Hey everyone so I have kind of a loaded question here. And I can understand if there's no easy answer to it, but I've been asked to learn to play the piano by my church so we can get a choir started in our branch. I already know how to read the choir music from prior experiences with mostly trumpet and trombone, and can translate single notes to piano. The problem is, if I want to play along with the choir I have to know more than just the single chords for Soprano/Alto and Tenor/Bass for them to sing to.

I was told before a couple of years back when I entertained the notion that I'd have to learn about chords. So I've been doing a lot of research and even learned about finger numbering (which helped out a lot). But the issue I keep running into is that in order for me to truly learn about chords or adding to a song, I'd have to start from square one and pay a bit for either a book, online courses, or a private tutor. But I already know about which note corresponds to which key and can almost sight read the choir music sheets.

What I was wondering is how can I play along with the choir? Is it just playing each note/word/syllable they sing as a chord? Is it just playing whole and half notes with my left while following along with them on my right? What's really the best way to add like a melody/harmony that will help give a foundation for the choir to work with?

I'm just looking for tips but I want to really find a good place to start practicing from. I don't know I just feel like I'm starting to overthink this and don't want to start on a bad foot.