CAPO GUITAR
WORSHIP THROWBACK : HILLSONG WORSHIP “ CORNERSTONE ” | Mitch Bohannon
“ Oh , I used to love that song !” Do you ever have that thought when you spin through radio stations during commercials ? I sure do . In South Louisiana , we have the major national broadcast Christian stations , but we also have a local station out of Lafayette , Louisiana that has both music and talk shows … KAJN . I enjoy catching the variety of worship songs that hit the airwaves on KAJN .
Just this week , I heard “ Cornerstone ” from Hillsong and it brought back great memories of leading that song in worship starting when it came out in 2011 . This song connects on so many levels being rooted in the old hymn , “ The Solid Rock .” The writers really stayed true to the old hymn and added a powerful , personal declaration in the chorus , “ He is Lord , Lord of all .” It just compels me to sing !
Well , as you may remember , I lead worship on Thursdays for the Celebrate Recovery group at my church . Last minute yesterday , I threw this song into the setlist not even knowing if the folks attending were familiar . Many of them don ’ t come from strong church backgrounds . Let me tell you , the response in the room was full ! Even with one IEM in ( I know I should wear two !) and a floor wedge hitting my other ear , I could hear them belting out every word ! guitar . The lyrics need some room to breathe .
Let ’ s look at the dynamics . What do I mean by a “ chop ” strum ? Check out the video ( and I ’ d love for you to subscribe as I ’ m regularly dropping tips on there for both guitar and pro audio ). By “ chop ” I mean that I ’ m playing mostly down strums to create the rhythm . With that rhythm in place , I ’ ll use some long strums specifically on the verses to setup the last phrase ( V1 , “ But wholly trust in Jesus name ”). Going into a down chorus like after verse 1 , I ’ ll either play diamonds … mainly strum and sustain each chord change , or I ’ ll play a light , straight-eighth strum to just soften the guitar and keep the tempo moving ( that ’ s what I did in the video ).
In a down-chorus , if I ’ m playing by myself , I may skip the “ F # m ” ( stepping chord ) and just go from the “ D ” to the “ E ” to keep the music less busy . During a full , big chorus , the “ F # m ”
is very helpful . Listen to it create a step feeling in those choruses . When you don ’ t have a lead guitar or keys to play the melodic hook , you can use your 1 and 4 finger to play the melody on strings 2 and 3 while you ’ re stumming the “ A ” chord in the intro and interlude .
Verse 3 comes in following a big chorus , so to soften it a bit more , I ’ ll use some palm muting to bring the guitar down further and create more space for lyrics at the beginning and then the chorus builds quickly to the final phrase , “ Faultless stand before the Throne .”
What a fun and powerful song to play ! I challenge you to place it on your next setlist . Please drop me a note on my YouTube video and let me know how it went !
Mitch Bohannon Mitch developed the Short-Cut Capo for Kyser and is the Director of Live Production at Trinity Baptist Church in Lake Charles , Louisiana .
Let ’ s not abandon these “ older ” expressions of worship just to play what ’ s streaming on “ hit Christian radio .”
The song is simple to play with literally five chord shapes to cover it all . The recorded key of “ C ” is too high for me , so I play and lead it in the key of “ A ” or “ Bb ” for my voice . And the song plays so well with the Short-Cut Capo ! If you want to play with the record , place a full capo on fret 3 and the Short-Cut Capo on fret 5 . I use a lot of simplified chords ( watch video ) and more of a “ chop ” strum to work with the tempo of the song and not overwhelm it with
A D E F # m A / C #
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60 March 2025 Subscribe for Free ...