One of My Favorite Hymns

Portrait of Mary Lou Williams, New York, N.Y., 1946

 

 

 Yours truly playing Amazing Grace on a Yamaha keyboard.


 

Over the years, I have listened to many artists play one of my favorite hymns, Amazing Grace.

1. B.J. Thomas on YouTube singing Amazing Grace


  Amazing Grace (chords w/ modulation)

F        Bb/F         F
How sweet  the sound
                                        C
That saved a wretch like me

   
    F             F7/A
I once was lost


       Bb          F
But now I'm found
 
        Dm
Was blind
 
       F/C  C7  F
But now  I     see
 
           F                               Bb/F      F
T'was grace that taught my heart to  fear
 
                                     C
And Grace my fears relieved
 
         F            F7/A          Bb     F
How precious did     that grace appear
 
       Dm      F/C   C7   F   D7  C/E
The hour I first   believed
 
 D/F#      G       G7         C              G
Through many dangers, toils, and snares
 
                        D7
I have already come
 
D/F#  G                G7/B         C            G
Tis'   grace hath brought me safe thus far
 
        Em             G/D  D7  G     C/D
And grace will lead    me  home
 
 D/F#   G              G7         C     G
When we've been there 10,000 years
 
                                   D7  C/E
Bright shining as the sun
 
 D/F#  G         G7/B    C                G
We've no less days to sing God's praise
 
          Em          G/D  D7  G  E7 D/F#
Than when we first   begun
 
 E7/G#  A
A .........mazing Grace
 
 A7    D             A
How sweet the sound
That saved
 
                                              E7  D/F#
Yes that saved a wretch like me
 
 E7/G#  A            A7/C#
I           once was lost
 
        D           A
But now I'm found
 
 E/G#  F#m
Was    blind
 
       A/E  E  F#m  D
But now  I  see
 
A/C#  B7          D/E  E7  D/A
Was   blind but now  I     see

2. Yoke Wong (Suspended Chord Tutorial)
Free Sheet Music: Amazing Grace

3. Chris Tomlin (Amazing Grace My Chains are Gone)
Learn To Play

Verse 1:
G                 C         G
Amazing grace how sweet the sound
     G                   D
That saved a wretch like me
  G                  C       G
I once was lost, but now I'm found
    G         D     G
Was blind but now I see

Chorus:
              C                  G
My chains are gone, I've been set free.
          C                   G
My God, My Savior has ransomed me.
          C               Em
And like a flood his mercy reigns.
         D              G
Un-ending love, amazing grace

Practice Tips: 

Listen to the Amazing Grace melody for ear training. Keep 

in mind that the melody will be derived from the C Major 

Scale. Try to play the melody on the piano,keeping in mind 

that there are only 8 notes used for this melody.

Remember how neighboring and passing tones work. Many 

melodies will utilize neighboring tones. Listen to whether 

the neighboring tone is higher or lower in pitch than the 

previous tone.

Determine the time signature. There are three beats per 

measure.

Here are the right hand melody notes: 

G C E C   E    D   C     A    G
Amazing grace how sweet the sound
G     C     E C E    D   G
That saved a wretch like me
E  G   E C E      D   C    A   G
I once was lost, but now I'm found
G    C     E C  E D C

Was blind but now I see
 

If you are looking for a more bluesy-gospel sound, you will 

want to order Hear and Play's

300 page Course Book and understand the theory to the  

Altered Version of Amazing Grace

Best,

-- LadyD

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

How To Play A Suspended Chord

Image via Wikipedia

The suspended chord (sometimes called a suspended 4th chord) is constructed from the major scale using the first (1), fourth (4), and fifth (5) notes of the scale. The symbol for this is the letters sus (or sus4), placed after the letter name of the chord. There are two inversions for each suspended chord that you should practice and become familiar with, using both left and right hands. This is a major chord with the fourth substituted for the third.

In root position:

Symbol Notes in Chord

Dsus D G A
Asus A D E
Gsus G C D
Fsus F Bb C

Unlike the V7th chord, which leads back (resolves) to the I chord (In the key of C, G7 resolves back to C), the suspended chord resolves to the same major chord it is derived from. Gsus resolves to G, Dsus resolves to D, regardless of the key of the chord progression. Sus chords are useful for making accompaniment more interesting when there are long passages of a song using one chord. Instead of playing a C chord for eight bars, you could add a few Csus chords.

So, here are more sus4 chords in root, first and second inversion.

