{"id":5483,"date":"2019-03-29T14:24:00","date_gmt":"2019-03-29T21:24:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pianote.com\/blog\/?p=5483"},"modified":"2023-06-09T12:28:57","modified_gmt":"2023-06-09T19:28:57","slug":"gospel-progressions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pianote.com\/blog\/gospel-progressions\/","title":{"rendered":"Gospel Chord Progressions, Transitions &#038; More"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>If you want to learn gospel chord progressions, transitions, and other ways to get that distinct gospel sound, you&#8217;ve come to the right place! In this lesson, Brett Ziegler will take a standard pop progression and add some transformations to make it sound more gospel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-rank-math-toc-block\" id=\"rank-math-toc\"><p><strong>Table of Contents:<\/strong><\/p><nav><ol><li class=\"\"><a href=\"#the-basic-progression\">The Basic Progression<\/a><\/li><li class=\"\"><a href=\"#the-2-5-1-ii-7-v-7-i-gospel-transition\">The 2-5-1 Transition<\/a><\/li><li class=\"\"><a href=\"#adding-an-augmented-7th-chord\">Adding an Augmented 7th<\/a><\/li><li class=\"\"><a href=\"#bridging-with-a-half-diminished-7th-chord\">Bridging With a Half-Diminished 7th<\/a><\/li><li class=\"\"><a href=\"#the-4-over-5-ending\">The 4-Over-5 Ending<\/a><\/li><li class=\"\"><a href=\"#all-the-gospel-chords-and-transitions-together\">Putting It All Together<\/a><\/li><\/ol><\/nav><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:10px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<span class=\"blue-text-block\"><center><h2 style=\"font-size:22px\"><b>\ud83c\udfb9 Your Go-To Place for All Things Piano<\/b><\/h2><p>Subscribe to <i>The Note<\/i> for exclusive interviews, fascinating articles, and inspiring lessons delivered straight to your inbox. Unsubscribe at any time.<\/p><iframe class=\"email-form-include\" src=\"https:\/\/www.pianote.com\/weeklyemail\" frameborder=\"none\"><\/iframe><\/center><\/span>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:10px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-text-color has-cyan-bluish-gray-color has-alpha-channel-opacity has-cyan-bluish-gray-background-color has-background is-style-wide\"\/>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:10px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading has-text-align-center\" id=\"gospel-chord-progressions-what-to-know-first\" style=\"font-size:28px\"><strong>Gospel Chord Progressions: What to Know First<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Gospel piano involves more advanced theory knowledge. If at any point you want to take a step back and review the basics, check out these fundamental lessons:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pianote.com\/blog\/piano-chord-progressions\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">All About Chord Progressions<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pianote.com\/blog\/gospel-piano-101\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Gospel 101: Your First Gospel Piano Lesson<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pianote.com\/blog\/gospel-piano-progression-hotline\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">The Gospel Piano Chord Progression You Need to Know<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:10px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-text-color has-cyan-bluish-gray-color has-alpha-channel-opacity has-cyan-bluish-gray-background-color has-background is-style-wide\"\/>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:10px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"the-basic-progression\" style=\"font-size:27px\"><strong>The Basic Progression<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>First things first: let\u2019s take a look at the chord progression we\u2019re working with. To keep things simple, we\u2019ll be in the key of G Major (one sharp &#8211; F#) and in common time (4\/4).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Here\u2019s the basic progression. The dots indicate quarter note beats. Since we\u2019re in common time, remember that there are four quarter notes per measure:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.musora.com\/musora-cdn\/image\/quality=85\/https:\/\/pianote.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com\/blog\/2022\/Gospel%20Piano%20Chords\/gospel%20chords%20-%20base%20progression%20copy.png\" alt=\"Gospel chord progressions. Our base progression: G D Em D C D G with I V vi V IV V I on top, separated by bar lines. Common time 4\/4 and four dots representing four beats per measure.\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Practice the &#8220;base&#8221; progression a few times on its own to get a hang of it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Once you&#8217;re ready, let\u2019s add some fluff to make it more \u201cgospel-y.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:20px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<iframe class=\"email-form-include-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.pianote.com\/weekly-email\" frameborder=\"none\"><\/iframe>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:10px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"the-2-5-1-ii-7-v-7-i-gospel-transition\" style=\"font-size:28px\"><strong>The 2-5-1 (ii<sup>7<\/sup>-V<sup>7<\/sup>-I) Gospel Transition<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The first thing we&#8217;ll add is a ii<sup>7<\/sup>-V<sup>7<\/sup>-I transition right before the C (IV) chord.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Think of this as \u201csetting up\u201d that C chord. To do this, we\u2019ll modulate (change keys) into C Major temporarily.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In C Major, ii<sup>7<\/sup> is Dm<sup>7<\/sup> and V<sup>7<\/sup> is G7. So instead of playing just D, we\u2019ll substitute Dm7 and G7 into that measure. Like this:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.musora.com\/musora-cdn\/image\/quality=85\/https:\/\/pianote.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com\/blog\/2022\/Gospel%20Piano%20Chords\/gospel%20chords%20-%20251%20sub.png\" alt=\"Gospel piano chord progression with added 2-5-1 transition in red.\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>The 2-5-1 progression is very common in gospel and jazz piano. You can learn more about it <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pianote.com\/blog\/251-chord-progression\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">here<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>What makes this transition sound interesting is because we move into a new key and, consequently, play an F-natural instead of an F-sharp in those Dm7 and G7 chords.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"adding-an-augmented-7th-chord\" style=\"font-size:28px\"><strong>Adding an Augmented 7th Chord<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Now let\u2019s add another set-up chord, this time before the vi chord (Em) at the beginning of the progression.