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Author Topic: Congregational Songs  (Read 2752 times)

Offline Jon

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Congregational Songs
« on: August 13, 2006, 03:19:17 PM »
Hi,

I just started playing for a church a month ago. Everything is all good in playing for the choir and all, but I can't play congregational songs that well. Does anyone know any techniques or different ways that I could learn to play for congregational songs?

Offline T-Block

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Re: Congregational Songs
« Reply #1 on: August 13, 2006, 06:27:30 PM »
Here is something for you to practice to get u used to playing congregational songs. You should practice this in every key:

Alternate minor 1 and minor 2 chords

Db-Gb-Bb or Eb-Gb-Bb (start high on keyboard, go all the way down, go all the way back up)
C-F-Ab
Bb-Eb-Gb
Ab-C-F
Gb-Bb-Eb
F-Ab-C
(repeat)

Alternate major 1 and minor 2 chords

Eb-G-Bb (start high on keyboard, go all the way down, go all the way back up)
C-F-Ab
Bb-Eb-G
Ab-C-F
G-Bb-Eb
F-Ab-C
(repeat)

And of course, you should practice the basslines in every key also. You never know when somebody might sing in a different than your favorite/comfortable key. And you might not have a transpose button handy, so learn in it every key and u won't need a transpose button.


Various Bass Lines

C, E, F, F#, G, A, A#, B, C
C, D, D#, E, F, A, A#, B, C
C, E, G, A, A#, A, G, E, C
C, A#, A, G, F, A, A#, B, C
C, A#, G, F#, F, A, A#, B, C
C, A, G, F#, F, A, A#, B, C
C, E, G, F#, F, A, A#, B, C
C, D, D#, G, F, A, A#, B, C
C, D, D#, E, F, D#, D, C#, C

For fast praise songs like "Glory, Glory, Hallelujah":

Glory
C, E, G, A, C, Bb, A, G Glory, Halle-
C, E, G, A, C, Bb, A, G lujah, since I
F, A, C, A, F (2x), F# (2x) laid my burden
G, G#, A, D#, D, G#, G, B down, Glory
C, E, G, A, C (2x), D, C Glory, Halle-
B (2x), E (2x), A, E, F, F# lujah, since I
G, G#, A, D#, D, G#, G, B laid my burden
C, E, F, F#, G down

(leader) I laid my burden
C, D, D#, E, down, (congregation) laid my burden
F, A, A#, B down

(leader) I laid my burden
C, D, D#, E down, (congregation) laid my burden
F, E, F, F#, down, (leader) I laid my burden
G, A#, C, F# down, (congregation) laid my burden
G, A, A#, B down, (leader) I laid my burden

For fast praise songs like "Victory Is Mine":

C, E, F, F# Victory is
G, A, A#, B mine
C, E, F, F# Victory is
G, A, A#, B mine
C, B, C, C# Victory to-
D, E, F, F# day is
G (2x), D (2x) mine
G (2x), A (2x) ohhhh
D, E, F, F# I told
G, G#, A (2x) Satan
D, E, F, F# get thee be-
G, G#, A (2x) hind me
E (2x), F Victory to-
D, G day is
C, E, F, F#, G mine
C, D, D#, E, F, A, A#, B (leader) It's mine, (congregation) it's mine


Here is what u can do for songs like "God Is Not Dead", "I'm A Soldier" and others. I am also giving you different ways to play different parts of the songs:

Key Eb LH/RH

Part 1:

Eb, G / Db-Gb-Bb God is
Ab, A / C-F-Ab not
Bb, C / Bb-Eb-Gb dead
Db, D / C-F-Ab
Eb, G / Bb-Eb-Gb He's
Ab, A / Ab-C-F yet a-
Bb (2x) / Gb-Bb-Eb live
A (2x) / G-B-Db-Eb ohhh

