I Shall Wear A Crown: Thomas Whitfield

A Crown

Thomas Anthony Whitfield (April 30, 1954 – June 20, 1992) was an American gospel singer, songwriter, arranger, pianist, choir director and producer best known for helping to shape the fabric of contemporary gospel music with his elaborate choral arrangements and the merging of musical styles ranging from jazz to classical into traditional gospel foundations. Wikipedia

Key Of:  D

LH/RH

Version: Basic
Tempo:  Slow

Start at the first to Octaves to the left of middle C.  (Note for the new musician)
A/A                                                   I
B/B                                             Shall
D/D                                            Wear
E/E                                              A

BD/DF#B                                  Cro---
AE/C#EA                                 ---wn
AE/C#EA                                   I Shall
GD/BDF#                                     Wear A
**Bounce the following four chords**
F#E/C#EA                                  Cro----     
GD/BDF#                                    -------
AE/C#EA                                   -------
B/DF#B                                     ---wn

Then go to:

F#/DF#A                                  When
G/EGB                                      Its
A/DF#A                                     All Over
F#/DF#A                                  When
G/EGB                                      Its
C/BbEGBb                                     All Over

**Repeat the above chords for the 2nd verse***

E/BbDGBb                                    I’m
F#/ADF#                                   Going
G/BbDGBb                                    To
A/ADF#A                                    Put on my robe and
C/BbEGBb                                     Tell the story
/D                                                How
/E                                                 I
D/DF#A                                      Made it over

Vamp Ending:

Bb/BbCDF                                     Soon
A/GACF                                          As
G/BbCDF                                        I
A/CEGC                                         Get
D/DF#AD                                        Home

If you like Gospel music, you'll want to be a part of http://www.learngospelmusic.com

Be sure and check out this resource if you're interested in learning the five parts of a praise song,  GospelKeys300

And here's an article I wrote awhile back...

The Art of Voicing is a manner in which one distributes or spaces the notes of chords. When you listen to music, you probably focus on the melody. That is the familiar part of a tune that is easy to hear.

When you sing along or hum throughout some of the music, it is the melody and not the background that you think of. To have this important part of the music stand out, the melody should be louder than the accompaniment. However, this is not always easy to do.

Every voicing should flow smoothly to the next one and your hands will more than likely be moving just a little. By voicing chords you bring attention to certain notes more than others. So sometimes instead of using a clear melody, artists play a bunch of double notes and chords. You should always voice all double notes and chords to give them more clarity.

If you are playing all the notes at the same volume, you cannot hear the melody very clearly. So you will want to pick out the one note in each chord to play a bit louder. This is what we mean by voicing.

If your hands are jumping all over the place, you are probably not using good voice leading. The art of voice leading is the smooth movement of notes from one chord to the next. Very often the note you should voice is on the top of the chord, but sometimes the middle voices have hidden melodies that are more interesting than the top voice.

When looking at a chord passage in your music, decide which voice needs more sound and which can be played softer. Listen to other recordings of pianists bringing out the top voice for each chord in the right hand.

With practice try playing the middle note of a chord louder than the other two notes. Next, focus on the bottom note of a chord. Think of chords being sung in a choir. Each note is a different voice such as bass, tenor, alto and soprano. Your ear will usually hear the soprano sing and ride on the melody line. Those wonderful harmony parts add so much color, flavor and tone in the background of the song.

Voicings become easier to play and you will discover that your hands are barely moving especially when it comes to shell voicings since the roots are moving down in fifths or up in fourths. Later on you will learn more left hand voicings in bebop style, rootless left hand voicings and rootless shell voicings. When the left hand plays the third and seventh of each chord, these rootless shell voicings allow the right hand the freedom to improvise.

Best,

"The beautiful thing about learning is that no one can take it away from you." B.B.King

Song for Closing the Service

Song for Closing Out the Service

 I was looking through my Gospel Music songbook collection (it's huge) and came across this very nice song to play. It's great for closing out your service. Credit goes to Ferrente.


