TUNING IN
PRAISE THE KING | Mitch Bohannon
Are there some songs that you lead that you are just certain that the congregation will be engaged with?“ Praise the King,” by Corey Voss is one of those songs for me. Powerful lyrics paired with an easy-to-sing melody that is dynamic make this song very approachable by the average churchgoer.
The original song arrangement has a distinct melody that is covered by the piano. If you don’ t have a piano in the mix, you can cover the melody easily on guitar playing with the cut capo, or simply double the piano lead for a more accented melody. The song is in the key of“ C”, which is played with the cut capo using the“ A-shapes.” To get into the key of“ C,” place a full capo on fret 3 and the cut capo on fret 5.( Remember, an“ A” chord up 3-half steps is a“ C”).
I think my favorite chord-family to play with the cut capo is in the key of“ A.” I covered the bass-walk two issues ago that can be used with these chords. Also, there seems to just be more slides and tricks to add some color or dynamic to your playing in the key of“ A.”
Playing“ Praise the King” with a band, I would most often fingerpick the Intro( with melody) and Verse 1 … then strum diamonds( whole notes or chord changes) on the first Chorus. The dynamic should pick up in the second Verse and Chorus. This is a vocally soaring song( for me) at the Chorus and Bridge that needs to be well supported by playing full.
Just this past month, Corey Voss and Centric Worship released a new arrangement of this song with a new opening melody. Check out Centric Worship to give it a listen.
SONG
MELODY
Intro and verse progression are the same: | D / / / | A / Esus / | | D / / / | A / Esus / | | D / / / | F # m / Esus / | | A / / / | A / / / |
Chorus Progression: | D / A / | Esus / F # m / | | D / A / | Esus / / / | | D / A / | Esus / F # m / | | D / A / | Esus / / / | | D / A / | Esus / / / |
Bridge Progression: | D / A / | Esus / F # m / | | D / A / | F # m / Esus / | | D / A / | Esus / F # m / | | D / A / | F # m / Esus / |
Mitch Bohannon Developed the Short-Cut Capo for Kyser. Worship Leader in Louisiana. Married to his beautiful wife, Noelle, for 23 years and they have three awesome kids.
The basic chord progression for“ Praise the King” is | D A Esus F # m | which, transposed, is | F C Gsus Am |. It’ s quite simple to play with a repetitive chord progression, giving you freedom to be creative with dynamic. I really wanted to cover a couple of things with this article. First thing … the details of playing“ Praise the King,” and second is the style of the chart I’ ve included. Do you ever re-write arrangements of songs new or familiar? Most of the time when I see charts written like this, it is a Nashville Number System chart. However, if your musicians are not as familiar with the number system but are solid with hearing changes in a song, writing a simple chart without words is not only quicker to write but can be easier to follow.
70 June 2018 WorshipMusician. com