*Ab / Gb-Bb-C-Eb God is not dead *u can bounce this note, or do the following bassline
C, Db, D, Eb / is not dead
F, Gb, G /
Ab (2x) / Gb-Bb-C-Eb or Ab (2x) / C-Gb-Bb He's
Gb (2x) / E-Bb-Eb yet a-
F (2x) / Eb-A-Eb or F (2x) / Eb-A-Db live
Bb (2x) / D-Ab-Eb or Bb (2x) / D-Ab-Db ohhh
(repeat)

*Ab / Gb-Bb-C-Eb God is not dead *u can bounce this note, or do the following bassline
C, Db, D, Eb /
F, Gb, G /
Ab (2x) / Gb-Bb-C-Eb He's
A (2x) / Gb-A-C-Eb (2x) yet a-
Bb / G-Bb-Eb live
C /
/ Gb ohhh
Db / G, Bb
D / C, Eb
(repeat)

*Ab / Gb-Bb-C-Eb God is not dead *u can bounce this note, or do the following bassline
C, Db, D, Eb /
F, Gb, G /
Ab (2x) / Gb-Bb-C-Eb He's
A (2x) / Gb-A-C-Eb yet a-
Bb (2x) / F-Ab-C-Eb live
Bb (2x) / Ab-Bb-D-Gb ohhh
(repeat)

Part 2:

(leader) He's not
Eb / Db-Gb-Bb dead
F, Gb, G / (congregation) He's not
Ab / C-F-Ab dead
C, Db, D / (leader) He's not
(repeat)

On this part, basically u just alternate playing minor 1 (Eb-Gb-Bb) and minor 2 (F-Ab-C) chords while running Eb bass line (Eb, F, Gb, G, Ab, C, Db, D). Of course, you can experiment using different inversions of those chords.


Here is what u can do for songs like "Victory Is Mine", "Somebody Prayed For Me" and others:

Key Eb  LH/RH

Part 1:

Eb / Bb-Eb-G Vic-
G / Bb-Eb-G to-
/ Bb-Eb-G ry
Ab /
/ Ab-C-F is
A /
/ G-Bb-Eb mine
Bb, C, Db, D /
(repeat)

Eb / Bb-Eb-G Vic-
D / to-
/ Bb-Eb-G ry
Eb /
/ Bb-Eb-G to-
E /
/ A-C-Eb-G day
F, G /
Ab, A / A-C-Eb-G is
Bb (2x) / Bb-D-F mine
F (2x) / A-C-Eb-G
Bb, B / Bb-D-F
C, Gb / Bb-C-E-G

F, G / C-Eb-F-Ab I
Ab / C-Eb-F-Ab told
A / Bb-Eb-G
/ Bb-D-F Satan
Bb, B /
C, Gb / Bb-C-E-G
(repeat)

G / Db-Gb-Bb (2x) Victory
Ab / C-F-Ab to-
F / A-C-Eb-Gb day
Bb / Ab-C-Eb is
Eb / G-Bb-Eb mine

Turnaround:

G / G-Bb-Eb
Ab / Ab-C-Eb
A / Gb-A-C-Eb
Bb / G-Bb-Eb
Bb / Ab-Bb-D-Gb
(repeat from beginning)

Gb / E-Bb-Eb
F / Eb-A-Eb
Bb / D-Ab-Eb
Eb / Db-G-C-Eb
Both hands: Bb, C, Bb, C
(repeat from beginning)

Part 2:

(leader) Ohhh, it's
Eb / Db-Gb-Bb mine
F, Gb, G / (congregation) It's mine, (leader) It's
Ab / C-F-Ab mine
C, Db, D / (congregation) It's mine
(repeat)

After every 3rd time u play the chords above, u can do this special part:

C, Eb, D / (congregation) It's mine, (leader) It's
Db (2x) / F-B-Eb (2x) mine, (congregation) It's
Gb (2x) / E-Bb-Eb (2x) mine, (leader) It's
F (2x) / Eb-A-Eb (2x) or F (2x) / Eb-A-Db (2x) mine, (congregation) It's
Bb (2x) / D-Ab-Eb (2x) or Bb (2x) / D-Ab-Db (2x) mine, (leader) It's
(repeat from Part 2)

Somebody asked me for a time count next to the song to get an idea for the rhythm. So, here it is:

