Download our curated set of music for funerals and visitations. Choose what you want, or buy the entire set with a 10% discount. (Scroll down for discount!)
Funeral services and visitations are always emotional events. When you receive a call for a performance like this, often the event is within a few days. This playlist will help prepare you in advance. It is our job as musicians to do our best to ease the room by playing comforting and peaceful music. This playlist includes some of the most often requested funeral music, as well as soothing hymns, comforting classical pieces, and a few reflective works.
Titles marked with an * are playable on lever harp.
Most Requested Funeral Music
*Amazing Grace
arr. Brook Boddie
Whenever you think of a funeral, you think of the hymn Amazing Grace. What I love about this version is that is has different harmonies and accompaniment than you usually hear. The melody also has gentle celtic flourishes during the second verse, which is refreshing. For a more traditional option, see Joy Slavens’ arrangement.
Ave Maria
arr. Stephanie Bennett
Ave Maria is always appropriate for funerals—in fact, it’s probably one of the most popular pieces to be requested for funeral services, so if you don’t have this in your gig book yet, you definitely want to! This Bach/Gounod version is very true to any version you may have heard before—the melody soars over steady arpeggios. If you’re not keen on the Ave Maria melody, you can always play Bach’s Prelude in C, which moves through the chord arpeggios without the melody. I suggest Floraleda Sacchi’s version. It’s $7.99, and you get two other Bach arrangements with it!
*Ave Maria
arr. Rhett Barnwell
There are many versions of Ave Maria out there. Perhaps the more popular one to get requested for funerals it the Franz Schubert version. This arrangement is a simplified version of his beloved rendition.
*Hallelujah
arr. Michelle Whitson Stone
This lovely song by the late Leonard Cohen is actually one of the most popular secular songs to be requested for a funeral. Michelle’s arrangement is perfectly delicate and conveys so much emotion. She also offers the arrangement in two levels: intermediate and advanced.
*Irish Fantasia
arr. Barbara Ann Fackler
I absolutely love this setting of the traditional Irish tune “Danny Boy” or “Londonderry Air.” Fackler has breathed beautiful new life into the tune with her improvisational additions that makes it sound a bit more classical.
Soothing Hymn Arrangements
Rhett Barnwell’s company Seraphim Music is a wonderful source for sacred, healing and meditative music. Here are a few of my favorite products arranged by Barnwell:
*A Serenade for the Soul
Rhett Barnwell
This collection comes in handy for many occasions; one of those being funerals and visitations. It is a wealth of beautifully arranged hymns, classical pieces, and delicate original compositions. My personal favorites are “Blessed Assurance,” “It Is Well with My Soul” and “Angel’s Hymn.”
*How Great Thou Art
arr. Rhett Barnwell
This is one of my favorite hymn arrangements ever. This hymn is requested for all sorts of occasions, as it is one of the most popular hymns out there. The phrasing and melodic lines are contemplative in all the right ways and the left-hand arpeggios sound so beautiful. I have to agree with Rhett’s statement that “it is a must-have piece for religious and memorial services.”
*Softly and Tenderly Jesus Is Calling
arr. Rhett Barnwell
No matter what your playing level is, you can’t go wrong with learning this classic hymn. This collection includes both a beginner version and an advanced beginner version, so you can keep building your skills as you continue to learn.
Comforting classical pieces
Classical music is always requested, well received, and sounds lovely at funeral occasions. Here are three delicate, peaceful, and well-known classical melodies arranged by Meinir Heulyn:
*Largo
To A Wild Rose
*On Wings of Song
Reflective Solos
*Fate
Meg Robinson
This is a really beautiful, contemplative piece. It would make for a really lovely interlude or prayer time solo during a funeral service.
*Upon the Willows
Brook Boddie
I consider this go-to piece in my gig book for funerals and visitations. It is both relaxing and hauntingly beautiful.
Il Poeta
Marianne Gubri
This sweet, arpeggio-filled melody is very easy to get lost in. It is reflective and hopeful in nature and would be a lovely addition to service prelude music or visitation music.
*Sweetest Dreams
Jodi Ann Tolman
As its name suggests, this piece is reflective, peaceful, and has a lovely music box-like melody. I think it would be perfect for communion during a funeral service, or as a reflective solo during the service.
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Image | Name | Price | Buy |
---|---|---|---|
A Serenade for the Soul | $20.00 | ||
Amazing Grace | $6.00 | ||
Ave Maria | $8.00 | ||
Ave Maria (Bach, Duo or Trio) | $11.00 | ||
Fate | $5.50 | ||
Hallelujah | $12.00 | ||
How Great Thou Art | $8.00 | ||
Il Poeta | $5.00 | ||
Irish Fantasia | $6.00 | ||
Largo | $8.00 | ||
On Wings of Song | $8.00 | ||
Softly and Tenderly Jesus Is Calling | $6.00 | ||
Sweetest Dreams | $7.00 | ||
To a Wild Rose | $8.00 | ||
Upon the Willows | $8.00 |