About PraiseNotes
Kimberly Snow has been teaching piano students for over 20 years. As a piano teacher, she discovered that music curriculum using hymns was limited and difficult for beginner music students to play. To address this need she began studying hymnology, music theory and composition, and began writing her own arrangements of hundreds of the most popular hymns of the Christian faith. She integrates many concepts—including the Circle of Fifths, improvisation and chord stylization—to help the student understand music and how to play the hymns. Her arrangements and other products are available on her website at PraiseNotes.com.
Kimberly has also been a church musician for over 25 years. She loves teaching online piano lessons across the country via Skype. Her advanced hymn arrangements have been published in the national publication “The Church Pianist” and Lorenz’s piano solos for Holy Week, “With Jesus Through the Shadows.”
Kurt Snow, along with his wife, Kimberly, compose hymns, praise worship music, and songs for children’s choirs. Together, they have written the Hymns for Kids, Favorite Hymns for Kids, Just Hymns for Kids, and Tracing Through Theory books. He also is PraiseNotes’ webmaster and graphic layout artist. He serves as an elder at the couple’s local church and on the board of City Seminary of Sacramento.
The couple also produced the video for children, Mr. Humdinger Goes Fishing. As seen on PBS, Mr. Humdinger Goes Fishing is a live-action video that shows kids what it is like to be a commercial fisherman for a day. For more information, please visit MrHumdinger.com.
Mr. Snow is also the author of Patrick Biddle’s Great Adventure, a book about an ornery ant and his 10-year-old friend. To read a sample chapter, visit PatrickBiddle.com.
A personal note from Kimberly
Like so many other children, I begged my parents to let me quit piano lessons. After I complained enough, they finally gave in. I eventually returned to piano lessons as a young adult. Not long after taking lessons, our church pianist moved away and there was no one to take her place…except me. Thus began the journey that has led to this web site.
Playing for the church motivated me to practice and practice, then practice some more. It also drove me to the studios of a number of dedicated, professional pianists, all of whom taught me something new, something valuable. In addition to piano performance, I continued to study theory and became interested in music composition.
Since I had homeschooled my three children and taught them music, I began teaching piano lessons to other students. As I taught my Christian students, I discovered that curriculum using hymns was limited and difficult to find. To address these needs I began to arrange some of the great hymns for my students and teach them hymnology. My students loved to play the hymns and kept asking for more hymn arrangements. The results were gratifying. Students who were not familiar with hymns (having neither played nor sung them before) learned to appreciate these great songs.
I also worked on integrating music theory, especially the principles of the Circle of Fifths, into my music lessons. These principles helped them to not only understand how to better play their assigned pieces, but gave them the foundation to begin composing their own songs and playing their own arrangements. I have found that students enjoy the piano so much more when they understand the principles underlying what they are practicing and when they can apply those principles to their own creative work. I have learned an amazing truth: students at all levels can create their own arrangements and compose their own songs.
Over the years, I have written new melodies for old hymns, re-harmonized hymns, written original praise songs and music for children’s choirs. I am sure what you find here will bless you and help you in your endeavors to serve our Lord Jesus Christ.