skill.
You could also use one of the above simple solos to pair with IT IS WELL. When you work within your current skill sets, you'll always make lovelier music. That is the goal, right?
There are more versions of this hymn posted on our solo sheet music page.
Download the Skill Building version of It Is Well .
It is Well, Skill Building, 2 pages, (key of C)
It is Well -lead sheet - key of C - download
Download the lyrics and the scripture references in this hymn here.