Dear Musician,

Welcome to Gospel Piano Book Two. My name is Harold Hanson a.k.a. Worship Fingers. Getting
this manual brings the understanding that you want to learn / improve on how you play Gospel Chords,
am I correct? If that is so, please read on. If you happen to have bought the wrong book, meaning that
you don’t want to learn Gospel piano playing, PLEASE RETURN THIS TO THE BOOKSHELF. I
guarantee you that if you go any further you’d pick up techniques that the world’s most talented
musicians use as their arsenal.

STOP HERE PLEASE!

Hahaha! I’m just fooling with you. Again!

I want to thank the Lord God for the grace, wisdom, and ability to write this book. I also want to say a
megaton thank you to my instructors, Ubon Ntuk, Jermaine Griggs [C.E.O. of HearandPlay.com],
Jamal Hartwell [Gospelkeyboard.com], Ayotunde Onabolu [Preaching Fingers], Kevin Bond, and
other great musicians I value as role models for accepting God’s call to the ministry, and for their
impact in my life, making me what I am today. You all have given me the foundations to becoming a
Totally Transformed Gospel Musician, and the ability to impact my environment with the knowledge
base I now possess. It’s because of you I have the courage and experience to write this manual and
help my fellow Gospel Musicians growth in his/her musical abilities. God bless you all and increase
you.

Phew!

In ‘Gospel Piano Book Two’, I would be dealing on the secrets to finding the keys to songs. I would
also visit chord classifications [Monads – Heptads], chord substitutions and passing chords, the
underlying secret of tri-tones, how to backup the lead pianist effectively, using the power of tetra-
chords to play scales, and how to select the right voices for certain moods of play.
Have fun reading!

There would be complimentary videos showing all these lessons in action, so I advise that you get
them for a deeper and insightful learning process.

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 SECRETS TO FINDING THE KEY TO A SONG
Case 1: This is a problem to many musicians out there. A minister could start up a song, and it would
take ages to figure out what key he/she is in, and as if that is not bad enough, you get the key but
struggle with determining the pattern of the song. So while the singer is singing, you are punching note
after note, looking for the singer on your instrument, and when you find him/her, its another tough luck
trying to follow the music pattern, especially if you have never heard the song before.

Frustrating! Does that sound like you? Then I think you should read on.

Case 2: You hear a song on tape or CD, and you are asked to score it. Problem is the song is dancing
about and you can’t seem to place the right key; or probably, you have the key, but can’t quite get the
exact notes of those “crazy” progressions.
Hopeless is it? No!
There is a solution to that ‘gymnastic playing’. You can tell the keys to a song just by listening to it,
with or without your piano. Yes! If the top musicians can, then you can also.

Most musicians can figure out the 3rd or the 5th note of a song easily, but not the root note, because
most songs start with the melody or harmony, so it is easy to mistaken them for the root note. Here, we
will focus on how to find out the major key to songs, preferably under 10 seconds.
It would not be a speedy process. You won’t automatically be able to do these in one day, but keep at
it. They say practice makes perfect right? Wrong!
They also say not practice but ‘Perfect’ practice makes perfect, right? Nope! Wrong again!
I have come to tell you that in its truest sense, practice makes improvement. Perfection is humanly not
feasible. In life, you should strive not for perfection, but for excellence. Doing better than you did
yesterday, and making efforts to get better tomorrow, not compromising but settling for nothing but
excellence in all endeavours.

I will talk about five (5) ways to which you can achieve this skill of figuring out the key to ANY song
you listen to, with or without the piano.

 IDENTIFYING THE KEY NOTE [TONIC]

You have to learn to identify the keynote / do / root / tonic. Understanding scale degrees and how they
can help determine the keys to songs is what we will be dealing with. Most times, you hear a song and
mistaken the melody for the root. Not all songs begin on the root note. Remember, the root note can be
sung throughout the song [as long as the song maintains the same key] and it will fit in. Some songs
don’t even end on the root note/chord. Most times, the root note is accompanied with an altered chord
making it difficult to hear, but you just listen for the deepest tone [on the base line, but this is not
always exact as some tones could be altered]. Hum that sound, and if you are with your piano, find it in
less than 5 seconds. Just don’t be offensive by hitting one note after the other. Use your ears to
distinguish the sounds.

 LOOKING AT THE PROGRESSION

Know the tonic arrangements. What chords are used for what tonics [using the diatonic movements]?
Basically, there are 3 minors, 3 majors, and one diminished chord associated with every key following
the major scale. The 1st, 4th and 5th notes of the scale will usually carry a major chord [the 5th will carry
a dominant if bigger]. The 2nd, 3rd, and 6th will usually carry a minor chord. The 7th will carry a
2
diminished chord [or half diminished]. When you hear a chord e.g. an E minor chord, [I don’t know
how you heard it but you did], you ask yourself “in what key is E minor the 2nd, 3rd or 6th note?” This
will narrow your options down to three keys. The same takes place if you hear a major chord, let’s say
Ab major. In what key is Ab the 1st, 4th, or 5th tones?
Next you listen for the way they progress. If the E minor chord goes to the A minor, and then to the D
minor, then to the G dominant / major, or back to the E minor; say the movement is in that sequence,
identify what tonal movement they are e.g. ‘mi’ – ‘la’ – ‘re’… You would easily get the key of the
song as C major, because it is only in C major that you would have that arrangement.
So placing the diatonic movements, it is easy to determine the key of the song using this method. You
may still need the piano for this method.
It is important to know what a tone/key is in every single key, e.g. what is the placement of D on every
other key?

 MINOR CHORD TRICK

In this method, you use the note that places the sound the highest, i.e. using the melody of the song
[5th]. For example, if you are humming G, test to see which minor chord puts G on top/as the 5th note.
Then try any of the keys in the minor chord. The thing is you could be humming the 3rd, which will
make it Eb, or the 5th apart, which will mean C as the tonic, or even G as the tonic. So while the song is
playing, get a key and then test with a minor chord that puts that key the highest, and test all of the
keys to find the tonic. Your ear will always be the last judge.

 MEMORIZING A KEY
This method is quite effective if mastered. The scope is to master the sound of a particular key [usually
middle C], and when you hear a song, test-run the tonic of that key with your memorized key. This is
useful if you have no piano, don’t want to be hitting different notes on the piano, or if the song is on
the way and you just walked up to the piano. It could be frustrating to a singer or an audience when the
pianist is searching audibly for the key of the song while it is being sung. This is one method I would
encourage everyone to master. It could be the key of a song you have played before, or one you love.
When you have the original key of that song stored up in your head, use that to test against the tonic of
the new song you are listening to. This method requires a lot of practice, and is not as easy as the
others, because the different sounds you have been hearing throughout that day may have impaired
your key-memory.

 SCALAR TRICK
This one I like also. The rule is simple: ALL KEYS ARE REPRESENTED ON OTHER KEYS!
What do I mean? Let’s say you hear a song and your first guess is C, but that’s not the key. Rather than
start running a chromatic on your piano trying to figure out the exact key, get the tonic sound of the
song like in the first method, then run a scale in your head from where you are to where the tonic is.
Just as C is the 1st tone in the key of C, it is the 7th in the key of C#, the 5th in the key of F, the 4th in the
key of G, the 5b in the key of F#…and so on. Every key is represented on every tone of the scale 12
times. So, your note from the original tonic could be ‘do’, ‘ti’, ‘sol’, ‘fa’, ‘fe’…and so on. Like I said,
your ear is the final judge in “hear and play” music.

So there you have it! Have fun out there and keep practicing.

3
 CHORD CLASSIFICATION
Most people just classify chords by name and chord quality (major vs. minor, augmented vs.
diminished). I want to show you another world. Here’s how to think of chords by the number of notes
they contain. This will be short and to the point.

MONADS

A “monad” is a single note. The “chromatic scale” comes to mind, which is basically composed of
twelve monads.

DYADS

A dyad is a 2-note combination. Others choose to just reference them as “intervals.”

People still debate over whether it should officially be called a “chord” or if it’s just an interval.
(Those who want to keep it just as an “interval” believe that chords start at three or more notes).

