Home  Progressions Creating Your Own Progressions
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Creating Your Own Progressions |
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Have you ever played Gospel chord progressions while the preacher is
reading his text? Are you tired of playing the same chord changes
every time? Here's your chance to learn how to develop your own
turnarounds.
Tips for making your own Gospel chord progressions:
- Keep it simple -
You can get plenty of mileage with just four chords. Remember, Gospel
chord progressions are just background filler to set an atmosphere or
mood.
- Make your chords last - Start with one measure for each chord.
- Add
variety - Start with the bass in the left hand and chords in the right
hand, then occassionally branch out with chords in the left hand and
improvising with notes from the chord or scale in your right hand.
- Pick
four random notes as your bass notes. Each one of these bass
notes will be held for one measure. Fit different chords with
each bass note until you find a set of bass notes and chords that go
nicely together. For example, suppose you pick Ab, Bb, Eb, and G
as your bass notes. One possible combination could be to play at
Ab chord in the first measure, followed by a Bbm chord in the next
measure, followed by an Eb chord in the next measure, and lastly,
followed by an Eb/G in the last measure.
- Try messing around with the tonality of the chords you're
playing which will affect the notes available for improvising over
those chords. Suppose you change a chord from major to
minor. This means you'll start using a minor 3rd over the chord
instead of a major 3rd when you play fills.
- Take pieces of songs that you really like the flow of and repeat them.
- Play a song with nice chord changes with a rubato (out of tempo)
feel. For example, take "In The Presence Of Jehovah" and drag out
the chord changes.
- Don't be mechanical - Enjoy playing your Gospel chord progressions and listen to what you're playing.
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