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 The
"Get On That Church!"
Gospel Progression
When I was a young piano player
in Los Angeles, I used to love to go to a jazz club out
on the Sunset Strip in Hollywood known as "The Bit."
It was a tiny little place -- I doubt if it seated more
than 50 people -- yet it was THE place for jazz fans (such
as Wilt "The Stilt" Chamberlain, who frequented the place
and seated himself in the tiny venue by throwing one leg
completely over a table!) to hang out and see the great
jazz artists of that era. I vividly recall sitting at a
little table with Bev, my new bride, and chatting with Anita
O'Day and Helen Forrest, two great female jazz singers.
I was a fan of Anita at the time, but I didn't know who
Helen was (I was a bit too young). Later, I found out that
she sang with several of the big bands of the 1940's including
Benny Goodman and Harry James and appeared with Bob Hope
and company as they entertained the troops during WW II.
I was taking piano lessons back then from THE piano teacher
in Hollywood -- Dave R........., who had a little studio
on CahuengaBlvd, which was between Hollywood Blvd
and Sunset. All the big names of that era took lessons
from Dave, and I would meet them as I was coming or leaving
Dave's studio. One of the pianists I met was a talented
and playful guy named Les, who occasionally played at The
Bit. He went on to become a very big name in jazz.
If you are a jazz fan, you no doubt know his last name,
which I won't mention here, at least until I get his permission
(I haven't talked with him in years.)
Les used a technique which I have never forgotten -- I don't
remember what he called it -- but I have named it "Get On
That Church" (in case that phrase doesn't make sense to
you, here's a rough translation: "You kids get on down to
the church -- you hear!") chord progression, which as I
recall was also the name of one of his original tunes. Here
is what it is:
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Gospel
Technique #1: "Get On That Church!" Chord Progression
The
IV chord of the IV chord, followed by
the
IV chord, followed by
the
I chord.
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Let's spell it out to make it clear.
Pretend you're in the Key of C. The I chord is C -- correct?
And the IV chord is F -- correct? Now -- what chord is a
perfect 4th higher than F? Just count up the F scale 4 notes
- F, G, A, Bb. So the answer is Bb. That's the IV of the
IV chord. So the progression in the Key of C would be: Bb
to F to C.
Here's
what it would look like in each key:
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Key
of C
Bb to F to C
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Key
of Eb
Db to Ab to Bb
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Key
of D
C to G to D
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Key
of F#
E to B to F#
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Key
of F
Eb to Bb to F
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Key
of Ab
Gb to Db to Ab
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Key
of A
G to D to A
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Key
of B
A to E to B
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Key
of Bb
Ab to Eb to Bb
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Key
of Db
Cb to Gb to Db
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Key
of E
D to A to E
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Key
of Bb
Ab to Eb to Bb
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But
here's the key to giving it a "gospel sound" -- use
the 1st inversion of the first chord (the IV chord of the
IV chord), the 2nd inversion of the 2nd chord (the IV chord),
and the root position of the last chord (I). You can either
use the root of each chord as your left hand low note, or
you can use the root of the I chord as an ostinato (constant
low note).
It's
also fine to embed a 7th in any or all of the chords -- the
"bluesier" the better!
Next time we will demonstrate another gospel technique,
which builds on this technique, but turns it into a rock
or jazz riff.
Gospel
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