The Bible shows how the people of Israel used many instruments in worship music. Psalm 150 alone lists the trumpet, the harp, the lyre (a sort of hand-held harp), the timbrel (probably a hand-held drum, like a tambourine), the strings (we can think of our violins, guitars, etc.), the pipe (could be today’s flute and even a pipe organ), and the “clash of” and “resounding” cymbals. In churches in America today it is easier to use a piano, an organ or a guitar for one person to lead a congregation in worship singing than to use an orchestra, of course. But preparing music for a variety of instruments should be relatively easy for a pianist who is used to play the usual four-part harmony in most hymnals.
Start easy, perhaps aiming for only four instruments, each playing one of the four parts. For example, depending on what musicians and instruments you have available, you may assign the soprano line to a trumpet, saxophone, flute or a violin; the alto to a violin, sax or another trumpet; the tenor to a horn, trombone, sax or a cello; and the bass to a trombone, a tuba, a cello, or even a keyboard. Learn to use the freely-available MuseScore music notation program to write the parts. You may write each part straight out of the hymnal and MuseScore can transpose parts that need to, depending on which instruments you have (for example, the Bb trumpet part has to be written one note higher than the corresponding note in the hymnal).
There! Now you have a four-part ensemble, and all the more if you also have a piano, organ or keyboard. Then you can introduce further variety in leading the singing with the ensemble, such as having the five instruments play part of the hymn as an introduction, all five also playing the first verse, then the piano alone on the second, then the piano and the instruments doing the tenor and bass parts the third verse, and again all five for the fourth verse.
If the hymn is one of praise or the like, you may try crash cymbals to accentuate parts of the last verse. You may assemble your own crash cymbals out of two otherwise unused regular drumset cymbals, tying perhaps pieces of an old belt to hold the cymbals.
With time, you will find yourself writing more and more such small-ensemble arrangements, expanding to add more instruments, and trying variations in harmony.
A side benefit of this is for children and young adults to use their musical skills in church in addition to in their school bands, and experience the blessings of worship music ministry. What better place to make music, especially deeply significant music, than at church, offering it to God who created music?
J.A.Cross Music 