KEYS
[ SALT AND LIGHT, AND YEAST… | Ed Kerr ]
Some of you who know my wife, Carey, know begins with 1-4-6-5. When I said 2 chord in the
5 chord
that she’s a great cook. Actually, I’d call her a previous paragraph, I wasn’t talking about the
A
Asus Aadd4
great chef. She can take meatloaf, or chicken, 2 chord in the key. I’m referring to an alteration Notes
A
A
or pork tenderloin and turn it into something of a chord that’s heard in a majority of modern
C#
D
C#
far beyond an ordinary meal. She’s able to recordings. This 2 chord is especially common
E
E
D
take the essence of a recipe and make it her when playing the 1 and 4 chords in a major E
own. I’m not quite sure what her secret is, key. Let’s take that 1-4-6-5 progression I just but I sure benefit from it every time she serves mentioned. In the key of D, for example, the 1 It can be said that a chef must learn how to
a delightful meal to my kids and I and our chord is D and the 4 chord is G. Here are the rightly use the various spices available to them.
guests. Her parmesan chicken? The perfect notes of the basic chords, and then the notes In the case of this add4 chord, there’s definitely
balance of crispy texture outside and juicy you’d play if you opt for playing a 2 chord: a right way to use its spicy dissonance. You
chicken inside. Yum.
She’s got a very refined palette, and she
A
could play the notes listed above closely
1 chord
4 chord
together in your right hand. A, C#, D and E.
D D2 G G2
definitely knows what salt, thyme, oregano, Notes D D G G
or basil can bring to a dish. It’s not a stretch F# E B A
to say that keyboard players need to develop A A D D
a refined palette too. You could say that each
time we’re presented a chord chart for a song It’s important to note that the 3rd is omitted This results in a muddy, thick voicing though.
we’re given a recipe for the song. So many bars from these 2 chords. If the 3rd and the 2nd are Kind of like biting into something and discovering
of intro. This or that chord over the verse. An played together that chord is called an add2 a glob of salt or flour that hadn’t been mixed in
instrumental after the bridge. chord. If you tend to play only the basic chords well. Don’t glob your notes together! Instead,
D and G, try leaving the 3rd out and playing the experiment with spreading out these 4 notes
What distinguishes a great chef from an average 2. The change in color is instantly heard, just as between your hands, or leaving something out
one, and what could make you a great worship adding a bit of salt can instantly influence the of the chords. For instance:
musician, is the ability to know what should be taste of a dish.
added beyond the recipe or the chord chart.
I’ll take this recipe analogy a little further
Carey knows, for example, that an essential and remind you that dissonance can be an ingredient in a dessert is a little salt. There’s important seasoning in our music. In the same always just a bit in each batch of frosting way that the 1 and 4 chords are often played she makes. Go figure. Listen to recordings as 2 chords, there is a change commonly made There are many more implications of this spice
of worship songs and your ear might tell you to the 5 chord in a key that is definitely spicy. analogy to our music-making, but I’ll wind this
that there’s something being heard from the That’s the add4 chord. It’s quite a dissonant down for now. The bottom line is that you and I
instruments that’s not on the chord chart. It’s chord and it’s often heard on the recordings each can develop a great sense for what spice
crucial for you and I to recognize that many that you and I listen to. we should or should not add to a song we’re
playing. Study great arrangements of songs,
chord charts today don’t describe some of the
color notes we’re hearing in the music. The The 5 chord in key of D is A major. We often see just as great chefs study the work of masters
most common, as common perhaps as adding “sus” after a chord’s name. Asus, for example. of the culinary arts. And remember that there’s
a little salt to frosting, is the 2 chord. In the sus chord the 3rd is omitted and the always room for making a recipe your own. Just
4th played instead. The add4 chord, though, be sure your worship leader or music director
It’s not unusual these days to describe the spices things up by using the 3rd AND the 4th likes the “taste”!
chords in a worship song by number. The at the same time. Ed Kerr
Ed Kerr lives in Seattle with his family, he is worship
arts director at First Free Methodist Church, teaches
keyboards in Paul Baloche’s leadworship workshops
and is a clinician with Yamaha’s House of Worship.
www.KerrTunes.com
verse of “What A Beautiful Name”, for example,
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January 2018
WorshipMusician.com