“Preludes” and “postludes” are just fancy words for “before the service” and “after the service.” Playing music is a great way to welcome people to the church service and later send them off with a song in their hearts.

If you are the full-time pianist for your church, your day at the piano begins before the service starts. At our church, the Sunday School classes dismiss ten minutes before the worship service begins. At five minutes before the hour, the orchestra tunes up and then the prelude music begins.

Things to remember for the prelude:

If you are playing with other instruments (second piano or orchestra, etc.) be sure you’re tuned together and ready to begin.

Be sure that you are clear on how many verses to play of each song or are capable of making it clear that you are switching to another song.

If you modulate between songs, only you should play and the other instruments join in after the next song begins. (Often, I’ll skip any kind of modulation because there are so many moving parts and it’s difficult to keep things together, but it’s a great tool to use when you are playing alone!)

Choose songs that are upbeat, with a faster tempo. The worship service is about to begin! It’s not the time to put people to sleep. 😉

Play loudly and confidently. The prelude is the subconscious signal to the congregation that it’s time to find their seats and get settled for the services to begin. The room is already buzzing with conversation and activity and you need to be able to cut through the noise.

Choose songs from the hymnal that are within a few numbers of the first song you’ll be playing for the service. This eliminates the awkward silence while you’re frantically turning pages to get to the first song! 🙂

Don’t play fifteen verses of the same song while you wait for someone to begin the service. Smoothly transition from song to song, playing three or four verses of each one. I usually just get through two or three songs at the very most before transitioning to the song for the choir opener.

Play the melody clearly and simply. The prelude is not the time to get fancy-schmancy with arrangements, especially if you’re playing with other instruments. You aren’t accompanying anyone as they sing the melody, so it’s up to you to make it clear and drive the tempo of the song.

Things to remember for the postlude:

Unless it’s a very somber, introspective service (like a night set aside for the Lord’s Supper) choose a bright, up tempo song to dismiss the congregation.

Try to choose something that corresponds with the pastor’s message. I chuckle to myself often after church as I hear people humming or whistling the same song that I played for dismissal. You’re helping to put a song in people’s heart, so make it a good one! If it drives home the point of the message, that’s even better.

Play one or two verses quickly and simply as people gather their things and get up to leave. There’s no need to make them all talk over you while you play a Concerto. 😉

Modulation Chart for Preludes and Postludes

As mentioned above, modulating from one key signature to the next is a great tool for church pianists. If you are playing alone, this skill is one you want to employ while playing prelude music.

Below is a free sample page from Bible Truth Music. It shows simple 2 measure modulations from the key of C to all other major key signatures. Just click on the image to download or print a PDF copy.

Use the free sample as a guide, or you can purchase a copy with all key signatures from their website.

Homework

Choose two songs to play as a prelude. Practice playing them loudly, with a simple and clear melody. Choose songs that are in two different keys so you can practice modulating between them.

Use the chart as a guide for those modulations. I would suggest using a starting song in the key of C so you can copy the modulation exactly from the chart. Once you are more familiar with it, try transposing the patterns into another key!

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