I want to reveal those Secret Black Gospel Chords to
you. It's those chords that elevate a song from
common to exceptional. The Black Gospel Chords
that turn traditional songs into extraordinary
arrangements. The Black Gospel Chords most
musicians don't want you to know about.
Just what is it that sets Black Gospel apart from the
typical traditional Gospel style music? It's the chord
formations. Black Gospel uses a lot of altered or
extended chords. Amazing Grace, the traditional style
and Amazing Grace, Black Gospel Style are worlds
apart. To understand Black Gospel, you must have a
good understanding of jazz chords, or extended
chords. To understand extended chords, you must
know scale degrees and how to form extended or
altered chords. Let's look at an extended scale in C:
C - D - E - F - G - A - B - C - D - E - F - G - A
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13
The number below each letter represents what
position that note falls on in the scale. The C is the 1
chord, D is the 2 chord etc.
Most chords are built upon using the
1,3,5,7,9,11,&13th notes in the scale in varying
combinations.
If we want to form a C7 chord for example, we have
to use the notes C, E, G, and B, which would be a Bb.
If we want to form a C9 chord, we have to use all the
previous notes plus add the D, which is the 9th note
in the extended scale. C, E, G, Bb, D
Ok now we want to build a C11 chord. Easy right?
Just add the llth note, which is F and we would have
C, E, G, Bb, D, F Now you see why they are called
extended chords. Now obviously you cannot play all
six notes in the right hand. With extended chords,
you must utilize both the right and left hands to get
in all the notes. This is called voicing the chord and
can be done a number of different ways. The easiest
way is to play the 1 & 5 notes in the left hand, and
play the others in the right. Left Hand/Right Hand or
CG/BbDEF or another way might be to just play the
CEG ( a C chord) in the left hand and BbDF (a Bb
chord) in the right. Or CEG/BbDF. You always want
to voice the chords with the root of the chord (It is
the C here) in the pinky of the left hand as that
becomes the base note and identifies what type of
chord it actually is.
And then lastly, to form a C13 chord you would add
the 13th note, A to the others for a whopping big
("phat") chord. C, E, G, Bb, D, F, A
Some chord charts will shorten the chord to just
include the extended notes. They might list a C13 as
having just C, Bb, D, F, A, which will work, but
technically speaking, it is all 7 notes. Because there
are numbers of ways to voice extended chords, a
comparison of several different chord charts could
yield different voicings. Do what works best for you.
The chord needs to comfortable and easy for you to
play and have the correct sound to it. Let your ear
make the decision.
The above extensions can also have altered notes in
them, such as a b5 or #11. Lets take a C9 with a b5.
That means we would have all the notes of a regular
C9 chord only the 5 will be flat (Gb) The spelling of
the chord would be C, E, Gb, Bb, D. There are lots of
combinations of these like #5, b9, b5. Get a good
piano chord book for reference. But now you have a
basic understanding of the theory behind these
extended chords. These literally define the Black
Gospel style of music which is really just jazz chords.
Moving On! Aren't you glad!! Now for the good
stuff. You can take any regular song and use Chord
Substitutions to alter the sound to Black Gospel.
One of the ways to do this is to simply go through the
song with the original chords and try adding some of
the extensions and alterations we looked at above.
Try the following for Major("I") chords, minor
("m") chords and Dominant Seventh ("V7") chords:
Major ("I") Chords
maj7, 6, 6/9, add9, maj7(b5), maj9, maj9#11, maj11
Minor ("m") Chords
m7, m6, m6/9, m7b5, m7#5, m7b9, m9, mll, m9(b11)
Dominant Seventh ("V") Chords
7, 7b5, 7#5, 7b9, 7(b5/b9), 7(#5/b9), 9, 9b5, 9#5, 9#11,
11, 13, 13b9, 7aug
-Example-
Original Progression
B - Em - Am - Dm - G7 - C
Substitute Progression
Bdim7th - Em9 - Am6 - Dm11 - G13 - Cmaj7
This is only one method for Chord Substitution. For
a comprehensive study and many other methods click
here for Chord Substitutions
you. It's those chords that elevate a song from
common to exceptional. The Black Gospel Chords
that turn traditional songs into extraordinary
arrangements. The Black Gospel Chords most
musicians don't want you to know about.