But who cares what you think of them as — they can enhance your playing! :-) So here are my top 5
favourite dyads:

1) Power chords

They are intervals that span a fifth. An example of a power chord is from “C” to “G.” You can use
them to power up most chords because if you think about it, they all possess that perfect fifth interval
(except for diminished and augmented chords). When playing extended chords like sevenths, ninths,
elevenths, and thirteenths, some people use power chords on their left, therefore, freeing up their right
hand to focus on the upper tones in the chord.

2) Tri-tone

I call them the little cousin of the power chord. If you know your power chords and can lower your
fifth tone a half step, then you know your tri-tones! That’s all they are! They are an interval of a flatted
fifth. So instead of playing “C” to “G,” you play “C” to “Gb.” These are also found in dominant 7
chords. For example, a C dominant 7 chord has these notes: C + E + G + Bb. Do you notice the tri-tone
from “E” to “Bb?” (Don’t worry! Over time, you’ll start recognizing them quickly). Try experimenting
with certain tri-tones on your left hand and various dominant, major, and even minor chords on your
right hand. You’ll be amazed at what you come up with.

3) Di-tone

I remember a few years back when gospel musicians started throwing this “fancy” word around:
“LOL!” It’s basically the Greek way to say “major third.” But I like the use of “di-tone” because it
relates it to the tri-tone, which has a similar function. Basically, di-tones have 2 whole steps between
them. “C” to “E” is an example of a di-tone. “Tri-tones” are their bigger sisters (they have 3 whole
steps between them). Essentially, anywhere you play a tri-tone, try its little brother and you’ll get a
different feel.

4
In fact, you can combine them: C + E + Bb. Notice the di-tone between “C” and “E” and the tri-tone
between “E” and “Bb”.

Looks like a dominant 7 chord to me too! But there are little nuances like this that make all the
difference. Like this chord…

C aug 7 (#9)

You can easily voice this chord a million different ways but notice the use of the di-tone at the bottom
— then the tri-tone interval between the “E” and “Bb” — and even the use of a quartal chord up top.

4) Major 7th interval

Sometimes, you don’t want a power chord on your left. Like when you’re playing some type of
extended major chord (major 9th, major 11th, etc), maybe you just want to play “C” and the higher “B”
on your left hand and the rest of your chord on the right hand. The idea is to try it any time an extended
major chord is necessary.

5) b7 interval

The last dyad you should get used to is the b7 interval. It’s basically the same as the major 7th interval,
except you lower the 7th a half step. So instead of “C + B,” you’ll play “C + Bb.” You’d use this one
just like the tri-tone and di-tone. It has the same function.

Notice on the chord above that “C to Bb” is the outer shell that results from putting a di-tone “C + E”
together with a tri-tone “E + Bb.” Similar to the major 7th interval, you would simply play a b7 interval
when you want to use less notes and keep the sound open.

TRIADS

Music theorists still argue over whether a chord officially starts with 2 or 3 tones played at the same
time. It seems like 3 is more accepted. For the sake of knowledge, I have given you the name of a two-
note combination [dyads] above. Any time you have a collection of three notes played together, you’re
playing a triad. Most basic chords fall under this category.

• Major triad (e.g. – C major: C + E + G)

5
 • Minor triad (e.g. – C minor: C + Eb + G)

• Diminished triad (e.g. – C diminished: C + Eb + Gb)

• Augmented triad (e.g. – C augmented: C + E + G#)

So any time you hear, “give me a _______ triad,” that’s only asking for a 3-toned chord. Don’t give
the composer or music director more than that! After all, in some arrangements, less is better.

TETRADS

Then next, there is what we call “tetrads.” These are chords using four notes. Seventh chords are
essentially tetrads.

• Major seventh (e.g. – C major 7: C + E + G + B)

• Minor seventh (e.g. – C minor 7: C + Eb + G + Bb)
• Diminished seventh (e.g. – C diminished 7: C + Eb + Gb + Bbb or A)
• Augmented seventh (e.g. – C augmented 7: C + E + G# + Bb)

PENTADS

Chords using five notes are called “pentads.” (In fact, there’s such a thing as tri-tonic and tetra-tonic
scales too! But let’s save that for another lesson). Ninths are a form of pentads.

For example, C major 9 is C + E + G + B + D. Five notes!

HEXADS AND HEPTADS

And lastly, “hexads” and “heptads” are the names given to 6 and 7-toned chords, respectively. An
example of a hexad is an eleventh chord, and an example of a heptad is a thirteenth chord.
6
 CHORD SUBSTITUTIONS AND PASSING CHORDS
When we talk about substitutions, we talk about other ways you can play a particular chord. Let us say
you want to play a 2 – 5 – 1 progression, and you want to make it different, substituting them with
other chords or replacing them with other chords e.g. 2 – 2b – 1. I would explain this movement further
in this topic.

A passing chord is simply ‘a passing chord’. This means that they are not standard chords, but you use
them to get to other chords in your progression, making your movements ‘phatter’. I know you will be
wondering what that means. ‘Phatter’ in this sense would mean expansion. Lets say you want to play
the regular 3 – 6 [this numbering should be familiar to you as mi – la], and you don’t want it to sound
common, you add a few passing chords in-between before you arrive at the 6, like 5b – 6b. I will
expand on this later.

1] The first substitution we will talk about is the Flat 7 [ 7] substitution.

th b

The b7 substitution is the substitution used when playing dominant chords. For this example, I would
use the C dominant 9 [C9] to explain its use.

As you know, two musicians can play the same dominant chord and make their versions sound totally
different. I’m going to show you how that is possible.

Here’s the regular C dominant 9 chord: C E G Bb D

It’s basically a C dominant 7 chord with an added 9th tone.

There are only two steps to transforming this boring, “standard” ninth chord into a snazzy one!

Step 1: Play the tri-tone replacement for the dominant chord on your left hand. Remember, you
can always substitute the appropriate tri-tone for a full dominant chord since a tri-tone utilizes
the key tones of the dominant chord. Basically, take the 3rd and 7th tones out of the dominant
chord and play them on your left hand. That is a tri-tone.

C dominant 9
C + E + G + Bb + D

You’d take out E and Bb and play them together.

* As you probably know, “E” is the third tone of the scale and “Bb” is the flat seventh tone.

So far, my left hand has “E + Bb” in it.

7
Step 2: After you have determined what tri-tone to play on your left hand, you’ll want to identify
the 5th tone of the chord. You’ll want to play a minor chord off this tone on your right hand. If
I’m playing a C9 chord, then the 5th tone of C is basically G (which is in the chord). I’m simply
going to play a G minor chord on my right hand.

It’s that simple! Find the 5th tone of the chord (or scale) and play its minor triad. Point blank!

C dominant 9
C + E + G + Bb + D

*The 5th tone in C major is G. Therefore, I’m going to play a G minor on my right hand: (G + Bb + D)

You can try different inversions of this G minor triad but I prefer first inversion, which means the
keynote will always be on top: (Bb + D + G). The same goes for the tri-tone. You can try the alternate
inversion of the tri-tone, but I like my flat seventh on the bottom (Bb + E). Feel free to try the other way
around too (“E + Bb”). They both work.

So my full chord looks like this:

C dominant 9
Bb + E on left hand /// Bb + D + G on right hand

If you do use the opposite tri-tone “E + Bb,” you may find that the “Bb” from your tri-tone meets the
“Bb” from your G minor chord if you’re playing both hands close to each other. This is fine. It actually
results in a nice little effect with simply “E” on the left hand and “G minor” on the right hand.

Now here’s the best part. In gospel music, you can really work this! Try going down a half step and
doing the same thing. Then quickly move that chord back up to your original chord.

So basically, take this same voicing of C9 and move it down to B9.

What is the tri-tone that goes with “B?” Bam! That’s your left hand!

What’s the 5th tone of B? Play its minor chord in first inversion! Bam! That’s your right hand!

B dominant 9
A + D# on left hand /// A + C# + F# on right hand

And this B dominant 9 (a.k.a. “B9), which is the same exact chord as C9 (but moved down a half step),
leads perfectly to the C9:

8
B dominant 9
A + D# on left hand /// A + C# + F# on right hand

C dominant 9
Bb + E on left hand /// Bb + D + G on right hand

2] The second chord substitution we will talk about is the Major 7 on ‘steroids’.
th

As you know, the major 7th chord is just the major with the 7th tone following the major scale. Many
musicians cannot differentiate the 7th from the major 7th. The 7th is the same as the dominant 7th. Using
the key of C, that will be C + E + G + Bb. The major 7th will be C + E + G + B. So, whenever you
hear a C7 or C dominant 7, you’d know what to play. Whenever you hear a C major 7, you’d know
what to play also. In the diatonic representation, it is simply d + m + s + t.