4/4 time count in [ ]

Part 1:

[1] Eb / Bb-Eb-G Vic-
[2] G / Bb-Eb-G to-
/ Bb-Eb-G ry
[3] Ab /
/ Ab-C-F is
[4] A /
/ G-Bb-Eb mine
[1, 2, 3, 4] Bb, C, Db, D /
(repeat)

[1] Eb / Bb-Eb-G Vic-
[2] D / to-
/ Bb-Eb-G ry
[3] Eb /
/ Bb-Eb-G to-
[4] E /
/ A-C-Eb-G day
[1, 2] F, G /
[3, 4] Ab, A / A-C-Eb-G is
[1, 2] Bb (2x) / Bb-D-F mine
[3, 4] F (2x) / A-C-Eb-G
[1, 2] Bb, B / Bb-D-F
[3, 4] C, Gb / Bb-C-E-G

[1, 2] F, G / C-Eb-F-Ab I
[3] Ab / C-Eb-F-Ab told
[4] A / Bb-Eb-G
/ Bb-D-F Satan
[1, 2] Bb, B /
[3, 4] C, Gb / Bb-C-E-G
(repeat)

[1, 2, 3] G / Db-Gb-Bb (2x) Victory
[4] Ab / C-F-Ab to-
[1, 2] F / A-C-Eb-Gb day
[3, 4] Bb / Ab-C-Eb is
[1] Eb / G-Bb-Eb mine

Turnaround:

[2] G / G-Bb-Eb
[3] Ab / Ab-C-Eb
[4] A / Gb-A-C-Eb
[1] Bb / G-Bb-Eb
[2, 3, 4] Bb / Ab-Bb-D-Gb
(repeat from beginning)

Gb / E-Bb-Eb
F / Eb-A-Eb
Bb / D-Ab-Eb
Eb / Db-G-C-Eb
Both hands: Bb, C, Bb, C
(repeat from beginning)

Part 2:

(leader) Ohhh, it's
[1] Eb / Db-Gb-Bb mine
[2, 3, 4] F, Gb, G / (congregation) It's mine, (leader) It's
[1] Ab / C-F-Ab mine *go to special part from here
[2, 3, 4] C, Db, D / (congregation) It's mine
(repeat)

After every 3rd time u play the chords above, u can do this special part:

[2, 3, 4] C, Eb, D / (congregation) It's mine, (leader) It's
[1, 2] Db (2x) / F-B-Eb (2x) mine, (congregation) It's
[3, 4] Gb (2x) / E-Bb-Eb (2x) mine, (leader) It's
[1, 2] F (2x) / Eb-A-Eb (2x) or F (2x) / Eb-A-Db (2x) mine, (congregation) It's
[3, 4] Bb (2x) / D-Ab-Eb (2x) or Bb (2x) / D-Ab-Db (2x) mine, (leader) It's
(repeat from Part 2)

Basically, what u doing is following the bass notes. Each bass note acts like a quarter note, so it gets one beat. So, start learning the bass part first and once u get it going, add in the chords.
Real musicians play in every key!!!
Music Theory, da numbers work!

Offline Bigtime

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Re: Congregational Songs
« Reply #2 on: August 13, 2006, 06:41:02 PM »
T-BLock u be doing it Big....Keep doing wat u do...
"Mama said the transpose key is the Devil" only use if u have 2

Offline PianoWizard

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Re: Congregational Songs
« Reply #3 on: August 13, 2006, 07:16:13 PM »
I've got to try some of these techniques "T-Block".....Thanks. I'm sure that others & I will benefit from this.... :)

PianoWiz...

Offline berbie

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Re: Congregational Songs
« Reply #4 on: August 14, 2006, 02:28:22 AM »
Hey T-Block, Hiya doing?

Got a question.  Why am I learning to alternate minor 1 and minor 2 chords, and major 1 and major 2 chords up and down the keyboard?  How will that learning fit into congregational song playing? Please answer as though I were the rankest beginner.   Thanks so much for all your help.

Berbie
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