Gospel Arrangements 3 (Classics)

In this lesson you'll learn how to analyze this traditional hymn and play it with basic triads, perfect for beginners. I also created a more contemporary arrangement with some cool reharmonization techniques and big chords.

In this beautiful piece, I will split the lesson into an easy beginner section that shows a beginning student how to put together a nice contemporary arrangement. In the second half we discuss advanced techniques to create a richer arrangement.

In this traditional spiritual, I have created an advanced arrangement which includes a change of rhythm, tritone substitutions and some really fat-sounding chords. The gospel sounds created here are similar and complementary to those you learned in the Richard Tee Tribute lesson while also teaching more about how to create an advanced arrangement of a traditional song. Improvisation will be covered in depth in part 2 of the lesson.

In this lesson we are going to focus on the improvisation for Swing Low, Sweet Chariot. We are going to work on soloing over a 6/8 pattern and using polyrhythms like 2 against 3 in our soloing.

In this lesson we will be working through arranging this 6/8 traditional piece using re-harmonization techniques. We will also focus on various ways to 'groove' on a 6/8 song and use grooves in your improvisation. You'll also learn about the 7-3-6 progression and what it really is called.

In this classic spiritual, we will cover how to create a simple arrangement…perfect for beginners. We will also move into a more advanced “reharmed” version of the song with fuller chords.