The major 7th substitution is used frequently when playing your 6th chord [la], or your 2nd chord [re].

A + E + G on left hand /// C + E + G + B on right hand

D + A + C on left hand /// F + A + C + E on right hand

9
Now, the major 7th chord should not be new to some of you who already use its power when playing
songs. It can be used on your 1 chord, 2 chord, 4 chord, or 6 chord. It adds a jazzy feel to your chords.

Basically, the chords listed above show the way you will play it on your 6 and 2 chords. But the power
I want to give to you in this substitution play is a lot ‘phatter’:

A + E + B on left hand /// C + E + G + B on right hand

Now, to make it a lot ‘phatter’, you can add some ‘steroids’ to this.

Don’t ask what I mean by ‘steroids’ because I’m not sure either. It’s a term I got from my interaction
with Jamal Hartwell. All I know is that it’s basically spreading your major 7th chord [it looks like you
are playing the tonic with the dominant chord: d + s major].

A + E + B /// C + G + B + D

The trick is not to play it all at once. You have to flow into each note one after the other to give a form
of slurred feel [legato].

This substitution is best used on your 2nd, 3rd, 5th, and 6th tone chords. It can be used on your 4th chord,
but you have to use your ears to find out if it suits the context of what you are playing. It would sound
quite abstract if you do not know when to use it.

As you may or may not know, the Major 7th chord in gospel music is probably one of the most used
chords in the urban and contemporary style. It is even used in jazz, and neo soul. If I want to ‘phatten’
that Major 7th up a little more, I would be using two substitute chords:
1. Minor 11th Chord
2. Minor 9
Both of these chords can replace a Major 7th. So what that means is that whenever you are playing a
regular major 7th, you can fill it up with these chords. Here are the substitution combinations:
If playing an Ab Major 7th you can then play this chord to add "steroids" to it:
F Minor 9 or F Minor 11
Say for instance you have a chord that looks like this:

F + C + G /// Ab + C + Eb + G

10
You can replace the chord with an F minor 11th which looks like this

F + C + G /// Ab + Eb + G + Bb

F + C /// Eb + G + Ab + Bb

So, you can use the Major 7th on steroids with your minor 11th chord and your minor 9th chord to add
instant “phatness” to your regular major 7th chord.

Bass Combination
A good cheating trick to know when to use this chord or when it will sound nice is to look at your bass
note. Remember, if you are listening to a song, listen for the bass note, and make that the basis for your
chord. For example if you are listening to a song and the main bass note to the song is F, then chances
are you will play:
1. Ab Major 7th
2. F minor 9
3. F minor 11

Move in whole steps

To add some interesting flavor and some nice changes to your music, what you can do is move these
Chords in whole steps up or down. It gives you this really nice jazzy and neo soul kind of sound when
you do this. You can use this whole–step movement concept as passing chords to get to the next Major
7th or you can just use them as “fillers”. Fillers are movements you use when you are just playing
around, warming up, or with talk music. Since they are so jazzy, you will only use them a few times.
See, you can think of it as: start - destination. If you need to get to another major 7th combination, then
you can move the minor 11th, minor 9th, or major 7th in whole steps to get to the destination. It creates a
very rich sound and you can use this to start building a vocabulary of passing notes.
Melody Line
This trick is an awesome method to make your songs really intricate and complex. Take the melody
line of the song, which is easy to hear, because it is usually the highest note you hear from the singer.
Listen to the soprano for that melody line. Once you hear the melody note, work backwards to figure
out the Minor 11th. So for example if the melody line or soprano note, which is the highest note in the
chord is Bb, the chord you will play is an F Minor 11th, making sure that you form your chords such
that the Bb is the highest note in the chord. You see? You can work backwards as well if you want to
base your chord such that you play a ‘phat’ melody line using the minor 11th chord. It works really
well.
11
 Assignment
1. Match the Major 7th on Steroids and the minor 9th with every single bass line
2. Match every single melody line (i.e. highest note) and fill out the rest of the chord for every single
note.
So essentially you are going to work forward from the bass to figure out the entire chord, then work
back from the melody line to figure out the entire chord as well for the minor 11th. Knowing these
combinations gracefully will allow you to use more improvisational techniques very well.

Let’s try out a little test, shall we?

1. Say for instance you hear a song and the bass line is Ab and you want to make your chord ‘phat’
with the Major 7th on steroids. What two chords can you use to fill out the bass line that you hear?
2. Say you hear the melody line in a song and it goes from Bb to C to Eb to G, what chords will you
play to fill out the melody line?

The Major 7th is an integral part of gospel music. Filling it out with the minor 11th chord makes it sound
really ‘phat’. More importantly, you have to use your ear.
We can give you best-case scenarios, but if it doesn't sound good, DON'T DO IT!

The Major 7th and its brothers (minor 11th and minor 9th) have a sound that goes with many different
chords. What this means is that it's hard for the minor 11th to sound bad at all. It goes very well with
urban music. What you have to decide is if it "fits" and that is up to your discretion. It's a tool used to
add instant ‘phatness’ to your playing and should be used at your discretion. Just don’t forget the
importance of your ears. The chords are awesome and I use these chords as a foundation to all of my
playing.

3] The third chord substitution we will talk about is the Di-tone.

Also known as the Major 3rd. Everyone has been screaming about how to use the tri-tone, but the di-
tone is just as powerful as the tri-tone. It is a key element in that gospel/urban sound. It helps you get
from one chord to the other in a really phat way. It sounds so good that you can walk it up as much as
you want and it still sounds good.

General Usage:
The di-tone on your left hand is usually coupled with a form of quartal chord [quartal chord lead] on
your right hand. I like to associate them in clumps for better understanding, because there are other
ways to use the di-tone. Here are some general rules to using this di-tone:
1. The di-tone mimics the bass line:
What this means is that if your bass line is C, then your di-tone will usually be C and E.
2. The di-tone is usually coupled with a quartal chord in the right hand
C + E /// Bb + D# + G# (Quartal chord)

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 As a Passing Tone
Remember to think about the bass note. The bass note is exactly what it sounds like: It is the actual
sound and movement of the bass guitar. So if you hear the bass guitar on a song go from C to D to E,
then your di-tones will be C + E, D + Gb, and E + Ab. Your right hand chord will be Bb quartal lead –
C quartal lead – D quartal lead. But be careful! Make sure that when you hear the bass that you use the
bass notes that are acting as passing tones. So you have a responsibility to learn and interpret the song
to see if it’s a foundation bass note, or a passing tone. So what you can do is move the di-tone /*quartal
lead combination in whole notes to get to your destination. So if your starting point is C and your
ending point is F, then you can use the di-tone / quartal lead combination that goes from C to F, but on
F you play the foundation chord.

Note: The reason why I describe this as a di-tone / quartal lead combination, is because what you can
do with the quartal chord is play around with the *quartal lead chords. I also call it a quartal lead
because it is not the actual quartal chord that goes with the tone, but the leading chord that will take
you there. Get it?
This is why I describe the chord in clumps, because each clump has its own distinct way of use, even
though they are used in combination.
Replacing the 1 Chord
You hear this done in jazz music an awful lot. Instead of playing a regular C major chord, you can
play:
C + E /// A + D + G (C Quartal chord)

You can even move these chord combinations in whole or half steps, up and down, to get to your
destination, and it sounds really jazzy.

* If you remember from the first manual, Piano and Keyboarding, I described a quartal chord as a
chord in fourth degrees, or a triad chord combination with intervals of four notes e.g. l – r – s. From
the first note to the next note are four tones.

The di-tone is usually used to substitute for your diminished 3rd chord. Lets say you have this
progression:

t r fe / l de m - m t r / se d r s - lms/dmst

You can substitute the 3rd diminished chord representation with your di-tone, or use your di-tone to
play passing chords to your destination:

dsr/dmst - m se / r s d - lms/dmst

dsr/drms - m se / r s d  f e to / m l r  s e d / fe t m - lmt/mstr

This on its own creates instant ‘phatness’.