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Again, we\u2019ll modulate briefly into the chord that\u2019s being set up. Meaning, we\u2019ll change keys into Em. The fancy word for this is <a href=\"https:\/\/www.musicnotes.com\/now\/musictheory\/introduction-to-secondary-dominants\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">secondary dominants<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The V<sup>7 <\/sup>chord of Em is B7. To make things sound even <em>more <\/em>gospel-y, Brett uses an augmented (V<sup>+7<\/sup>) chord. That means we\u2019ll be playing Baug7.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Our progression now looks like this:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.musora.com\/musora-cdn\/image\/quality=85\/https:\/\/pianote.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com\/blog\/2022\/Gospel%20Piano%20Chords\/gospel%20chords%20-%20baug7.png\" alt=\"Gospel piano chord progression with added Baug7 in red.\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;Augmented&#8221; means we raise the fifth of the chord (F#) up another half-step. This is also known as <em>double-sharping <\/em>(or <strong>augmenting<\/strong>) that note.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"bridging-with-a-half-diminished-7th-chord\" style=\"font-size:28px\"><strong>Bridging With a Half-Diminished 7th Chord<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Adding chromaticism can make a progression sound more gospel. We can do this with our progression by bridging the C chord to the D chord with a half-diminished chord called C#m7b5 (#IV<s><sup>o<\/sup><\/s><sup>7<\/sup>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A half-diminished 7th chord consists of a minor third, a diminished fifth, and a minor seventh. Our chord can either be called &#8220;C#m7 half-diminished&#8221; or &#8220;C#m7 flat 5.&#8221; You can learn more about the different types of seventh chords <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pianote.com\/blog\/all-piano-chords\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">here<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.musora.com\/musora-cdn\/image\/quality=85\/https:\/\/pianote.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com\/blog\/2022\/Gospel%20Piano%20Chords\/gospel%20chords%20-%20half-diminished.png\" alt=\"Gospel piano chord progression with added C#m7b5 in red.\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>You can hear this as \u201cwalking up\u201d chromatically from C to D.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"the-4-over-5-ending\" style=\"font-size:28px\"><strong>The 4-Over-5 Ending<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>We\u2019ve walked up. Now it\u2019s time to walk back down.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We can do this by playing the IV chord (our C chord) over the fifth note of the scale (D). This is essentially a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pianote.com\/blog\/slash-chords\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">slash chord<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.musora.com\/musora-cdn\/image\/quality=85\/https:\/\/pianote.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com\/blog\/2022\/Gospel%20Piano%20Chords\/gospel%20chords%20-%204%20over%205.png\" alt=\"Gospel piano chord progression with added 4-over-5 in red.\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"all-the-gospel-chords-and-transitions-together\" style=\"font-size:28px\"><strong>All the Gospel Chords and Transitions Together<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Whoo\u2026that\u2019s a lot of transitions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It\u2019s time to see how everything sounds together! As a refresher, here\u2019s our original progression:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.musora.com\/musora-cdn\/image\/quality=85\/https:\/\/pianote.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com\/blog\/2022\/Gospel%20Piano%20Chords\/gospel%20chords%20-%20base%20progression%20copy.png\" alt=\"Gospel piano chord base progression: G D Em D C D G with I V vi V IV V I on top, separated by bar lines. Common time 4\/4 and four dots representing four beats per measure.\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>And here\u2019s our progression with the 2-5-1 progression, the augmented 7th, the half-diminished flat 5 bridge, and the 4-over-5 ending. We\u2019ve highlighted the added parts in red:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.musora.com\/musora-cdn\/image\/quality=85\/https:\/\/pianote.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com\/blog\/2022\/Gospel%20Piano%20Chords\/gospel%20chords%20-%20full.png\" alt=\"Gospel piano chord progression with all new parts in red.\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>We hope you enjoyed this introduction to gospel chord progressions! For more piano lessons like this, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pianote.com\/trial\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">try Pianote<\/a> free for seven days.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:10px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<iframe class=\"email-form-include-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.pianote.com\/weekly-email\" frameborder=\"none\"><\/iframe>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Learn how to get that signature gospel sound in your gospel piano chords and transitions. Free lesson with Brett Ziegler from Pianote.com.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":39,"featured_media":9743,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1104,507,524,509],"tags":[1088,1134],"class_list":["post-5483","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-chord-progressions","category-chord-theory","category-styles","category-technique","tag-ch","tag-easy-chords"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pianote.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5483","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pianote.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pianote.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pianote.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/39"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pianote.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5483"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/www.pianote.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5483\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14132,"href":"https:\/\/www.pianote.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5483\/revisions\/14132"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pianote.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9743"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pianote.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5483"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pianote.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5483"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pianote.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5483"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}