Hey Dion, this was an incredible lesson - I've searched before for a sort of 'intro to gospel" lesson and never found something that met me where I was at. This was a perfect blend of simplicity and depth and I would love to see more! In particular, I think this could be a fun series - taking CCM songs that are basic and well-known, and adding color and complexity. Thanks for sharing your knowledge and helping me grow!
Hey @parkermmyers, this is exactly how I feel 🔥. Dion's video made the entry into gospel SOUND AND THEORY so clear after having searched youtube for quite a while. Thank you so much for your clarity and generosity Dion Todman ! 😁🙏 I could get everything you were talking about and play easily, while knowing what I was doing 😄
This video was not only a practical teaching but also extremely inspiring!! I had heard the term “borrowed chords” but underestimated them until this video!
Thank you so much for this video!! I'm a completely self taught worship keys player and I have felt like I hit a wall in my learning about a year ago. This is giving me some really exciting news concepts and ideas to learn to implement into my playing and I super excited to get started!!
Just beautifully done man! As a drummer (who appreciates all instruments) & also grew up playing in the predominantly black church playing gospel music it was my foundation. As time progressed I eventually made my way into the ccm sector. Playing that for a number of years was highly fulfilling but I always always craved the blending of both. I hear so so much beautiful harmonies & possibilities in the two worlds.
I'm following along with my guitar right now and have to say this is outstanding. There's a reason this video already has almost 30k views - you are explaining something here that most advanced musicians never take the time to explain clearly - namely how, why and when one can use subsitutionary harmony. If it's explained it's always in a dry academic sense. What you're doing - breaking it down with a single song and showing us your process and particular voicings is just above and beyond. Thank you! Keep it up!
@@pianoatthirty Thanks for your feedback! I'm glad the info was consumable. I try to make concepts as elementary as possible. It's easier to accomplish with some more than others.
Love this🔥also want to make clear that CCM is simple for a reason😁in my worship team it's always a point of contention to keep things simple or gospel-ify songs. it's all about discernment and knowing your team❤️
@@benjamincrosby4350 i'd say the biggest is so that musicians/churches of all experiences can play and sing them. it's for the same reason pop music is often considered simple - so that it's easy to pick up for everyone. you never want your worship team to be playing super interesting/complex parts too often or else they risk stealing attention that should go to God, pastor, etc. the beauty of simple songs is that, as we see in the video, it leaves plenty of room for people to experiment and add color if they desire. otherwise, it's perfectly serviceable as is
I'd venture to suggest that "simple" is suggestive or relative. I dont think, personally, that anything pertaining to gospel is complicated or hard to perform. But that, for most people, may have much to do with upbringing and environment. Gospel is not the opposite of simple because for many people, gospel is simple....when you're trained in it, involved in it, and love it.
@@musicbygrear I think CCM is on average much simpler music-theory-wise and execution-wise than Gospel. A decent gospel musician would have no difficulty playing CCM, but it’d be much different the other way around. It all takes training and practice, but I think Gospel takes a lot more to get to an equivalent level. It’s definitely true that growing up with one makes it easier. I really enjoy gospel and have been lucky enough to play on a fair few Gospel sets at my university, so I wish I’d grown up around it so it’d come more naturally. Your music is fire, by the way!
Please keep up the videos, you explain theory really well and practically. I've known standard music theory for a while but whenever we'd get into the more gospel stuff the theory behind it would confuse me. You explain it well and I've been playing (thus watching youtube videos explaining gospel approaches for YEARS) and you stick out on how you teach as a teacher. I say that all that to say you have a gifting in your teaching and explaining things, keep it up!! Appreciated the text on the screen as well also explaining everything.
This is a great video. I like how you kept repeating what you were doing. It was very helpful. Thank you for teaching this. Looking forward to more videos.
As long as you show your work it sounds like you can just put any chord you want. This is the 4 of the 2 of the secondary dominant of the next town over. Sounds great man! Love finding this channel!
This is dope! That second pass had so much lovely tension that I had thug tears welling up lol but I’d probably move to bass note from the 1 to the 7 on “me” to create kind of a vi of 2 before resolving to the vi
kindly keep making more videos on gospel piano/keyboard play style...this was very informative and i wanna learn more and im sure there are many who want to as well...great work keep it up:)
Super clear. This is definitely the kind of education I was interested in. I went to your website to learn a bit more...do you have preview or intro videos for your courses? I'd like to know a little more about what kind of stuff I might learn in the "church runs" course.