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4] The fourth chord substitution we will talk about is the Tri-tone.

TRI-TONES!!! The big girls of gospel music! Aha! Everybody is talking about tri-tones.
The question is, Can tri-tone substitutions really revolutionize your playing?
The answer is YES!

I know you’re thinking… “Whoa! Big words. This is going to be complex.” Let me assure you that this
concept is very easy to understand. Maybe you’ve heard of it. Perhaps you’ve seen these words thrown
around forums.

Well, I’m finally going to demystify tri-tone substitutions for you.

As you know, a tri-tone is made up of the 1 and b5 interval.

C major:

CDEFGABC
1234567

In C major, that will be C + Gb (G is the 5th… so simply lower it to Gb).

It’s also known as a diminished 5th interval. (Diminish literally means to “make smaller”).

But here’s the thing with tri-tones. Unlike other chords, you really only have to learn 6 of them. Yes!
12 is the magic number in music. There are 12 major chords, 12 minor chords, 12 diminished chords…
12 of everything! But with tri-tones, they are symmetric. In other words, they are the same if you take
the bottom note and move it to the top. It doesn’t matter.

Take that “C + Gb”, flip it, and you’ll get “Gb + C” (it’s still a tri-tone).

On the other hand, if you take a perfect fifth like “C + G” and flip it, you won’t get the same 5th but
instead, you’ll get a 4th (“G + C”). That’s because they aren’t symmetric.

Tri-tones are basically equal when you transpose them. And get this…

They cut the octave perfectly in half.

Yes, believe it or not, the “b5 (flatted fifth) marks the MIDDLE POINT of the octave. So if you go
from C to Gb and then from Gb to C, you would have encompassed an octave.

Octave = 12 half steps

Tri-tone = 6 half steps (or 3 whole steps, thus the name “tri”)

Because of all this, there are really only 6 of them. Gb + C is basically the same as C + Gb (at least for
the purposes in which we’ll use them). That means, all you have to do is learn these (and I’m going to
use informal spellings just to keep things simple):

14
 C + Gb
Db + G
D + Ab
Eb + A
E + Bb
F+B

…And you’ll automatically know that the “flipped” versions are:

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

So the key is to master not only these tri-tones played as chords (or dyads) but to master, for example,
what a tri-tone up from C is. In other words, you should be able to know that the other “tri-tone” side
of D is Ab. Or the other side of G is Db. Or the other side of E is Bb, and vice versa.

Once you understand this, tri-tone substitution is easy. It basically says that you can substitute the
chord a tri-tone away for the chord you’re currently on. It works best with dominant chords but you
can mess around with it on major and minor seventh chords as well.

But basically, let’s see how this works in a 2 – 5 – 1 chord progression. Normally, in a 2 – 5 – 1, the 5th
tone is a dominant chord.

2 – minor 7 - 5 – dominant 7 - 1 – major 7

In C major, this plays out as:

D minor 7 - G dominant 7 - C major 7

D minor 7 = D + F + A + C
G dominant 7 = G + B + D + F
C major 7 = C + E + G + B

See the “G dominant 7”? The rules behind “tri-tone substitution” say that you can replace this G
dominant 7 with the dominant chord that is 3 whole steps away (or a “tri-tone” away).

That is the golden rule!

Tri-tone Substitution: This is the use of a chord, 3 whole steps away to replace (or follow) the
original chord.

I use the word “follow” because, in my experience, you can usually play your original chord and then
follow-up with the dominant chord a tri-tone away. And other times, you can substitute the original
chord altogether.

15
And like I said, if you know your tri-tone relationships very well, it won’t take long to know that you
can use Db dominant 7 in the place of G dominant 7 (G7 for short).

D minor 7 >>> Db dominant 7 >>> C major 7

D minor7 = D + F + A + C
Db dominant7 = Db + F + Ab + Cb
C major7 = C + E + G + B

*Cb is basically the same as playing “B” — just spelled differently. This puts your musical knowledge
to work doesn’t it?

Why does the Db7 work so well as a substitute for the G7 chord?

Well, let’s look at their notes:

G7: Db7:

G+B+D+F Db + F + Ab + B

(Yes, I know that “B” should say “Cb” but I’m trying to make a point here).

Regardless of what you call them, do you see the two common notes that these two chords share? In
fact the notes they share (B + F) form a tri-tone, themselves! There are just tri-tones everywhere!

Exercise: Come up with tri-tone substitutions for every 2 – 5 – 1 chord progression.

5] The fifth chord substitution we will talk about is the 7 chord voicing.
th

Basically, I will show you how to spice up seventh chords by changing the way you voice them. The
difference with this and the second substitution of the major 7th I dealt with earlier is the voicing used.

A voicing is simply a representation of a chord.

• How the notes in a chord are spaced

• What notes are being played twice
• Where the root of the chord is placed
• What feeling a particular order gives you

16
These things are all important when it comes to understanding voicings.

And believe me, some musicians need a lot of help in this area. Just because you’re playing the same
notes as the next musician, it doesn’t mean you’ll make that chord sound the same way the next
musician does.

I know musicians who can take the same old major chords we’ve been playing for years and make
them sound like something we think we’ve never played before. And when you find out what they’re
doing, you’re often times blown away because it’s so simple. The key is how you voice your chords
and where you place them.

So in this lesson, all I would do is take regular seventh chords and alter the order and number of notes I
play.

Step 1: I would start with the regular root inversions.

C major 7: C + E + G + B

Step 2: I will now take out the 5th interval.

The 5th interval in this chord is “G” (”G” is the 5th tone in the C major scale).
C major 7: C + E + B

Step 3: I choose to only play the root on my left hand bass.

C major 7: C on left hand /// E + B on right hand

17
 Step 4: I choose to double up on the “third” (doubling up means playing octaves).

The third interval in this chord is “E” (“E” is the 3rd tone in the C major scale).
E+B+E

Step 5: Once I establish my voicing (which is basically “3 + 7 + 3 over the root bass”), I will use
this same voicing all the way up the piano.

You already know the seventh chords that correspond to the major scale. The trick is this: Just slide
over your fingers one note and that will give you the voicing for the next chord in the scale.

C major 7 = C + E + G + B = new voicing (C /// E + B + E)

D minor 7 = D + F + A + C
E minor 7 = E + G + B + D
F major 7 = F + A + C + E
G dominant 7 = G + B + D + F
A minor 7 = A + C + E + G
B half-diminished 7 = B + D + F + A
= new voicing (D /// F + C + F)
= new voicing (E /// G + D + G)
= new voicing (F /// A + E + A)
= new voicing (G /// B + F + B)
= new voicing (A /// C + G + C)
= new voicing (B /// D + A + D)

Note: What you see in the first group of notes is what the chord normally looks like in root position.
Then you see our voicing in parentheses.

You may be thinking… “Wow! That seems too easy. I just move my fingers over and I can learn all
these new voicings!” Well, that’s because these voicings all have the 3rd and 7th in them and quite
frankly, that’s all you need in order to play a chord (along with the root, of course). The 5th doesn’t
really tell you much about the chord because major, minor, and dominant chords all have perfect 5th
intervals. What really matters in a chord is what the 3rd and 7th are doing.

(Even when you’re trying to figure out what kind of chord you’re playing, the third and fifth should be
able to tell you. Any extra notes may hint at it being an extended or altered chord but the 3rd and 7th
will tell you what kind of underlying chord you’re playing, in most cases).

So, try making your own voicings.

Maybe you won’t use “3 + 7 + 3” like I did. Maybe yours is the reverse: “7 + 3 + 7.” That sounds
pretty good, too! And you can even take it all the way up the scale too because it has the 3rd and 7th and
that’s all you need in order to form the seventh chords of a major scale.

18
 UNDERLYING SECRETS OF TRI-TONES
There are short cuts I have discovered that will help you in determining when and how you can apply
your tri-tones. I have already dealt on how they came about [being the b5 movement], but now, I want
to talk about how to know the chords that will go with them, and when to use them.

What makes up a tri-tone? When is it most probably used? What chord formations carry tri-tones
seamlessly? How can they be applied to add colour to songs that already have existing chords? How
do you know when a tri-tone is necessary or useful? Would the melody of a song have to change when
you apply a tri-tone, so that the melody and the chord don’t sound so far apart? How can I take
advantage of its power?

