Playovers
The Complete Hymn/You are the Conductor!

• Identify the tune,
• Set the style or mood,
• Set the pitch, and pace
• Identify in sufficient time the exact moment when singing should start.

You must be the Orchestra and Conductor rolled into one! If you have never done any conducting, you should try to do some training in this area. Even if you are professional, take some time out to study conducting! It does not come naturally and I have seen many an unprepared professional struggle, especially in the world of Opera and Oratorio.

Looking at the details a bit more:

• "Rejoice, rejoice" in O come, O come Emmanuel
• "Shine! Jesus, shine!" in Lord the light of your love is shining

To help identify the tune, try soloing it on the Great, or Choir if you have one; this helps to bring out the tune from the many harmonics that organs sound. Also remember to shorten notes that will be repeated immediately (see graphic). A succession of crotchets on the same note for example, should be played as quavers with quaver rests between. Also, never couple a solo manual to the pedals.

Note: play-over or playover? I don't really like the term "intro" and the rather vulgar "outtro".
so I haven't used them.
In all the earlier graphics I used play-over and have changed that in later ones. But I won't be
altering the graphics where this is the only "fault" if it is indeed a fault.

Set the pitch
If you have a choir, the pitch set in most hymnbooks will be fine. But always be sure that your congregation can reach those high notes. The circumstances will matter. Jesus Christ is risen today will sound fine in C in a large church on Easter Day; but at a sunrise service in the open air, sung in A would be quite high enough.

Set the pace
This is a key part of getting your playover right:

• Practice the exact speed beforehand;
• Get the pace in your head before starting;
• Just because you have a large church building does not mean it must be slower;
• Never use a rallentando to indicate that your congregation should sing.

Supplementary notes on the pace of your hymns:

• Do not ral. at the end of each verse; the hymn will get slower and slower;
• Count rests carefully; do not rush through them;
• Beware hymns in 3:4. They often drag; see if the bars pair up into 6:8 to give an easier feel to the music. Not only that but you will quickly identify errors in the writing of the tune in the first place; I have highlighted some in the volume.

There are many AABA hymns. By this I mean the melody for lines 1, 2 & 4 are identical or nearly so. The Volume details these hymn structures where lines are repeated; use this to help you design your playover and bridge. A golden rule with these appears to include: Do not end your playover just before a repeated "A" as there will be confusion as to whether you are continuing the playover or starting the verse. I find the best way to playover AABA tunes, for example, is usually BA but sometimes ABA.

Sample Playovers

Here are two samples from the Volume that help to illustrate the principles:
The first is MILES LANE with melodic structure AB ACD. The play-over consists of ACD which gives instant recognition of the tune (A) but brings it quickly to a conclusion (CD) so congregation know that the singing is about to start. Most organists play AB and that means confusion unless something else takes place and all that is left is the pause or worse a rallentando. Note the total absence of any pause or rallentando anywhere in the play-over below. This setting incorporates a short bridge - the end of section B, and that works really well because that is naturally followed by A so the congregation know exactly where to come in. When I first ran this variation it was perfect from the first note!

Playover for MILES LANE illustrating first and last lines.

Playover for Now thank we all our God (NUN DANKET)

There are lots of hymns on YouTube. One contributor took umbrage when I said that his playing, while exciting perhaps, was not appropriate for a choir let alone a congregation to sing to. You must make your playing steady enough to set the pace and in particular get the timing right into verses. I hope in time to video examples, good and bad, and make them available for download.

So a general point here; if you publish, you will be criticised and I expect that here. But the vast majority of the arrangements work extremely well and mostly now I stick with them making minor adjustments and refinements as I go.

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© The Complete Hymn
June 2025