Just what is it that sets Black Gospel apart from the
typical traditional Gospel style music? It's the chord
formations. Black Gospel uses a lot of altered or
extended chords. Amazing Grace, the traditional style
and Amazing Grace, Black Gospel Style are worlds
apart. To understand Black Gospel, you must have a
good understanding of jazz chords, or extended
chords. To understand extended chords, you must
know scale degrees and how to form extended or
altered chords. Let's look at an extended scale in C:
C - D - E - F - G - A - B - C - D - E - F - G - A
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13
The number below each letter represents what
position that note falls on in the scale. The C is the 1
chord, D is the 2 chord etc.
Most chords are built upon using the
1,3,5,7,9,11,&13th notes in the scale in varying
combinations.
If we want to form a C7 chord for example, we have
to use the notes C, E, G, and B, which would be a Bb.
If we want to form a C9 chord, we have to use all the
previous notes plus add the D, which is the 9th note
in the extended scale. C, E, G, Bb, D
Ok now we want to build a C11 chord. Easy right?
Just add the llth note, which is F and we would have
C, E, G, Bb, D, F Now you see why they are called
extended chords. Now obviously you cannot play all
six notes in the right hand. With extended chords,
you must utilize both the right and left hands to get
in all the notes. This is called voicing the chord and
can be done a number of different ways. The easiest
way is to play the 1 & 5 notes in the left hand, and
play the others in the right. Left Hand/Right Hand or
CG/BbDEF or another way might be to just play the
CEG ( a C chord) in the left hand and BbDF (a Bb
chord) in the right. Or CEG/BbDF. You always want
to voice the chords with the root of the chord (It is
the C here) in the pinky of the left hand as that
becomes the base note and identifies what type of
chord it actually is.
And then lastly, to form a C13 chord you would add
the 13th note, A to the others for a whopping big
("phat") chord. C, E, G, Bb, D, F, A
Some chord charts will shorten the chord to just
include the extended notes. They might list a C13 as
having just C, Bb, D, F, A, which will work, but
technically speaking, it is all 7 notes. Because there
are numbers of ways to voice extended chords, a
comparison of several different chord charts could
yield different voicings. Do what works best for you.
The chord needs to comfortable and easy for you to
play and have the correct sound to it. Let your ear
make the decision.
The above extensions can also have altered notes in
them, such as a b5 or #11. Lets take a C9 with a b5.
That means we would have all the notes of a regular
C9 chord only the 5 will be flat (Gb) The spelling of
the chord would be C, E, Gb, Bb, D. There are lots of
combinations of these like #5, b9, b5. Get a good
piano chord book for reference. But now you have a
basic understanding of the theory behind these
extended chords. These literally define the Black
Gospel style of music which is really just jazz chords.
Moving On! Aren't you glad!! Now for the good
stuff. You can take any regular song and use Chord
Substitutions to alter the sound to Black Gospel.
One of the ways to do this is to simply go through the
song with the original chords and try adding some of
the extensions and alterations we looked at above.
Try the following for Major("I") chords, minor
("m") chords and Dominant Seventh ("V7") chords:
Major ("I") Chords
maj7, 6, 6/9, add9, maj7(b5), maj9, maj9#11, maj11
Minor ("m") Chords
m7, m6, m6/9, m7b5, m7#5, m7b9, m9, mll, m9(b11)
Dominant Seventh ("V") Chords
7, 7b5, 7#5, 7b9, 7(b5/b9), 7(#5/b9), 9, 9b5, 9#5, 9#11,
11, 13, 13b9, 7aug
-Example-
Original Progression
B - Em - Am - Dm - G7 - C
Substitute Progression
Bdim7th - Em9 - Am6 - Dm11 - G13 - Cmaj7
This is only one method for Chord Substitution. For
a comprehensive study and many other methods click
here for Chord Substitutions
Secret Black Gospel Chords!!!
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