piano sound . We want to be careful not to “ compete ” with vocal activity by playing busy activity on our keyboard .
As you develop your skill at creating melodic activity within the framework of your song ’ s chord progression , a valuable exercise involves a steady stream of 8 th notes in your right hand . You won ’ t be playing a specific song , so there ’ s no vocal line you ’ re supporting . This frees you to play steady melodic activity without concern of competing with vocals .
Choose one of the varations of the 1-4-5-6 chords , such as 4-1-5-6 . In the key of A , that ’ s D A E F # m . Give each chord 4 beats . Here ’ s an example ( Example D ) of what you could play in your right hand during this progression .
EX . B
There are an infinite number of possibilities for this constant stream of 8 th notes . Try this yourself . I strongly suggest you use a metronome clicking at a medium tempo , perhaps between 76 and 86 beats per minute . Move beyond the examples I ’ ve written out for you above and create your own pattern . You ’ re developing the skill of being able to spontaneously create melodic activity within the structure given by any chord in your progression .
Think you ’ ve already mastered this ? A great challenge to add to the exercise is opting to speak or sing as you play your string of 8 th notes . Recite a Scripture you ’ ve memorized . Talk about what you did yesterday afternoon . List the capital city of any country that comes to mind . The point is to challenge yourself with
added difficulty in the exercise , continuing to play at a steady tempo with your metronome . Practice this exercise in a variety of keys and use a variety of chord progressions too .
In a few months you ’ ll find that you ’ ve expanded your ability to improvise freely over any chord progression . This is an invaluable skill for you to develop and one that will bless your worship team and your congregation for years to come .
Ed Kerr Ed Kerr lives in Seattle with his family . He serves as 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 . He also manages the Yamaha Worship Facebook group and invites you to join the group . www . KerrTunes . com
EX . C
EX . D