Interview with Reba Snyder, New Piano Book, and Giveaway!

Reba Snyder

Rebekah Snyder, a long-time friend of many of us and lovingly referred to as "Reba," currently travels with the Galkin Evangelistic Team as the pianist and music coordinator. She graduated from Bob Jones University in 2004 with a degree in Church Music, and then traveled with the Steve Pettit Evangelistic Team for 3 years before transitioning over to the Galkin Team. Her newest piano book, Awake My Soul, features 9 hymn arrangements - and is now available for purchase at rebasnydermusic.com. The following is an interview she did for The Sisterhood that we hope will be enjoyable and encouraging to read. Make sure to check the end for details on a special giveaway too!

• How did you get started playing the piano? Writing arrangements?

I started when I was four because my mom played the piano – she was/is still a music teacher. I don’t remember much from those days, but she started with me and then I moved on to take from others. I grew to love it when I got into junior high and started to play for choirs and other things in school and church. I went to Bob Jones where I studied piano and played for a number of different groups. I didn’t do much arranging there, but I did take a hymnwriting class for my major. However, the arranging really took off when I started traveling with Steve Pettit. I had to do it a lot and everyone looked to me to do it. So I started studying the arrangements of others and scores of music; and through that I discovered that I really enjoyed it and found patterns of arranging that worked for me.

• What do you enjoy more - playing/performing or arranging music? 

I think I probably enjoy playing more – I enjoy playing congregational stuff a lot, helping with worship and helping people sing the songs the best way they can. Doing this at Northland Camp during the last 7 summers really helped me develop this love. However, as far as arranging goes, I like arranging for instruments the most – more than voices – and making the parts all fit like a little puzzle.

• What prompted you to produce this book?

After collaborating on the book Offerings of Praise with Kristin Campbell [published by Heart Publications], a lot of people said they enjoyed the modern and fresh approach of these songs. Then more and more people started asking for more. So I began doing these about 3 years ago. Life on the road is busy, though, so it’s taken a while to complete.

Reba playing for the team in a service

• Do you have any funny/interesting/crazy stories from traveling? 

I’ve somehow managed to have a lot of interesting experiences with animals – recently I stayed with an elderly couple with a pet bird who had free reign of the house. Last spring, we were with a family in Arizona who had a huge pet turtle almost as big as a laundry basket that lived in a cage in the kitchen. And just this last week, I was getting ready to sing and there was spider crawling up my microphone – I’m deathly afraid of spiders. I had to yell for someone to save me – fortunately it was just during a rehearsal and not a performance.

• What will you be doing this next year once you finish traveling? Excited or Nervous about the future?

I will be moving to Roswell, GA where I’ll be serving at Lebanon Baptist Church with Pastor Brian Peterson. I’ll be starting a piano studio and am hoping to get involved in the community – maybe playing for community choirs, kids choirs, etc. I also think I’d like to keep up with my accordion and try to connect with a local bluegrass group.

I’m very, very excited but definitely feel the weight of responsibility in this transition that awaits. However, at this point, I do think my excitement overrides my anxiety.

• Who is the most musically inspiring person you've ever met?

Right now I really look to Bob Kauflin and his piano style of playing for congregationals, especially as I’ve developed in the last few years. I’m also probably highly influenced by the people I’ve traveled with.

• What is your biggest goal and what would be the most exciting thing to you that could come from this set of arrangements?

I would love it if people could really worship God and enjoy the songs through playing them and thinking about the words - not as an academic exercise or necessarily to fill an offertory, but to allow this music to lead them in their personal worship experience.

Awake My Soul, by Reba Snyder

• Do you have a favorite one? Or are there any cool background stories that accompany certain songs? 

I’d say the arrangement of “Crown Him with Many Crowns” is my current favorite.

“Nearer Still Nearer” developed from a duet that I originally wrote for Caroline & me (cello/piano) – so that’s kind of been our signature song. And the idea for it originally began when I was traveling with Steve Pettit. So this one’s been a work in progress for a while.

“Does Jesus Care” was an arrangement that stemmed from the passing away of both Will’s father this last year and my father (during my senior year of college). It was an event in my life that still impacts me, but I think God gave me great grace to think correctly through it and helped develop my view of God in a better way. And I wanted that to be reflected in this song.

• Anything else you want to share about the book or product info? 

I do have demos of me playing each song available on the my website if you purchase the book. Inside the cover of the book is a password that will give access to the digital files.

I’ll also be making some of the hymns I’ve written available as free PDF downloads and hope to continue doing this as a resource of things I continue to write. 

As a special part of this interview and to help get the word out about her new book, the Sisterhood is also hosting a giveaway featuring ONE copy of her new book, Awake My Soul. The details are as follows: THIS CONTEST IS NOW CLOSED


One randomly selected winner of this giveaway will be sent a copy of Awake My Soul. You will be able to submit up to three entries by doing each of the following:

• Visit Reba's website here, sign up for updates and leave a comment at the bottom of this post.
• Visit Awake My Soul's Facebook page here and "like" it - then leave another comment on this post stating that you did so. (If you've already liked this page, simply post a comment stating that you already did.)
• Share either Reba's website (rebasnydermusic.com) or the Facebook page on your Facebook page or blog, and leave another comment on this post stating that you did so. 

Remember, each comment left on this post only counts as one entry, so if you do more than one of these, be sure to maximize your entries. The giveaway will end on Monday, April at 15th at 11pm EST (yes this date is important for several reasons). So get the word out and get your entries in!

And even if you don't win the giveaway, we'd still highly recommend acquiring a copy of this book - either for yourself or any good friends who play the piano. This book is a must-have for any pianist's collection.

Thanks, Reba!