Dsus4 = D G A
Dsus4 = G A D (first inversion)
Dsus4 = A D G (second inversion)

Then, we have:

Dbsus4 = Db Gb Ab
Dbsus4 = Gb Ab Db (first inversion)
Dbsus4 = Ab Db Gb (second inversion)
D9sus4 = D G A C E

Now, we have:

Esus4 = E A B
Esus4 = A B E (first inversion)
Esus4 = B E A (second inversion)

You can listen to suspended notes in use in songs like Free Falling by Tom Petty. They are useful when you have a song that makes use of one chord for a long time. You can also listen to suspended tones in worship songs like Jesus Mighty God.

Suspended second chords are merely inversions of suspended fourth chords. These chords are often found in folk music & popular music. A jazz sus chord is a dominant seventh chord with an added fourth (Gsus, for example), & may be written as a slash chord (F/G, or even Dm7/G) so as to show its function in II-V-I progressions.

Give it a try. The suspended triad will provide a cool tension and spice to your playing.
Ezine Article-Suspended Chords 

Tom Petty: Free Fallin' Chord Chart:

INTRO
D/Dsus   Dsus/D/Asus (x2)
(simply put, this is the chord pattern for the ENTIRE song)

        D    Dsus  Dsus  D   Asus
she's a good girl, loves her mama
      D  Dsus    Dsus D  Asus
loves Je-sus and America too
        D    Dsus  Dsus  D   Asus
she's a good girl, crazy 'bout Elvis 
      D   Dsus        Dsus  D      Asus
loves hors-es and her boy - friend too

(intro again 1x)

       D    Dsus  Dsus   D    Asus
it's a long day   livin' in Reseda
          D    Dsus  Dsus  D           Asus
there's a free-way runnin' through the yard
          D   Dsus        Dsus   D    Asus
and i'm a bad boy, cause i don't even miss her
      D   Dsus    Dsus     D   Asus
i'm a bad boy for breakin' her heart


CHORUS 
        D-Dsus Dsus-D-Asus
now i'm free                  
     D-Dsus Dsus-D-Asus
free fall-in'
       D-Dsus Dsus-D-Asus
ya i'm free                  
     D-Dsus Dsus-D-Asus
free fall-in'
http://www.azchords.com/p/pettytom-tabs-5458/freefallin-tabs-112674.html

Jesus Mighty God

Gsus  G
Jesus

Gsus  G 
Mighty God
 
Gsus  G             Our Rock Our Fortress Our  
 
C
Defense

Gsus            G Your conquering arm 
Gsus         G
will be our strength

Gsus    G                

O God of power and 

 C

righteousness

Am             C  

Every foe will tremble at Your
 

G

           

name             

Am             C

Every foe will tremble at Your 

G

name

Related posts: 

 mixolydian-mode-and-sus-chord

 http://ladydpiano.blogspot.com/2008_09_01_archive.html

I play lots of suspended chords in worship songs. 
It really gives the musician something to do besides just laying on a chord. 
Vamping on a major chord and then back to a suspended chord is used a lot in an introduction to a song. 
It sets things up and then you're ready to break into your song. 
It's pretty easy to incorporate the suspended chord into your piano playing.

All the best,

-- LadyD          

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

Related articles

• The Minor Ninth Chord in Db (pianodiana.blogspot.com)

An Understanding of How Music Works

An understanding of how music works involves knowing all 12 major scales. 

Major scales make up music!

Major scales make up playing by ear, believe it or not (at least the effective way of playing by ear.)

When practicing Major Scales, they do build up speed and dexterity but they're more than exercises.

But I’m speaking about getting to a point where you hear a song and you know right away what’s going on in that song. You may not know specifically what the keynotes are but definitely know the “outline” of the song. Somebody can get on the piano and select chords, note-by-note. It might take weeks but it can be completed.

Major scales tell you a lot: 

The time spent at the piano would be to decide the key signature, confirm the chords you’ve already picked out in your head, and worked on details (like melody lines, one of a kind inversions of chords, and minor specificities).

They define intervals.
They decide what a major third is… or a minor sixth … or an ideal fifth. They decide all the keys.

The best scale to keep in mind is the C major scale:
C D E F G A B C
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

Simply put, a person with relative pitch focuses on the numbers and not the specific notes.

So forget about the individual notes for a moment and focus on the numbers.

Because the numbers can be used universally, they can be used with any key, not “C” major.

A great way to build this is to relate different intervals of notes to famous songs.

With relative pitch, a musician will know when they hear a melody going from the 1 tone to the 3rd tone (in this case, a melody going from C to E).