God Be With You

F/FAC          God


G/EGBbC    Be


A/FAC          With


A/EbFAC      You


Bb/BbDF       God


B/AbBDF       Be


A/ACF            With You


C/BbDF          (filler)


C/BbCEG       (filler)


F/CFA              God


AG/C#EA        Be


D/ADF             With You


D/ADF              Til We


G/BDG             Meet


G/BDFA           A--


C/BbCEG        -- gain


F/CFA               God


AG/C#EA         Be


D/ADF             With You


G--A--Bb/BbC#FG  Til --We (roll the G-A-Bb)


C/CFA               Meet


C/BbCEG          A---


FC/ACF             ----gain


Let me know what you think. It sounds so sweet!
Be sure and check out the Vocal Mastery System


Blessings,





"The beautiful thing about learning is that no one can take it away from you." B.B.King

Piano Chords: The Struggle Is Over

Choir Book

 Awhile back I posted the chords by Youth For Christ to the song
The Struggle Is Over

Youth For Christ
The Struggle Is Over lyrics

Wherever you are
Whatever you've been going through
God says the struggle is over for you
You've been in this place long enough
And your mountainside has been rough
The struggle is over for you

Wherever you are
Whatever you've been going through
God says the struggle is over for you
You've been in this place long enough
And your mountainside has been rough
The struggle is over for you

The struggle is over
The struggle is over for you
The struggle is over
The struggle is over for you

The struggle is over
The struggle is over for you
The struggle is over
The struggle is over for you

Your heartache is over
Your heartache is over
Your heartache is over
Your heartache is over

The trouble is over
The trouble is over
The trouble is over
The trouble is over

Your struggle is over
Your struggle is over
Your struggle is over
Your struggle is over
Your struggle is over for you

You've been in this place long enough
And your mountainside has been rough
The struggle is over for you

I've been in this place long enough
And my mountainside has been rough
The struggle is over for me

You've been in this place long enough
And your mountainside has been rough
The struggle is over for you

CD: The Struggle Is Over

Struggle Is Over

If you're looking for a Performance Tape to the song, visit:

Struggle Is Over [Accompaniment/Performance Track]

Piano Chords



With you right hand, you'll be playing: FC/GACF
For small hands, lay your thumb across GA and stretch to CF.
Or use fingering, 1,2,3,4.

Absolute C

Db Eb Gb Ab Bb C D E F G A B C

Db Eb Gb Ab Bb C D E F G A B C

With the second chord, r.h. thumb on Bb, C,D,F notes follow.

Absolute C

Db Eb Gb Ab Bb C D E F G A B C

Db Eb Gb Ab Bb C D E F G A B C

And an easy r.h. chord to play for the first part of the song: C/CDEG

Absolute C

Db Eb Gb Ab Bb C D E F G A B C

Not familiar with the song? Free Mp3 http://mp3bear.com

Have any of you fine musicians played this song for your church?
It's a good one and I really like it. Thanks again for your emails.
I have been asked to post more often with chord charts to songs.
Do you have a favorite Gospel, Jazz, Rock or Blues one?

Check out Musician Breakthrough It's free with Gospel Music Training Center Membership.

 Best,






"The beautiful thing about learning is that no one can take it away from you." B.B.King

How to Play Set Fire to the Rain: Adele

Practicing with this song, you could use this type of music software available for your
PC or MAC, called Back Pocket Band

Looking at the chord chart, we would play the vi chord (Dminor), 
then to the I chord (F), on to the V chord which is C and then 
we move on to the ii chord with Gm. Bb is the IV chord.

Grand Staff with Notes for l.h. and r.h.

So, if you aren't familiar with reading notes, hear is a chord chart to what 
is listed above:


D/DFA
F/CFA
C/CEG
G/BbDG
Bb/BbDF

Absolute C

Db Eb Gb Ab Bb C D E F G A B C

Db Eb Gb Ab Bb C D E F G A B C

First Chord: D minor = DFA                                               Second Chord: F Major = CFA

Absolute C

Db Eb Gb Ab Bb C D E F G A B C

Db Eb Gb Ab Bb C D E F G A B C

The 4th chord to the song is G minor (BbDG). Yes, I skipped C chord (CEG). You know it!

Absolute C

Db Eb Gb Ab Bb Db Eb Gb Ab Bb C D E F G A B C D E F G A B C

Last chord to the song, BbDF


Now, what gives the piano sounding with that special part is hearing those chords played
with running eighth notes separately, with loose wrist and smooth broken r.h. chords.

R.H. Arpeggio Chords (Broken Chords)

Here's the entire chord chart to Set Fire to the Rain by Adele:

Intro: Dm, F, C, Gm

Verse:

          Dm       F
I let it fall, my heart,
          C                Gm
And as it fell you rose to claim it.
       Dm                 F
It was dark and I was over,
          C                       Bb
Until you kissed my lips and you saved me

Verse
    Dm            F....
My hands they're strong, 
but my knees were far too weak,
Stand in your arms
without fall to your your feet,

Refrain:
              Dm                   Gm 
But there's a side to you that I never knew, I never knew.
           Dm                                 Dm
All the things you'd say, they where never true, never true,
          Bb                     C
And the games you'd play, you would always, always win.

