Piano Songs
"How Great Thou Art"
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4 Steps to Learning How to Play Any Song on the Piano 1. Determining the melody - Melodies determine what chords will be played. If you can use your ear to figure out what notes are being played in the melody, you are 1/4 on your way to learning a song! More resources on learning how to determine melodies 2.Harmonizing the melody - Once you have figured out the melody (using some of my techniques on the resource page), it is time to harmonize it. This is simply choosing various chords to accompany the melody. There are several techniques and tricks to doing this. More resources on learning how to harmonize melodies 3. Altering Chords - This is the best part! Now that you have strategically figured out the melody to a song and have harmonized it, altering your chords to produce certain sounds is the next step. If you were playing gospel music, you would alter your chords differently than if you were playing classical or country music. More resources on altering chords 4. Listening - After you have determined the melody, harmonized the melody, and altered some of your chords, there are various techniques you can use to make sure that your song sounds right. More resources on listening techniques I personally recommend "The Secrets to Playing Piano By Ear" 300-pg Course and through my relationship with Jermaine (the author of this course), I've been able to get him to throw in a few bonus items (3 additional piano software programs). He has taught literally thousands of musicians how to play the piano by ear. If you understood just half of what he discussed above, you'll definitely benefit from his 300-pg course. Click here to learn the secrets to playing absolutely any song on the piano in virtually minutes! I highly recommend it. |
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Piano Songs, How Great Thou Art
In this Piano Songs lesson we will learn this beloved spiritual classic song "How Great Thou Art". This lesson will reenforce knowledge of the I-IV and V chords in common progressions, and the basics of voice leading between chords.
About the song.
"How Great Thou Art" is a Christian hymn based on a Swedish poem written by Carl Gustav Boberg (1859–1940) in Sweden in 1885.
The melody is derived from a Swedish folk song and was translated into English by British missionary Stuart K. Hine. who also added an additional two verses to the song.
It was popularized by George Beverly Shea and Cliff Barrows during the Billy Graham crusades.
"How Great Thou Art" was ranked second (after "Amazing Grace") on a list of the favorite hymns of all time in a survey by Today's Christian magazine in 2001.
The Melody.
In order to help you develop your ear we will leave the melody up to you.
My guess is that if you are on this lesson you most likely already have this simple melody in your head.
If not you can use your favorite search engine to find hundreds of versions or watch the video below for some help.
Developing the ability to pick out melodies on the piano takes trial and error and a bit of practice but if you start with simple melodies you will find you will progress quickly your goal of playing by ear.
The Chords.
For the chords in this song we will be using the I-IV and V chords in the key of C or C major, F major , and G major.
For more lessons and help with getting feel for the chords check out the video on common chord progressions and chord inversions.
Once you feel comfortable moving from on chord to another with these three simple chords you are ready to play literally hundreds if not thousands of popular songs.
The chord chart below shows the chord progression for "How Great Thou Art" in its most basic form.
In the video below I will show you how to use these three simple chords to play this classic song and I will also show you a little bit about how to add some color and flair using broken chords and a few extra tricks.
I hope this lesson and video helped you with "How Great Thou Art". Once again using simple songs to show keyboard skills is a great way to learn.
If you have a song you would like to see featured in a lesson you can contact me and let me know. It is my desire to give you want you need and want to make your piano skills develop.
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Best Home Study for "Ear Players"
After checking out dozens of home study courses that teach you to play by ear and focus on chord progressions I am convinced that the folks at Hear and Play have the best, most well rounded program available for just about all styles of music from Gospel to Jazz. Read my review or visit Hear and Play for more information.
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