For example, a 1-3 interval (or a major third interval) sounds like the beginning of “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas.” In the key of C major, that would be C going to E (single notes played one at a time).

Try singing or thinking of the first three notes of that song: “Have your…”

So, what you’d do is keep in mind that melody as a 1-3 interval (or a major third interval). Having a reference song to recall an interval ought to help you. Take advantage of this system.

In the event you keep singing “Have Yourself,” you’d be singing the outline of a major chord: 1-3-5.

Another song that shares the same exact melody is “Kumbaya My Lord” (1 – 3 - 5).

So going through each interval of a scale and making mental references to melodies you can keep in mind is a wonderful way to start building this listening skill:

1:1: This is called unison because the notes sound the same. They may come from different sources (like three different people singing the same tone; or three different instruments). You’ve probably heard the word “unison” before. This is the best interval to keep in mind. In the event you have an ear to match up notes that sound the same, then you shouldn’t have a controversy with this interval!
Try to find references for these intervals:
In the key of C major, this would be: C-C.

1:2: This is called the “major second” interval. In a major scale, this would be the distance between the first three notes of the scale like C to D in the key of C major).

Relate the 1-2 interval to the first three notes in songs like: Frere Jacques and Are You Sleeping.
1:3: This is called the “major third” interval. I’ve already given you examples of the 1-3 interval (Kumbayah My Lord, Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas). Plus, Oh Susannah (chorus).

1:4: This is the interval between C:F in the key of C major. This is called the ideal fourth interval. Songs like Oh Christmas Tree, We Wish You a Merry Christmas, Hark the Herald Angels and Here Comes the Bride use 4th intervals.
Play the following intervals and figure out melody references for them (things you can keep in mind and associate with these intervals for future use):

1:5: This is the interval between C:G in the key of C major. This is called the ideal fifth interval. Songs like God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen, Feelings, Chim Chim Cheree and Twinkle Twinkle use the fifth interval.

1:6: I’ll give you some help with this one because it could be a small harder than the ideal fourth and fifth. Have you ever heard the theme music for NBC? The notes are: C to F to A (all played separately but held down as the next note comes in). The C to A, in this case, is a major sixth interval. Other songs starting with a sixth interval are, My Bonnie and It Came Upon a Midnight Clear.

1:7: This is called a major seventh interval. It helps to form the major seventh chord, a jazzy and extended version (C+E+G+B) of the regular major triad (C+E+G). Examples are Bali Hai and Over The Rainbow.

So again, the idea is to know the sounds that sure intervals generate as they're played. Each interval has its own one of a kind sound. And the same truth applies to chords and progressions.

Start to reckon of chords like this:
1-chord
2-chord
3-chord
4-chord
5-chord
6-chord
7-chord
8-chord (equal to 1-chord because the first and last note of a scale belong to the same keynote).


That’s exactly how relative pitch works. You need to understand relationships, intervals, and distances by themselves.

Note the numbers in front of the chord are the same numbers from above. They correspond with notes from any given major scale. Notice that you have no reference point until you actually define a major key.

And, even in the event you do have a reference point, it makes the job much simpler.

Often times, someone with relative pitch can “fake” like they have ideal pitch in the event that they have ONE reference point.

So, how do you get to the point where you can recognize chord progressions?

I understand this lesson could be a small “deeper” than others, but in the event you can get this idea, it may be the breakthrough you’ve been looking for.

A) Write down as many intervals as you can and play them over and over while listening to the distinct sound each interval makes:

In each key:

• You may know that a major chord is happy, a minor chord is sad, as well as a diminished chord is scary, but that’s only half of it. Relative pitch is they ability to identify the intervals between tones and chords. So, while knowing whether the chord is major, minor, or diminished is definitely important, the ability to decide the interval between each chord is more necessary in the event you need to learn songs by ear.

• Decide what a 1-chord sounds going to every other chord of the scale (1-2, 1-3, 1-4, 1-5, 1-6, 17).
Now, each tone is associated with a sure type of chord (like major, minor, diminished) but for now, try to learn and recognize the sound of all three combinations. An example is: 1 maj to 2maj, 1 maj to 2min, 1 maj to 3 maj. Mix and match as much as you can and learn how each interval sounds (not what each chord sounds like). Then move on to the 2-1, 2-2, and 2-3 intervals. Then on to the 3’s, 4’s, 5’s and so on. 

Wishing all my readers a very warm and bright New Year 2011!


-- LadyD



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

Related articles

• The Minor Ninth Chord in Db (pianodiana.blogspot.com)
• I Know You Know by Esperanza Spalding (pianodiana.blogspot.com)