All these questions and many more go through the minds of anyone who comes across the
phenomenon known as tri-tones. Well, most of them I would answer here, but the question of where it
fits and how one can take advantage of its power would be better explained in the video.

You know! Tri-tones are interesting little fellas! They are quite versatile.

What makes up a tri-tone? What chord formations carry tri-tones seamlessly? These questions are
similar and that is why I’d start with them.
A tri-tone is basically birthed from a dominant 7 th
chord. The formation is basically the 3rd and the
dominant 7th in that chord. That is it! The name comes from the idea that the notes have 3 whole steps
or 6 half steps between them. I.e. if we have a dominant 7th chord: G + B + D + F, the tri-tone
formation would be B + F [The 3rd and 7th basically].
Because of its combination of b5 movements, it is only used in dominant 7th substitutions or
alternations.

Tri-tones in general can be used as substitutions, passing chords, root chords, or in moving major
tones to fill up a song [passing voicings].

 Now, another secret I want to reveal to you is that anytime you have to use a tri-tone, you will
usually accompany it with a major chord. At the craziest, a dominant chord can be used as well.

 Another secret is that the major chord that will usually accompany your tri-tone chord begins 2
whole steps ahead of your tri-tone root note i.e. a di-tone away.
Let me break that down for you.
What I mean is that when you have a tri-tone [F + B], and you want to form the major chord that
accompanies it, it will usually be the major chord of the tone 2 whole steps away [A major], played
from the 2nd inversion. So what I would have will be:

F + B /// E + A + C#

Even when I have to make a movement in tri-tones, the principle remains the same:

F + B /// E + A + C# - E + Bb /// Eb + Ab + C
19
Remember that tri-tones are basically 6 in number, and to make it complete 12 tones, all you do is just
flip the tri-tone chords around, seeing that they divide the octave into a perfect half. [Hope you
remember our earlier experiment with these?]
In other words, we can say that the major chord that accompanies the tri-tone would be either a whole
tone behind the 3rd, or 2 whole tones from the 7th. The point is that it is always better played from the
2nd inversion.

 Another secret I would want to put forward, which is related to the previous one is that when
substituting chords with tri-tone substitutions, the tri-tone root note will begin a whole tone behind the
substituted tone, while the major chord will begin a whole tone at the front of the substituted chord.

Did that sound confusing? I thought so too. Let me break it down as well.

Now, let us say we want to substitute the 7 – 3 – 6 progression on Ab [which is G – C – F] the tri-tone
substitute will begin from F – E – F basically.

Original: G Bb D / F A C - C G Bb / E Ab Bb Eb - F C Eb / Ab C Eb G
[t r fe / l de m] - [m t r / se d r s] - [l m s / d m s t]

Tri-tone: F + B / E + A + C# - E + Bb / Eb + Ab + C - F + C + G / Ab + Eb + G + Bb

What I want you to take note of based on this point is the fact that when I substituted the 7th tone chord,
the tri-tone root note began a whole tone behind the 7th tone [F], and the accompanying major chord
took its root a whole tone forward from the 7th tone [A major].

Wonderful isn’t it?

I want you to notice the use of the major 7th on steroids as the last chord substitute. I know you would
be wondering why I did not use a tri-tone there. That brings me to the next secret.

The tri-tone chord works best when substituting on your 7 th

, 3rd, 2nd or 1 st tones i.e. on ‘ti’, ‘mi’,
‘re’, or ‘do’ tones.
I have given you a substitute for the 7 – 3 – 6 progression, so right now, I want to give you a substitute
for the 3 – 6 – 2 progression passing up from the 7, but I won’t need to write out the 7th again. [In the
video, I would play all these movements clearly]

Original: C G Bb / E Ab Bb Eb - F C Eb / Eb Gb A C - Bb F Ab / Db F Ab C
[m t r / se d r s] - [l m s / s to de m] - [r l d / f l d m]

Tri-tone: E + Bb / Eb + Ab + C - F C G / Ab Eb G Bb - Ab + D / G + C + E + G

20
As you may well know, the tri-tone is an invaluable tool in gospel music. The tri-tones alone will not
work. You have to couple the tri-tone with a chord in your right hand. You will almost never play a tri-
tone in your right hand. Tri-tones are usually played in your left hand.
The most important difference with the tri-tones is that the tri-tone stands alone. What this means is
that the other chord combinations in the left hand usually contained the bass note as part of the chord,
where the tri-tone rarely has the bass note in the chord. You see, tri-tones add instant color to major
triads and major chords. They are used to color the major chord. The method I am showing you can be
used for the organ, but it is more applicable to the piano and keyboard. Tri-tones on the organ have a
totally different feel and method than that of the piano and/or keyboard.

 Another secret is that the tri-tone can be used along with its mother dominant chord. So, if we
have a dominant chord, its tri-tone can be used to form the chord on the left hand. This works crazy
well, but better when you have someone on the bass guitar hitting the bass note.

C + Gb / Ab + C + Eb + Gb - F + B / Db + F + Ab + B - G + Db / Eb + G + Bb + Db

Or in the key of C:

Bb + E / C + E + G + Bb - A + Eb / F + A + C + Eb - B+F/G+B+D+F

 Another secret I would like to tell you about is the trick to knowing what to play to accompany
what tri-tone. I have talked about this a little, but now, I want to give you an actual chord to remember.
Let us say we want to perform the substitution for the 7 – 3 – 6, like I have given before, the trick of
the tri-tone is that you start off with the destination tone on tri-tones, and move semi-tones back and
forth to establish the number of tones to be played, which is 6 – 6b – 6. The major chords, Easy! What
you play for this particular progression is the major triad chord progression of 1# – 1 – 5.

See that? Fascinating!

And when you want to play the substitution for 5b – 7 – 3, the tri-tone again will be the destination tone
in tri-tones moving back and forth to establish the number of tones to be played. The major chords will
be 6b – 5 – 1 [or your 1 major 7th].

This works for any tri-tone substitution you want to play.

The last secret I want to talk about is the substitution for the tonic chord. The tri-tone follows the
same principle, but the tonic chord doesn’t have to. What you can play on the tonic is your 6th major
chord.

C + Gb / F + A + C + F

This will work perfectly in the 5 – 1 – 4 progression. [This example is given in the key of Ab]

Furthermore if you are in the key of Db and you have a 2 – 5 – 1 progression, you can use the same
chord combination on the 5. So you see essentially, you can use this tri-tone combination to replace the
5 or the 1 of a progression.
21
* If you understudy these movements closely, you would see that the same tri-tone and major chord
combination you would use on A b in the substituted progression of 7 – 3 – 6, is the same chord
combination you will use on Db in the substituted progression of 5b – 7 – 3, and you can use it in your
substituted progression of 3 – 6 – 2 on Eb.

*Subsequently, you can use the same chord combination on your progression of 5b – 7 – 3 on Ab, and
play it as a substitution of 7 – 3 – 6 on Eb, and 3 – 6 – 2 on the key of Bb.

* You can also use the 3 – 6 – 2 substitution on Ab to play the substitution of 7 – 3 – 6 of Db, and the
substitution of 5b – 7 – 3 on Gb.

So you can see that the chords are related in a way. What I want you to do now is figure out the other
similar combinations on other keys. It is important to pay attention to the chords or notes you play, so
you can easily play them on other keys. I know every musician has favorite keys, where they can
perform all their fancy runs, but you try to get yourself accustomed with all the keys.

I don’t want you to get used to transposing keys on the keyboard. What happens when you sit on a
piano, which has no buttons? How will you transpose then? Or probably a singer is on the microphone
on a particular key and modulates, or asks you to change keys. What will you do then? Locate the
transpose option? Don’t do it please.

Tri-tones over Major Chords

This crazy tri-tone movement was demonstrated a few times in the ‘urban worship extreme’ DVD by
Jamal Hartwell. Say we are in the key of Eb. You start your tri-tone with the Db – G tri-tone in the left
hand. Your right hand is simply going to move between the Eb major and the A b major chords while
your tri-tone in the left is moving down in half steps.

This creates a real crazy gospel feel.

USING THE POWER OF TETRA-CHORDS IN PLAYING ANY SCALE

YOU WANT
I want to talk about the other side of things — the names of collection of notes played one after the
other (i.e. – “scales”). And specifically, I want to focus on the tetra-chord.

