Terrific Promo for the Savvy Church Musician from James Koerts
With a regular church keyboardist position, it's an ongoing task to find fresh, appealing and accessible sacred arrangements for services. I stumbled across one of James Koerts' books published by Alfred Music a couple of years ago and found myself drawn to his work because of his fresh, idiomatic writing. A while ago I discovered Koerts on Facebook and visited his site featuring even more arrangements, and now I faithfully buy everything he pumps out which means I purchase frequently as he is a prolific composer!
In 2013, Koerts expanded his library to include sheet music in digital download format (PDF) through his website. It's his goal to maintain a high level of musical quality in addition to providing a fast (nearly instant) method of delivery in a modern, flexible format. Perfect for scrambling church musicians--don't we all have a few of those moments where we need something NOW?
Koerts' digital sheet music mecca has resulted in a rather large folder of his works stored in the forScore app on my iPad. Interested in learning more about how to use THE top app for viewing your digital sheet music? Click here for complete instructions. If you are a visual learner, here's a video on how I use my favorite forScore features with Koerts' digital sheet music.
http://youtu.be/wf5YIQt5Spc
Recently, I had a chance to get a sneak peek into Koerts' arranging secrets. No, I didn't sign up for a private lesson, or get a chance to look over his shoulder while he worked. Instead, I watched a video produced by Greg Howlett called "Arranging with James Koerts." Howlett served as the host and asked Koerts questions as they stepped through one of his recent arrangements. In it, Koerts shared numerous myths about arranging. Here are three:
Myth #1 Arrangements have to be BIG.
It's not about technique, it's about communication.
Myth #2 Composers are offended by changes you make to their arrangements.
You are released to make it simple to fit your needs and skills. It's good to make more with less notes.
Myth #3 A whole bunch of ideas are needed to make a great 
arrangement.
Instead of writing an arrangement with a "theme and variation approach" stick with one idea and develop it.
There are more myths but I won't share them now as I believe you'd benefit from watching the video yourself. Perhaps you're like me with a wild dream of publishing some sacred arrangements and looking for guidance? Even if you are not, you'll find the conversation and myth-busting tips worth your time as Koerts shares sage advice for church keyboardists of any skill level. Order your copy here.
Never heard of James Koerts? Visit his site and poke around. Need a perfect addition to a permanent collection of sacred and occasional repertoire for the busy church musician? Click here. You'll even find a generous collection of free sheet music! Download some freebies of various levels and you'll see why I keep adding more Koerts to my ever-growing sacred-piano library and readily recommend them to my piano students. Now I just wish he composed for organ.
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Offer is good through October 22, 2014
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