How to Play “What a Friend We Have in Jesus” on Piano (Step-by-Step Hymn Tutorial)

Get the lesson sheet and follow along here https://www.churchpianistacademy.com/... 📥 FREE RESOURCE – LEFT-HAND PATTERNS PDF 👉 Download it here: https://www.churchpianistacademy.com/... How to play one of the sweetest hymns ever written, from the ground up. In this full, step-by-step hymn piano lesson, we’ll learn What a Friend We Have in Jesus starting with just the melody, then we’ll add simple left-hand chords, and finally build it up to a full, church-ready accompaniment you can use for congregational singing. This is a complete lesson for church pianists, hymn players, and anyone wanting to play traditional gospel hymns in a way that honors the old songs. You will learn: • Melody first (so you actually know the song) • Easy left-hand chord patterns • How to add right-hand octaves and fuller voicings • Simple fills and passing tones that sound like “church” • How to make the hymn strong enough for congregational singing • Tips for playing it smoothly in a service setting This tutorial is especially for beginner-to-intermediate church pianists who want to move from plunking out the tune to playing a confident, full arrangement. We stay in a traditional hymn style and keep it rooted in the original melody. CHAPTER TIMESTAMPS 00:00 Introduction / looking at the hymnbook page 01:20 Learn the melody in the key of F (right-hand positions) 06:46 “O what peace…” section and the F# accidental 10:00 Building chords in F (I–IV–V and C7) 14:06 Playing the melody with simple chord inversions 17:03 Moving to a full congregational style (RH chords + LH octaves) 29:01 Adding octaves, fills, and bass movement 32:11 Classic congregational left-hand pattern (octave–chord) 40:24 Chromatic / secondary dominant fills (C7, G7 to C to F) 55:42 Full arrangement playthrough and closing / get the lesson sheet If this helped you, like the video and share it with another church pianist who still wants to play the old hymns the right way. 🙏 Gospel Ending Walk Down from Four video    • One Gospel Ending Every Church Pianist Mus...