A tetra-chord is a series of four notes, usually played one after the other. A major tetra-chord is a
series of four notes, in ascending order, separated by the following sequence: whole step – whole step –
half step.

In other words, if I start at “C” and add a whole step, that gives me “D.”

So far, I have “C – D.”

In following the “tetra-chordal” formula, I add another whole step from “D.” That gives me “E.”

22
So far, I have “C – D – E.”

And lastly, I add a half step since my formula is “whole step – whole step – half step.”

That gives me “F” at the end.

Altogether, “C – D – E – F.”

This may look familiar to many of you. It is the same pattern that starts your major scales!

Recall the little acronym I talked about in the first book to help people remember the major scale?

Why Won’t He Wear White When Hot?

WWHWWWH

(This is my way of getting you to memorize the “whole step / half step” relationships that make up the
major scale.)

If you’re really paying close attention, you may notice not ONE major tetra-chord, but TWO!

WWHWWWH

In other words, a major scale is just two major tetra-chords separated by a whole step.

[C major tetra-chord] – whole step – [G major tetra-chord]

So if you know all 12 major tetra-chords, this can be another way to remember scales quickly:

C major tetra-chord: C D E F
G major tetra-chord: G A B C
D major tetra-chord: D E F# G
A major tetra-chord: A B C# D
E major tetra-chord: E F# G# A
B major tetra-chord: B C# D# E
F# major tetra-chord: F# G# A# B

(Switch to flats)

Gb major tetra-chord: Gb Ab Bb Cb
Db major tetra-chord: Db Eb F Gb
Ab major tetra-chord: Ab Bb C Db
Eb major tetra-chord: Eb F G Ab
Bb major tetra-chord: Bb C D Eb
F major tetra-chord: F G A Bb
C major tetra-chord: C D E F

Do you see what I see?

23
 First off, I was moving in “FIFTHS,” just like the circle of fifths chart below:

 Secondly, notice that the next “tetra-chord” in line finishes the previous one. So if you actually
read the “C major tetra-chord” out loud and then the “G major tetra-chord,” that’s the entire C major
scale.

The same goes for the G and D tetra-chords… and the D and A tetra-chords — on and on.

 Another thing worth pointing out is the first note of one tetra-chord is always the last note of the
next tetra-chord (when moving in fifths like I did above). So two tetra-chords joined by a whole step
always equal an octave.

 Fourthly, it further proves how related major keys are on the circle of fifths chart. Now you know
that they also share tetra-chords!

 Fifthly, it points out how ANYTHING can be broken down to smaller parts. Maybe you’ve
mastered major scales already but if you look at other unfamiliar scales this way, it should be much
easier.

For example, I haven’t talked about tri-chords yet but as the name implies, it’s a series of 3 notes just
like a tetra-chord is a series of 4 notes.

2 tri-chords separated by a whole step create a minor pentatonic scale. Check it out…

24
 A tri-chord:
A–C–D

E tri-chord:
E–G–A

Together, “A – C – D – E – G – A.”

And, since minor and major are related, you can easily start this scale from C to get a regular
pentatonic scale (i.e. – “major pentatonic”).

A–C–D–E–G–A–C–D–E–G–A

(Just like we can take a C major pentatonic scale and play the same notes from “A” to “A,” we can
take the minor pentatonic scale and play the same notes from “C” to “C” to get a C major pentatonic
scale.)

And it doesn’t stop there…

There are penta-chords, hexa-chords, and others. I’ll talk about those in other editions.

For now, I hope this helps to give you another perspective.

HARMONIZING SCALE

Well, here I want to just give you a hint on what I call the harmonizing scale. It is basically playing
your diatonic scale, but with harmonized chords over the root note. These movements will be common
to some of you, but new to some. I will deal on this topic and the follow-through topics of this tutorial
in a later edition, since this edition does not focus on that. I will summarize as briefly as possible.

Now, I know some of you will say this is too basic for Gospel Piano Book 2, but I’m a strong disciple
of basics and foundation building. Sometimes, we see professional musicians play, and when they tell
you or show you the first chords they learnt, you wonder why you never had that kind of lesson. I have
been there. I was studying a material where there was a “shedding” session between some musicians,
and one of them was asked to show the first chord movements he learnt. Believe me, I have never
heard or been taught that kind of chord movement as a basic, or even in my advanced level. I quickly
got that, and now I show it to my students. The first thought that crossed my mind was “no wonder
they play so good and easy”.

I’m not showing that here. What I want to talk about a little in this section is how to play harmonized
diatonic scale movements.

Practically, your left hand follows the major scale movement from ‘do’ – ‘do’.

d–r–m–f–s–l–t–d
25
Now the right hand is where the harmonious chords are being played. Fear not! You are just playing
regular triad chords, but varying in inversions. The pattern is as follows:

1 - C major [1st inversion]

2 - D minor [1st inversion]
3 - C major [2nd inversion]
4 - F major [1st inversion]
5 - C major [root inversion]
6 - F major [2nd inversion]
7 - G major [2nd inversion]
8 - C major [1st inversion]

I hope you remember your numbering system? The numbers are denoting the scale tonic names. So in
a nutshell, what you are doing is playing three major chords all through the scale. The summary of
your play will be:

C chord = 1, 3, and 5
F chord = 4 and 6
G chord = 2* and 7
* The 2 G chord is usually played as a D minor chord in 1st inversion. Take note!

HOW TO BACK-UP EFFECTIVELY

There are no two ways to this. The back-up keyboardist always has more work to do. First of all, you
have to know practically how to use all the major sounds on the keyboard. Then you have to know all
or most of the scales in music, because certain songs require certain scales to be run as melodies to the
basic chord.

Basically, the back-up keyboardist plays the melody of songs. When a song is about to begin, usually,
the back-up keyboardist is responsible for giving the cue of when the vocalist is to come in, when the
musicians are to play a syncopation, or other special parts of the song.

SO HOW DO YOU BACK-UP WITHOUT TEARS?

Simple! If you are listening to a song, and you have to get every note played by the back-up
instrumentals, you use the same principles in identifying what to play as if you were scoring the chords
for the lead instrument. This was covered in the “Gospel Piano Book One”, so try and get it. Let me
summarize the techniques a little.

Determining the melody of the song!

Often times, the melody can provide a roadmap for what chords or scales to play. The melody will
never clash with the chord. In fact, usually the melody of the song is kept up top. (In some
circumstances, it doesn’t matter... but most of the time, the melody is preserved as the highest note of
the chord).
26
So just by knowing the HIGHEST NOTE, this will rule out many chords and scales. For instance, a
song that is following a major pattern will not really flow well with a minor scale. This is when you
want to be creative with your back-up play by running some fancy notes. You would not run a minor
scale over a major chord will you?

Determining the bass of the song!

With the last technique, you were looking at the highest note and drawing potential options from it.
With this technique, you’re clueing in on the bass instead. Well, I shouldn’t say “instead.” These
techniques go together. Take the instance that you are depending what you play by what the pattern of
the song is. When the song is on a ‘la’ chord or root, a ‘se’ note will be too abstract for that pattern. Do
you get my point?

So, when you have to listen to the exact notes, use these ways to determine what to play. At least, the
back-up instrumental is usually distinct, so you can pick out the exact notes.

If on the other hand you want to be creative, rely on your ears and creative mindset, keeping to the
rules I mentioned above. You just have to learn to be creative musically. Most of the scores you hear
on CD’s are as a result of creativity.

I can’t really say much here, but I have an advice for you. Listen to more musicals; every genre you
can find out there. Try to manipulate and implement them also. The more you listen to other musicians
ideas, the better you’d get at creating yours. It’s that simple.

PLAYING WORSHIP VAMPS AND WARFARE

I know you’ve been in worship services and noticed the way the minister flows in the spirit of songs,
and releases some powerful aura in the atmosphere. The key of achieving this is to continue the flow.
Flow out of one song, and keep it fluid right into the next song, because you don’t want to interrupt the
flow. You definitely don’t want to interrupt the spirit. You never know who may be praying at that
time; you never know who may be getting healed. So if you stop the music, you can interrupt
somebody or people, or you can interrupt their flow. You are a minister of music before the Lord and
you are responsible for this. You have to understand that you have a duty to bring the presence of God
down with your music, and direct the people into worship of Him. Let His healing power flow and
meet the needs of the people.
I am of the opinion that the most important part of a service is the praise and worship section. Why?
That is because it is the part of the service where reverence is given to the Lord. That part of service is
directed to Him. The other parts of the service like the preaching and admonishing is from God’s heart
to man. So it is directed towards man’s benefit. See that?

