Three chords, and a Sunday to get ready
If someone has handed you a keyboard and a service to play, this is the shortest honest route from nothing to accompanying a congregation. It is free, and it assumes you do not read music.
What is in it
- 1.The three chords that carry most of the hymnal, and how to find them without counting.
- 2.How to tell which one comes next by ear, rather than guessing.
- 3.What the left hand does while the right hand is busy.
- 4.What to do when the worship leader changes key mid-song and does not tell you.
- 5.A first hymn, worked all the way through.
Who is writing this. I started learning piano at thirty-five, because my pastor asked me to become the church musician. I could not read music then and I still play by ear now — every Sunday at my church in St. Louis since March 2007.
This is the guide I wanted on the day I said yes.