I can play (1) song because I've practiced over and over while writing in the notes from a fake book. What I want to do is understand WHEN/HOW to apply progressions and if a song needs to be played as a progression or just melody. HERE AND EXAMPLE (song is by D. Haddon) http://www.learngospelmusic.com/media/displayimage.php?album=random&cat=68535&pos=-2056 how would you learn this song or how would you play it. When playing are you playing the note as chords (ALL TOGETHER) OR worship style (IF THERE'S A SUCH STYLE) and that is (ROLLING FROM ONE NOTE TO NEXT SMOOTHLY) Please be as detailed as possible.
Hey Michaeln,
First, let me take some of the mystery out of the term "Progressions". "Progression" in terms of music simply indicates a combination of 2 or more chords in succession (following one another). Since the word derives from "Progress", it implies that the succession of chords is moving forward to some goal -- in music, establishing the key of the piece. So, in actuality 1.) not all successions of chords are necessarily a progression in and of themselves (though they may be perfectly valid as part of an overall progression), and 2.) it usually takes at least 3 chords to create a progression.
Since you are using a fake book, all of those chord symbols put together signify the chord progression for that song. This entire "progression" is certainly made up of smaller units that can be termed as chord progressions in their own right.
When you see all the discussion about 2-5-1 (II V I) or 1-6-2-5-1 (I VI II V I) etc. as progressions, these are "progression units" that may be the progression for the entire song or may be combined with other "progression units" to create a song. We might have a progression unit of I I7 IV (in C: C C7 F) and our I VI II V7 I (C Am Dm G7 C) and combine them into C C7 F C Am Dm G7 C.
Another way of saying it is the the Chord Progressions are the Accompaniment -- they give the harmony.
You can most certainly just play the melody -- which is what a flute or clarinet or singer would do. But on the keyboard, you will certainly want to accompany that melody.
As far as how to accompany the melody, you need to answer a couple of questions?
1.) Are you planning on playing the Melody and Accompaniment on the keyboard or do you plan to sing (or accompany someone who is singing it? If you are playing the Melody and Accompaniment then you will have to do both, melody usually in R.H. and Accompaniment usually in L.H.
If the melody is to be sung (or played on a solo instrument) then you generally only want to play the accompaniment. In this instance, you will play the root (or bass) of the chord in the left hand (single notes or octaves) and the chords themselves in the right hand. I differentiate between Root and Bass because some songs contain slash chords (Bb/F or Gm/C) which indicates that the chord is Bb but the bass note is to be F (not Bb) or that the chord is Gm but the bass is C. The logic behind these chords is a bit esoteric, so at the moment, just trust me.
As far as how to accompany it, as I heard the accompaniment played, it was generally "Block Chords" pretty much on each beat. It started out with less going on, but as it built, the chords kept the beat. So for most of it, your L.H. would play the Bass on One playing on other beats when the chord changes and your R.H. would play the indicated chord on each beat.
Of course, you probably noticed from time to time, the keyboard played some doo-hickies higher up on the keyboard. Those you can experiment with adding in as you get comfortable with the basic accompaniment.
I might add that it would be good to work on at least another song or two while you are working on this one -- particularly if they are in the same key. This will help you see that certain combinations of chords are quite common. As you get into more music, you will be amazed at how many songs have been created on so few chord patterns.
I hope that this helps.
