Gospel Hymns with a Velvet Touch: 10 Elegant Settings of Beloved Hymns (Sacred Performer Collections)

Tom Fettke has done a great job with these arrangements. They are beautiful and moderately challenging.

I'm not sure why but these arrangements just didn't wow me. Sometimes they were difficult, sometimes they were boring. And the medleys didn't blend well (just a line from another song at the end, or hard to pick out what part of the second song you were actually playing). I thought "Rock of Ages" was nice--slower tempo, and "Softly and Tenderly" varied from the traditional hymn with pretty chording. I'm not a good judge of technical/musical difficulty; I only know that "elegant" is not what I'd use to describe them. While I really liked "Hymns with a Velvet Touch," this book ("Gospel Hymns . . .") doesn't touch my heart.Song List:Hallelujah, What a Savior!Jesus, Lover of My Soul with Jesus Loves Me and, Jesu, Joy of Man's DesiringLead Me to Calvary with Beneath the Cross of JesusMarvelous Grace (Grace Greater Than Our Sin with Amazing Grace)My Jesus, I Love TheeNo, Not One!Rock of Ages with Hiding in TheeShall We Gather at the River? with Deep RiverSoftly and Tenderly Jesus Is CallingWhat a Friend We Have in Jesus

Tom Fettke is a winner in my book! Just outstanding.....I love his style and his music is easy for me to pick up and play. Of course, I do always practice; I love hearing his style, over and over. And, the people I play it for are most generous with their compliments. I have two books now, Hymns with a Velvet Touch and Gospel Hymns with a Velvet Touch. I live in Virginia, in a retirement home, and play for the church services here. I want his Christmas book and will have it by Fall! I was an organist for 53 years, both pipe and electric, from 2 to 5 manuals in churches across the U.S. Due to physical incapacity, I am only playing the piano now, but I'm still going strong and only 85! Thank you, Tom Fettke....

Tom Fettke...for any church pianist seeking playable arrangements that are luxuriously flowing, his name is magic. I have all Tom Fettke's piano books (wishing there were many more), use them regularly for evening services, and occasionally adapt his arrangements for Sunday morning on the organ as well. While his books are generally labeled "early advanced," I don't consider myself more than an upper intermediate, but have always been able to play Fettke's music with very little practice, getting great pleasure from his "velvet" arrangements and receiving lots of good comments from my congregation. Tom Fettke is my #1 favorite arranger for Christian piano music.(To those of you non-music-major organists out there, Lani Smith is probably my favorite for organ.)

I love the arrangements.

I'm so happy with this book. It's got beautiful arrangements, and all of them are usable, which is great. So many times, you buy a book and only feel like you can use two or three out of twelve arrangements. I will be buying the other volumes of this series.

These arrangements are well suited for communion and preludes. They seem rather long for an offertory, but, of course, they can be shortened.The arrangements are not difficult, but are interesting and meaningful.

I love this book and enjoy playing the selections. Some of the songs are challenging enough that I must practice but none feel too far out of my piano skills. I particularly like how they are melodic but not boring. I haven't picked out a favorite yet but I will enjoy trying!

What a wonderful arranger Tom Ferris is.

Great book! Easy to learn offertories for the intermediate-advanced pianist. Takes a few times practicing, and you are ready to play in public. Nice arrangements!