Sunday Morning Pianist.

Sunday Morning Pianist, arranged by Gail Smith. Creative Keyboard Publications, a division of Mel Bay Publications (P.O. Box 66, Pacific, MO 63069), 2003. 124 pp. $14.95. Upper-intermediate to advanced.

Sunday Morning Pianist is a collection of arrangements of forty-five hynms and religious songs, most well-known standards. The collection contains four patriotic pieces and a couple Christmas songs. The alphabetical index is at the end of the book.

For the most part, Gall Smith, a church pianist, has written arrangements to match the character and essence of the hymn or song. She uses interesting, and sometimes unusual, harmonies and key progressions. Occasionally, alters rhythms for a more contemporary flavor. Some hymns have a walking bass line, and almost all have arpeggio and broken-chord patterns.

Smith has written six varied arrangements in different keys for "Jesus Loves Me," and "O Worship The King" has eight arrangements in different styles. If you've never heard "O Worship The King" in a blues style or as a rag a la Scott Joplin, you are in for an ear-opener. Unless one knows the hymn well, generally it would be difficult to find the melody in the moving patterns of some of the arrangements. It would be helpful to have the melody marked by a double stemmed note or a tenuto, which it is in one piece (page 75).

Sunday Morning Pianist offers enough pieces of different styles to serve a church pianist in many worship or praise services. Some can be used as preludes, others as offeratories. Technically, the arrangements fit the hand well and are accessible to an upper-intermediate- to advanced-level pianist. Visually, it is clear, easy reading, and pieces are printed for easy page turns. However, the type of binding makes it very difficult to keep the book open on the rack. Reviewed by Kathryn B. Hull NCTM, La Quinta, California.