{"id":14510,"date":"2016-11-10T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2016-11-10T08:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.hearandplay.com\/main\/?p=14510"},"modified":"2024-10-07T15:14:59","modified_gmt":"2024-10-07T23:14:59","slug":"application-of-passing-chords-in-hymn-songs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hearplaymain.wpenginepowered.com\/application-of-passing-chords-in-hymn-songs\/","title":{"rendered":"Passing Chords 103: Application Of Passing Chords In Hymn Songs"},"content":{"rendered":"

If you’ve always wanted to learn passing chords that you can apply to hymn songs, then you’ve arrived at the right page.<\/p>\n

Every serious pianist must properly understand passing chords and how their application can spice up the harmonization of all songs and not just hymns alone.<\/p>\n

In today’s lessons, I’ll be taking you by the hand and showing you step-by-step, how you can take the hymn segment of the church service to another level by introducing a couple of passing chords and spicing up your hymn arrangements with it.<\/p>\n

At the end of this lesson, you’ll be able to use passing chords to spice up hymns like Pass Me Not O Gentle Savior<\/em>, I Need Thee Every Hour<\/em>, and so on.<\/p>\n

Although this lesson is written with beginners in mind, experienced players can benefit as well.<\/p>\n

A Short Note On Hymns<\/h2>\n

I’m aware that in the 21st century, there’s been an evolution of several contemporary approaches to hymn songs. It’s also possible to attend a church service where hymns are not used in worship for certain reasons and that’s fine.<\/p>\n

However, there’s no gainsaying the fact that hymns are an integral part of christian worship because there are hymns for every season (Christmas, Easter, and so on), time of the day (morning, noon, night, and so on), message (repentance, forgiveness, and so on)<\/p>\n

From the structure of hymns to it’s melody and harmony, hymns are purely liturgical <\/em>and believe it or not, hymn songs have a way of creating a worship atmosphere.<\/p>\n

If you’re lucky (like me) to belong to a denomination where hymns are sung, then you have to be thankful because you’re about to learn a couple of chords and progressions that can help you spice up the hymn segment in a worship service, especially if you’re stuck to the basic version.<\/p>\n

A Quick Review On Passing Chords<\/h2>\n

A passing chord is a chord that connects two scale-degree chords.<\/p>\n

In the key of C major:
\n
\n…the F major triad:
\n
\n…and G major triad:
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\n…are scale degree chords of the fourth and fifth degrees respectively. These adjacent scale degree chords can be connected using a passing chord.<\/p>\n

The strongest passing chords are usually unstable chords that resolves to the target chord.<\/p>\n

In the case of chords 4 and 5 above, the target chord is chord 5. Consequently, the best option of passing chords should be an unstable chord that resolves to chord 5.<\/p>\n

Chord 5 is the G major triad:
\n
\n…and the strongest passing chord to the G major triad is the D dominant seventh chord:
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\nIn a nutshell, instead of playing two diatonic<\/a> chords – the F major and G major triads, both chords can be linked up with the D dominant seventh chord thus…<\/p>\n

The F major triad:
\n
\n…the D dominant seventh chord (passing chord):
\n
\n…and G major triad:
\n<\/p>\n

<\/em>A Short Note On The Strongest Chord Progressions<\/h3>\n

For the past 500 years, chord movement in descent of fifth intervals have always been the strongest. A very good example is the movement from chord 5 to chord 1, which in the key of C major:
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\n…can be played as the G dominant seventh chord:
\n
\n…to the C major triad:
\n
\nThe movement of the dominant chord to the tonic chord is the strongest progression in tonal music<\/a>, and this explains why jazz, gospel and classical musicians use it to end songs 95% of the time<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In the case of connecting the F major and G major triads in the key of C major, we introduced the D dominant seventh chord as a passing chord to the G major triad because the D dominant seventh chord is the secondary dominant<\/a> of the G major triad.<\/p>\n

Due to the fact that we’ve covered the ins and outs of passing chords in previous lessons:<\/p>\n