Listen, 16 years ago I was in the same boat. You see, I was
a Black Gospel music lyrics for a guitar
player and the thought of actually making Black Gospel music
at the piano seemed way out there. In fact, the whole idea
that anyone could make heads or tales of all those keys
always amazed me.
But, I did enjoy playing Black Gospel chords
on the piano, especially the solo piano music of George
Winston. I loved his music and wondered if I could create
like that. I then started my African American Christian
tablature journey of musical discovery. At that time, it led
me to all my local libraries in the city of San Diego. I hit
local libraries, college libraries, anywhere there were
books on Black Gospel music chords and tablature.
And do you know what I discovered about Gospel
music lyrics? Very little! That's right.
There was a pitiful amount of Black Gospel
chords and tablature information available on how to
improvise and create your own Black Gospel music for the
piano. Oh, there were books on how to compose chords or
tablature. But most of these authors assumed you already
knew counterpoint and other higher-level harmony knowledge
taught at African American lyrics
or Black Christian colleges.
What a disappointment!. But my luck was
about to change. Just by chance, I happened upon a very slim
volume at San Diego State University for African Americans
or Blacks. I forget the name of the title but basically, the
book on Black Gospel piano chord tablature
for the piano showed you how to play chord changes within a
given framework. That framework was something called
phrases. Four-bar phrases, eight-bar phrases, etc.
