Amazing Grace Trumpet Trio

Description

Amazing Grace Trumpet Trio

By Eddie Lewis

This Amazing Grace trumpet trio arrangement began as a request. I have been asking some people at church what their favorite hymns are so I can post my recordings of those hymns on my YouTube channel. When I asked my friend, Guy Cordell, what his favorite hymn was, he said it was Amazing Grace. He even told me a heart-warming story about why it’s his favorite hymn.

Since I already have several versions of Amazing Grace on my YouTube channel, I decided it would be a good idea to write this one out as a trumpet trio.

Amazing Grace Reharmonization

To write this arrangement, I started with a reharmonization. Now, when most modern composers reharmonize an old piece of music, it is so they can make it more chromatic, and bring it into the modern era. And I’ve done some of that.

But no, my objective this time was different. I don’t like the traditional Amazing Grace harmonies that you find in the hymnals. What I mean by that is that those harmonies are very difficult to work with as an arranger.

So the purpose of my reharmonization of Amazing Grace was so that I could write a better arrangement based on something I think works better than the traditional hymn.

My Intention

My intention here was to write an arrangement that sounded good. I know a lot of people try to add something to the song. They try to “make it sound more interesting”. But we often sacrifice how good something sounds for the sake of our own cleverness. In the case of this beautiful melody, “interesting” is not worth the cost. I just wanted it to sound like something people could enjoy listening to, without straining their ears to figure out what song it is.

The only thing I added to the arrangement is an opening motif, which is also used as the closing. And that motif is a variation of the opening motif of the original melody. So I do feel as if there is no break in congruency.

Practice Suggestions

Here are a few recommendations for working on this trumpet quintet of I Put My Life In Your Hands.

• Intonation here is paramount.
• Work on breath control. To make this arrangement work, you will need it.
• Practicing getting a great tone in the lower register.

Amazing Grace Trumpet Trio Play-Along

There is a free trumpet play-along video for this Amazing Grace trumpet trio arrangement. We publish these free play-along videos for educational purposes, but they also offer a wonderful opportunity for prospective buyers to take the piece for a “test drive”.

Click the following button to go to that video:

Amazing Grace Play-Along Video

If you are interested in more of these play-along videos, then the best way to access them is on our other website, EddieLewis.com.

Amazing Grace Trumpet Trio Score Video

Alternatively, we also have a score video for Amazing Grace trumpet trio that you can access by clicking HERE. The score allows you to see and hear the duet before you purchase it.

You can use the score video as a substitute for the play-along video. You can even use it to play the second part. But that’s not what it’s for. It’s meant to give you an opportunity to look and hear the piece.

Amazing Grace Trumpet Trio Performance Video

Below is a performance video of our Amazing Grace trumpet trio arrangement. The purpose of the performance video is so that you can see that the parts are genuinely playable. In our modern times, it is too easy to write music on computers without ever knowing if the music works. We make these live performance videos to demonstrate that the duets are indeed accessible.