[Chorus: ]
           Dm
But I set fire to the rain,
         C
Watch it pour as I touched your face,
     Gm
well it burn while I cry,
                              Dm              C
Cause I heard it screaming out your name, your name!

Verse:
When I'm with you
I could stay there,
Close my eyes, feel you're here forever,
You and me together, nothing is better!

Refrain:
Cause there's a side to you that I never, never knew,
All the things you'd say they where never true, never true,
And the games you'd play, you would always, always win.

[Chorus: ]
But I set fire to the rain,
Watch it pour as I touched your face,
well it burned while I cry,
Cause I heard it screaming out your name, your name!
I set fire to the rain
And I threw us into the flames
And it felt something die,
Cause I knew that that was the last time, the last time!

Bridge:
         Bb                F/A
Sometimes I wake up by the door, 
         Am                          C
That heart you caught, must be waiting for you, 
     Bb                      F/A
Even now when we're already over,
     Am                            C 
I can't help myself from looking for you

[Chorus: ]
I set fire to the rain,
Watch it pour as I touch your face,
well it burn when I cry,
Cause I heard it screaming your name, your name
I set fire to the rain,
And I threw us into the flames
Cause I knew that was the last time
The last time, oh, oh!

Outro: Chorus Chords

Let it burn!

Let it burn!

A great tool, music software that is,  for piano practice is Song Robot

I sure like the song. Do you have an Adele favorite?


Best,





"The beautiful thing about learning is that no one can take it away from you." B.B.King

Understanding Chords and Progressions

Photo Credit: The Lost Chord-Piano St. Helen's Church

I t is true that when you know your chords, they in turn will make a progression. For example, the I, II and V chords of any key are found in a II-V-I chord progression. This 2-5-1 becomes the most common chord progression played in jazz. Jazz musicians know that the 2-5-1 chords are the modes of the major scale. If you are just starting out on the keyboard, while playing the songs in the Key of C, remember that the II-V-I progression will be Dm7, G7 and C major 7th. The steps of a major scale are numbered from I to vii.

Roman Numeral Chord Notation

C

I	ii	iii	IV	V	vi	vii°
C	Dm	Em	F	G	Am	B dim

G

I	ii	iii	IV	V	vi	vii°
G	Am	Bm	C	D	Em	F# dim

D

I	ii	iii	IV	V	vi	vii°
D	Em	F#m	G	A	Bm	C# dim

A

I	ii	iii	IV	V	vi	vii°
A	Bm	C#m	D	E	F#m	G# dim

E

I	ii	iii	IV	V	vi	vii°
E	F#m	G#m	A	B	C#m	D# dim

F

I	ii	iii	IV	V	vi	vii°
F	Gm	Am	Bb	C	Dm	E dim

B Flat

I	ii	iii	IV	V	vi	vii°
Bb	Cm	Dm	Eb	F	Gm	A dim

The chord progression that moves from the ii chord, that is the 2nd step of the scale, is frequently played like this: D and F (Dm7) which is the ii and then move to the V, GB (G chord).

Here is a chord chart that I use to play this popular progression on the piano:

Dm7 = DC/DF
G = GB/D
C = C/CE

When I'm playing a song in the Key of F, I look for the second, fifth and first note of the F Major Scale.

Here is a rule that will help you remember the pattern in all keys: 

1. The II chord is always a minor 7th chord.
2. The V chord is always a dominant 7th chord.
3. The I chord is a major 7th chord.

So, for the II-V-I progression in the Key of F, you would play a G minor 7, C7 and F major 7th. A good understanding about playing this progression in all keys will help you to be fluent with improvising.

Here is another tip. Play this particular progression with four bars for starters and then stretch the progression to eight bars of music. That means a chord could last a measure or two.
I love jazz and one of my favorites is Duke Ellington. He is considered one of the greatest composers of jazz music. He is famous for his swing music and incorporates the expanded ii V chord progressions in many of his songs.

When I play The Duke Speaks, I use D/DF, then G/GB and finish with C/DEG.

We have just touched upon this chord progression study in major keys. Get comfortable learning the 2-5-1 chord progressions and then move on to the minor keys.

I thank you for the many notes I receive from readers and I regret I am not able to respond to everyone. Many have suggested I post more often, some wanting song charts, worship songs and more theory. Plus, I have received requests for Halloween music... interesting.

Most importantly, do you know your chords? Here are a few resources that I think will help improving your piano playing:

 

Chords 

 

300 pg theory book 

Harmonizing the Melody

Best,

"The beautiful thing about learning is that no one can take it away from you." B.B.King