What I mean by warfare in this context is prophetic music. That part of the ministration where you
chant, or voice out worship that are not usually in a song, but straight from your heart [truthfully] to
your lips, is what I would call prophetic music.

This will be further explained in the video so you can see it in practice. It’s just awesome.
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Let’s say you are rounding up on a song that the minister was singing; rather than ending abruptly, you
enter into the flow of prophetic playing. There are certain progressions that trigger this kind of
worship, and I would list the major ones here.

* The first is your 4 – 5 – 6 progression. We are in the key of C.

That is just a simple movement to which you can add your chords to, but put this in mind, the idea of
prophetic movement is to make it simple and anointed, not complex.

No! Tri-tones would not be decent here if you are asking that. Those chords will be too “phat” for this.

* The next progression you can use will be your 6 – 5 – 4 / 6 – 3 – 4. I’m on the key of F#.

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Simple and powerful! You just keep moving up and down with these.

The movements in warfare music are not fast in any way. They are either slow or mid tempo
progression movements, so be careful not to rush them. Basically, you maintain the tempo of the song
you are exiting from, or bring the tempo down a few beats, not too much.

This movement will be more appreciated with the strings sound on the keyboard. You hold the notes
down, and move through them as if a violinist was playing them. You don’t use the strings sound as
you would use a piano sound. Keep that in mind.

In the video, I am doing these movements with a minister who takes us into an atmosphere of worship
by chanting and voicing. I believe you would enjoy it more. It is a powerful tool when you know how
and when to apply it. Use it to take your praise and worship session to another level. You would be
shocked at the effect it has, even on you the musician.

SELECTING THE RIGHT VOICES IN YOUR PERFORMANCE

This has almost become a problem in my locality [I don’t know about yours]. Many musicians are not
particularly good at selecting the right sounds in their play. This is especially evident when two or
more keyboards are being used at the same time. It is easy for a musician to select a sound based on the
music he/she has scored already, but what of when you have to play by ear?

Most times, musicians switch to the “autopilot” of using the piano sound for every style of music, and
every sector of the worship section. What I want you to know is that there are times when the piano
sound is useful, sometimes you might need to use a horn instrument [either sharp or heavy], or string
sound, or the organ sounds, or synthetic lead sounds, etc. different sounds work in different situations.

Take for example you want to play warfare music and you need to select a sound, what sound would
you select? Remember I said that warfare music is prophetic music, whereby the minister chants or
voices his/her emotions or worship to God in patterns that are not scribbled. A show and expression of
the worshippers heart to the Father, or sometimes, a prayer for God’s healing power to move round the
gathering. It is usually at this point where people get an encounter with God, when they are using their
own words to worship Him.

I ask again, what sound will best suit this ministration? If you said the string sounds, you are there
already. Even when you have to use a piano, you need a string effect to accompany it, or layer it.
Another sound that can go well with this sequence of worship, preferably if you are especially talented
in its use, is the Organ sounds. These sounds have a different spirit of their own. Have you ever gone
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to a service of hymns or a service where the pipe organ was played alone for a particular song? The
experience is beyond words, but like I said, if the organist is masterful.

In backup music, it is always best to select sounds that balance the other instruments. Take for
example, the lead keyboard is using an electric piano sound, it would not be wise to settle for a heavy
sound as well, but rather a sharp sound like a horn/brass instrument. The rule in balancing will be if
one sound is heavy, the accompaniment sound should be light, and vice versa. The masterful use of
sound selection makes music playing full, even when you have an inadequate number of instruments.

The piano sound is a unique sound. The instrument is used best when you are playing a solo work with
the musician, or after a session of worship has rounded up, and you are keeping the flow of the spirit
by playing ‘gentle chords’. Let’s say you finish playing a song and the singer enters a realm of
prophetic ministration, but you don’t necessarily want to switch over to warfare playing, but you want
to maintain the melody of the song that was just sang for the case that the singer might go back to it,
the piano sound [using the high sounding notes especially] works wonders here.

The heavier sounds of the Electric piano and other sounds in this class are very good if you are the
only keyboardist, and you want to maintain playing chords alone, to make the music full. This is so
because these sounds have a natural reverb to them. The have natural sustained voices, and are not as
sharp as the piano sounds. If I want to enter into a mood of chord extravaganza, I would usually use a
‘Hard Vintage’ sound, a ‘DX…’ sound, or one of those bell-like sounds. I would use the sound of the
piano when I am playing songs that need some solo’s or runs, songs related to Bossa nova, Latin style,
Waltz, and all those genre of songs. Most times, I use it when I just want to play ‘pretty’.
The strings? Definitely during the worship section. I would use that on two occasions; either the song
has rounded up and I switch to prophetic play, or I am the backup keyboardist and I use it to
accompany the lead pianist.

The best option for you is to use your ears and your own initiative. What sounds do you like using?
Are they offensive in certain songs or moods? If possible, listen to other musician’s songs [since you
would probably be playing them] and the voices they use to accompany the singers, then get used to
them. At most times, the sounds that the composer came up with when writing his/her songs is usually
the best for that song. In summary, try out new sounds. Take note of the different effects each sound
has on your audience, on the atmosphere of the church. Don’t be afraid to make mistakes, but be afraid
to keep repeating them.

As a parting gift, I would like to give you a chord list that I would like you to accustom yourself to, for
dynamic playing. It’s a list of 57 chords you would likely use throughout your career as a musician.
Train hard! Train smart! I would see you at the top.

Have fun out there!

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 CHORD LIST
This list is based on the key of C. It would be in your own interest if you practice them on all other
keys for complete mastery. Now take note, not all the chords work well with the first tone, ‘do’. Most
of the chords work well with other tones, sometimes on different keys. Your assignment will be to
figure out with your own creativity, how you can apply them to make your play fuller, richer, and
phatter. Goodluck!

C Major C Minor Diminished triads Augmented triads

CEG C Eb G C E b Gb C E G#
C Major 7th C Minor 9th C Dominant 11th Augmented Major 7th
CEGB C Eb G Bb D C E G Bb D F C E G# B
C Major (add 9) C Minor 7th (b5) Diminished 7th Augmented 7th
CEGD C E b G b Bb C Eb Gb Bbb (or A) C E G# B b
C6 C Minor 7th Half-Diminished 7th C Sus4
CEGA C Eb G Bb C E b G b Bb CFG
C Major 9th C Minor 13th C Dominant 7th C Sus2
CEGBD C Eb G Bb D F A C E G Bb CDG
C Major 11th C Minor 6th C Dominant 9th C Minor (add 9)
CEGBDF C Eb G A C E G Bb D C D Eb G
Major 13th C Minor 11th Dominant 7th (#9#5) C6 (add 9)
CEGBDFA C Eb G Bb D F C E G# B b D b CDEGA
C Minor-Major 9 C Minor-Major 7th C Dominant 13th C Minor-Major 13
C D Eb G B C Eb G B C E G Bb D A C D Eb F G A B
C Minor-Major 11 C Dominant 7th (b9#5) Dominant 7th sus4 C Minor 6 (add 9)
C Eb F G B D C E G# Bb Db C F G Bb C D Eb G A
C Dom 7 (add 11) C Major 7 (add 11) C Minor 7 (add 11) Minor-Major 7 (+11)
C E F G Bb CEFGB C E b F G Bb C Eb F G B
C Dom 7 (add 13) C Major 7 (add 13) C Minor 7 (add 13) Minor-Major 7 (+13)
C E G A Bb CEGAB C Eb G A Bb C Eb G A B
C Dominant 7 (b5) C Dominant 7 (#5) C Dominant 7 (b9) C Dominant 7 (#9)
C E F # Bb C E G# Bb C C# E G Bb C Eb E G Bb
C Minor 7 (#5) C Minor 7 (b9) C Dominant 9 (#11) C Dominant 9 (b13)
C Eb Ab Bb C Db Eb G Bb C D E F# G Bb C D E G Ab Bb
C6 Sus 4 C7 Sus 4 C Major 7 Sus 4 C Dominant 9 Sus 4
CFGA D F G Bb CFGB C D F G Bb
C Major 9 Sus 4
CDFGB

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 EXTRA NOTES

I know you would be wondering why I have to put in these extra notes or lessons, but I just thought I
should. If you were TRULY paying attention to the lessons given in this book, then these will add to
your knowledge bank. Let’s just say I remembered some things after writing the other notes, and I did
not feel it right to be added with the lot, but would be more helpful as extras. Something to ponder
over, to take home with you, give you more options, call it what you like. I’d stick to Extras.

