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gospel piano lessons

Spiritually Preparing For Gospel Piano Lessons

by Erik Thiede on January 16, 2012

Gospel Differs From Blues And Jazz Because Of Spiritual And Historical Connotations

If you’ve ever listened to blues music and jazz piano, then you must have noticed the similarities that both genres share with black gospel piano lessons. Quite often, the most significant difference between gospel piano and blues or jazz is the tempo, pitch or chords! We don’t mean to suggest that these genres are exactly alike however. We mean to instead, underscore that the philosophies or motivations behind these styles are alike and they contribute to their resemblances.

Click Here And Get Inspired With Gospel Piano Lessons!

Gospel piano shares deep roots with blues and jazz in that it originated from a desire to break from existing styles – styles that bore strong classical and patriotic American themes. It differs from blues and jazz however because of its spiritual and historical connotations. In the far past, gospel piano accompanied lyrics that both (1) worshipped and (2) instructed slaves out of slavery.

Gospel May Indicate A Greater Significance

This gives gospel music a greater significance for specific groups of people and as a gospel pianist, you’ll need to prepare yourself for this importance. With traditional piano, lesson preparation usually entails little more than a few finger exercises and a strong desire to learn. With gospel piano, lesson preparation may necessitate prayer, meditation, or any other type of exercise that’s relaxing.

The Gospel Pianist’s Role

This is because the gospel pianist is put into an important position. On one hand, he is a musician. On the other hand, he is a deliverer. The gospel pianist’s role is to deliver his audience into a higher state of consciousness so that it may reach a spiritual awareness or recognizing. As a vehicle of this distribution, the gospel pianist must also deliver the right rhythms and tones that will enable a divine transformation. Pianists who are tense, nervous, or unsure about playing the piano can not adequately facilitate this transference.

Understanding The Role Is Essential To Preparation

Understanding the important role of the gospel pianist then is essential to preparation. To fulfill this role, some go to the length of getting a spiritual cleansing before they play. Others will pray over the instrument and its music, while others may participate in a group meditation. We can not tell you in good faith what is extreme and what isn’t because the perspectives vary. What’s adequate preparation to one gospel pianist is extreme to the other (and vice versa).

So the most important thing that you can do is recognize your role as a spiritual administrator and then find a comfortable method of fulfilling that role. Every external event — whether positive or negative — can influence the way that you learn and play the music. Stress factors will not only work against you and cause frustration, they’ll also prevent you from absorbing the messages that your lessons try to teach.

Further Gospel Piano Resources:

Click Here And Get Inspired With Gospel Piano Lessons!

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Gospel Piano Lessons – How To Play Gospel Piano

by Erik Thiede on November 15, 2011

Beginning gospel piano lessons can require a lot of commitment. If you don’t have the time and would like to learn the basics, print this page, set it up between you and a piano or electric keyboard, and get ready to play gospel in a few short moments!

Gospel music certainly differs from popular forms of music. Knowing the basics will get you started, but if you want to back up your church minister, you will want to follow up this lesson with others that get deeper into gospel chord theory, progressions, timing, etc.

Click Here For Fast And Easy Gospel Piano Lessons!

When learning a new skill, it’s always considered a good idea to start as basically as possible. On piano, that means playing in the key of C. A C chord is made up of the notes C-E-G in ascending order. Now, chords are usually played with the right hand. Sometimes, chords are also played with the left hand, however, when learning the basics, I recommend using a single bass note for the left hand.

Gospel chords tend to be expressive to match

the conviction and enthusiasm of church goers. Therefore, you will want to enhance the sound of your chords by playing sevenths and ninths. The seventh adds a “minor seventh” or flattened seventh to the basic chord. This is accomplished by counting up seven steps from the root note of a chord (or that chord’s scale) and playing the note one half step down along with your chord. On a C chord, you would add a B flat.

A ninth chord will include the seventh as illustrated previously as well as the ninth note in a scale. The ninth note is the same note as the second note of a scale, only one octave up.

Here is a chord progression that you can use in a gospel setting. I’ve combined it with bass notes. Each bass and chord combination is shown here as Bass/Chord:

C/C E/C9 F/F7 C/C

You can use this basic set of chords to play your first gospel melody. If you have the ability to improvise, feel free to experiment with inversions, other bass/chord combinations, etc. There’s so much more to explore when learning gospel piano. You will definitely want to learn about preacher chords, for example. They are essential when backing up a preacher.

If you really like this genre of music, taking online gospel piano lessons will be very rewarding and get you to the next level as quickly as possible depending on how much time you devote to practicing what you learn. Good luck!

Further Gospel Piano Lessons Resources:

Click Here For Fast And Easy Gospel Piano Lessons!

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What’s Inside The Gospel Piano Lesson (And Why…)

November 11, 2011

Grasp The Characteristics Of Gospel Music And Its Methods Become Almost Natural Crossing many cultural barriers, black gospel still draws crowds from those who seek to benefit from its strong allure. As a gospel pianist, you must ensure that you can lift your audience’s spiritual awareness with the necessary skills. But of course that’s easier [...]

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Taking Advantage Of A Free Gospel Piano Lesson

June 23, 2011

Skills Improve With Practice If there’s one thing that most musicians can agree on, it’s that their music gets better with practice. And so it is with gospel piano music. With a free Gospel piano lesson, you won’t only play Gospel better, but you will communicate with your audience better. All evidence for success seemingly [...]

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