Let me start by saying this; all the lessons given in this book are foundational in Gospel Music. I don’t
want you to just play the Piano/Keyboard or any other instrument, but to flow in the spirit. It is
important that you give yourself to the spirit for direction on how to flow when you are on your
instrument. You can be the best Musician there is, but if you cannot flow, then you will have
challenges, because it is not every Singer you play for that may know how to sing excellently. You
have to be sensitive to the Spirit, the Preacher, or the Singers alike. Let the Spirit of God inhabit you.
Let the Spirit of music engulf you. You have to be passionate when you play, letting the music go into
your bones, to the marrows. Feel the music! The experience is magical if you can achieve that unison.

I can help you to achieve that oneness by giving you the tools to do so, but I cannot help you flow in
the Spirit. You have to do that on your own, because that ‘walk’ is personal.

I want to start this section with the topic on playing Warfare Music.

WARFARE [Prophetic movement]: A sundry of chords that go in sync, in not more than four or five
movements. For this lesson, I would use three movements to break it down. It is usually associated
with wailing, praying, or singing prophetically. It’s more of a travailing kind of music [deep worship]
movement using minor chords, and the movements are ‘darker’ [passionate], so you can push forward
in the service.

They are similar to the other movements, but they differ slightly as they are more robust and dark [in
the sense of pushing]. For this kind of music like I said earlier, Piano sounds are too percussive and
they don’t sustain long enough. The best sounds for these music movements are the stringy sounds.
When playing Warfare, the notes are not important as in the chord vocabulary, but emphasis is on the
flow. It is not a time in the service where you show off your depth in your chord vocabulary.

When you are using strings, the trick is to play it as if you are an orchestra. Don’t play it like you
would a Piano sounding voice. The main focus is not basically the chords, but in actually sounding like
a violinist playing in an orchestra would do. The key of playing the strings is like playing the Organ.
You do not lift your fingers much away from the keys, but keeping the sound going.

The chords I want to show you here are foundational chords to Warfare music in worship. It’s usually
slower and darker unlike other movements. It is passionate and intense in worship. Remember, YOU
are the Musician, the Minister of Music, so you can drive the service wherever the Spirit leads. You
have to be sensitive to the Spirit, be sensitive to the Pastor, and the singers as well because the singers
may not know where you are going when you start playing.

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A typical example of warfare music chords:

l m l // d m l

s r s // r s t

f m // m s d

l m l // d m l

m t // r f se t

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 m t // t m se

Now you can layer the last three sets [arpeggio] to add spice to it.

This next set is a combination of different flows at the same time:

l m l // d m l

t fe // t m se

d s // d m l

m t // r f se t

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 l m l // d m l

s r s // r s t

f m // m s d

m t // r s t

Just keep going in a cycle. Don’t mind the spacing between the chords. This is just acting as a guide,
so you do not necessarily have to spread out your chords if you don’t want to.

MORE SUBSTITUTIONS:

The next series of ‘chordal’ movement I would be dealing on is just something to add to your
repertoire. You know, there are some chord combinations that just give you that ‘umph!’ feel. The
phatness of the chord movements is just crazy! Stupid! Whatever you like to call it. I don’t want this
knowledge to leave you behind. That is why I decided to put it in this book, right at the back. This is
something you should learn in this level of Gospel Music. But remember, your ear is the final judge,
and if the chords do not sound right with the melody of the song, or the mood of the song, DON’T
PLAY IT.
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Don’t take all these chords and start using them on Sunday morning either so you would not distort the
service with strange sounds. You have to master, by yourself, the best times to use these chords. Like I
said earlier, all that is written in this book or shot in the videos should act as a guide to you, and not a
rule. Piano playing is temperamental actually, and the chord sequence should show the personality of
both the person playing, and the Spirit he carries.

Now, let us go right into this. I want to start on the substitution of the 7 – 3 – 6 pattern. I showed you
some substitutions earlier, but I want to add these to the number too. I won’t need to explain that
substitutions are just chord patterns that you play instead of the regular pattern, to add spice to the
music. I have covered that already, so I would just go right into the chords. I would group them so you
know how to link them, but I am showing them on the key of Ab.

GROUP ONE

l mo // l r f

se r // s d m

s t r m // s l t m

[This last chord combination is the substitute for the 6, and is best used when you have a bass player
playing that 6 note. On its own though, it is rather smooth.]

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 GROUP TWO

l de r // l de m

se r // s d m

s t d m // s t m

You can see the repeat of the last chord. Most times, this is just the next best substitution of the 6 tone.

GROUP THREE

t l / r l de m

m se / r f to

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 ls/dmst

I want you to take note of the 2nd movement in this group, m se / r f to. This particular movement is a
substitution for the di-tone on the 3rd note. Remember the di-tone? It’s playing a 3rd on the left hand
with a quartal chord on the right [m se / r s d]. Now, we substitute it with this movement. Look at that!
We are making a substitution off another substitution. Isn’t music wonderful?

The beauty of playing this movement is not just ending your right hand on r f to, but in sliding the last
note down to t after hitting the to note. It gives you a whole different feel in the music. You just make
sure you hit those notes before you land on the 3rd movement for a smooth chord sound.

There are two movements I want to also introduce to you which will go very well between the 1st and
the 3rd movement. When I discovered this movement from one of my friends on HearandPlay.com, I
was thrilled. The movement is ‘crazy smooth’, and I just want to share it with you.

Now, rather than make one movement between your 7 and 6 substitution, you make two. You are
better off using these movements if the music is not a fast paced music, but one that gives you room to
explore the ‘chordal power’ in your arsenal. The two movements, still on Ab by the way, are:

s t / de mo fe to

se d / r m s t

One trick I would give you in memorizing these movements on all keys is that when you look at the
movements closely, it’s just a di-tone movement on your left moving up in semi-tones from your 5th
tone. Your right hand, basically your Sol 6th chord from the key a semi-tone behind and back up to the
original key. So what we have is:
LH: di-tone /// RH: s t r m
The Sol 6th chord is always a semitone behind the di-tone movement i.e. the formation of the s t r m
chord is on the key a semi-tone behind the di-tone root.
I hope I’m not confusing you more than I am supposed to?
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If that is still confusing, just take it as if you are playing do Major 7th add 9 with a sharp 5th on your left
hand, first a semitone behind the original key, then up to the original key. So, based on the key of Ab
which we are on, you would be playing G Maj 7 add 9 on your right hand with a sharpened 5th on
your left hand, and then move up to an Ab Maj 7 add 9 with a 5# on your left hand. Or you can say G
Maj 9th (b 13) going to Ab Maj 9th (#5). Is that clear enough?

Like I would always say, your ears are the final judges in your playing. What would not sound nice in
your ears, or what would not go with the flow of the music, don’t play. Most times, we save the crazy
chord movements for instrumentals, where we may not have conflicting vocal sounds of singers.

Added to these, I want to also show you another 6th tone substitution I picked up. This one is ‘phat
crazy’! It sounds abstract, and when used nicely, it adds a wicked feel to the music. You know, that
one that sends goose pimples all over your body? If used wrongly, well, it has the opposite effect.

se t de m / fe se (l) t de m

The reason the ‘la’ note is in parenthesis and colored brighter than the other notes, is that it can be used
instead of the ‘ti’ note. That is, rather than have fe se t de m, you could have fe se l de m on your right
hand.

Wonderful sound isn’t it? The power of music cannot be over-emphasized.

Ok! That’s where I would call it quits on this topic.

Train hard, Train smart, and have fun out there. See you later.

Harold Hanson [Worship Fingers]

Copyright 2011

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