Hey, thanks for watching! The church runs course mainly teaches the theory and execution of gospel style runs and "shout" moments. Here's a glimpse of one of the lessons: instagram.com/reel/CrnonzksT4P/?igsh=MWRwbTh4c3Brd2lhMg==
I saw the title of the video and was like "Gospel music?? In the boring-vanilla-sounding-4-chord-changing CCM??? Dude, count me in!" Lol in all seriousness, I just think that CCM is lacking so much musicianship that could be used for glorifying God more in church, but instead many modern churches settle for mediocre-sounding music, so as a musician, something like this video is such a breath of fresh air to me. Just my opinion tho, not saying it's bad if anyone likes that kind of music.
hey Dion! please tell us how long you took to be this good and how consistently you practiced! Tips about how to improve would be great too! Been blessed by your video keep it up 😇
@MoonKhine hey, thanks for watching. I started playing when I was 6 and didn't really get comfortable until I was around 9-10 (with a teacher). For an adult, it may take less time than that, but the most important thing is consistent, good quality practice. You're only going to improve what you practice. Rather than explaining here, I may need to do a video on the subject instead! In general, practice playing chords and their variations, scales/arpeggios, leaps, rhythm, and dynamics.
Please drop these instrumentals!!!! Us college students need this playing while we study, hahah. In all seriousness, please make a full playlist of these instruments specifically a CCM gospelify playlist
Gorgeous tutorial! So glad I found you, man! You have a subscriber in me. Btw, what piano sound/keybord/vst are you using, it’s so rich, full & beautiful. Thanks in advanced. Cheers…
This is amazing! Question though. When using borrowed chords, I noticed you used a whole bunch of sevenths and diminished sevenths. How do you determine if it's supposed to be diminished or just a natural 7? Or... Does borrowed chords must have 7s in them? (I grew up playing by ear, don't know any music theory. I'm just pick up by these type of tutorials and videos 😅)
Hey! The short answer is that different 7th chords and diminished chords lead to different landing points. For example, dominant 7th chords lead to a chord that is a 5th away 99% of the time. I may do a video on the topic of chord theory that shows examples of when to use certain chord types. Thanks for watching!
I've always loved Gospel piano just don't know how to play it. But that 5th doesn't always sound good before you go to chords..I like using it when I play how great is our God like C, Am, F, G..I add C, E, Am, C, F , G..it adds a little flavor but I love those borrowed 2, 5, 1 sounds good.
This is amazing work! I will say that to my ear the G#/F# sounds like an unanswered question if you play it for the whole bar. Any suggestions on what you could fill beats three and four with?
Dope. It’s always refreshing to know there are other people out there who think in a similar way as myself. Keep educating bro. It’s time to get away from this 1 4 5 6 because God is worthy of so much more!
When i moved to OKC and joined the worship at the church there, I was reharming everything on a super basic level, nothing crazy, a passing chord here and there, a 3 over the 1 instead of just the 1 type deal and they told me to stop because i was doing too much😂😂, couldn't blame them tbh😂
I have a theory.. I genuinely think people who grew up listening to gospel music and people who are more endowed with a great natural sense of rhythm are far less likely to be distracted by more complex arrangements and can still worship the Lord. Whereas others who may not have that background might be too distracted by more intricate music, hindering their ability to worship… what do y’all think?
Hey I wanna say that Jesus loves you guys and that He died on the cross for your sins. He paid the penalty of our sin and gave us His righteousness You don't have to depend on things from this world, you can find peace and joy in Jesus, if you keep Him first always, above everyone and everything else, He will surely reward you.
Ei, quero dizer que Jesus ama vocês e que Ele morreu na cruz pelos seus pecados. Ele pagou a penalidade do nosso pecado e nos deu Sua justiça Você não precisa depender das coisas deste mundo, você pode encontrar paz e alegria em Jesus, se você mantê-Lo sempre em primeiro lugar, acima de todos e de tudo, Ele certamente irá te recompensar.
In my opinion the difference is the style of play, and a million other small things like different harmonies, rhythms, etc. It’s similar to how there are subgenres of rock that can sound completely different like soft rock and metal. They are technically within the same genre but make a lot of different decisions musically that make them sound very different. Also CCM is generally connected to white churches, while gospel music is traditionally connected to black churches. It doesn’t have to do with the content of the music so much (they are both Christian music), but the musical style of play. Hope that helps a little.
@istominmusic Sure, gospel CAN get far more complex than what is in this video, but not all gospel music is super complex. Just like not all Romantic Era pieces are as difficult as a Liszt or Chopin etude.
The chord names should have been named as flats, not sharps, with the exception of F#7. Why? Let’s spell an A#7 chord: A#, C double sharp, E#, G#. It makes things needlessly complicated.
@jonasaras Agreed. I used sharps because a lot of less seasoned players tend to be less comfortable with flats. For those who are a bit more knowledgeable about chord relationships, like you seem to be, it's not an issue to do the mental conversion. Thanks for watching!
bro, I got a giddy smile on my face at 2:20 when I heard those chord...love it!
@@serranokeys 😂
You broke this down in such a way I can understand. Sooo grateful!! Thank you 🙏🏽
@@emily_sarah glad it could help you! Thanks for watching 😀
Hey Dion, this was an incredible lesson - I've searched before for a sort of 'intro to gospel" lesson and never found something that met me where I was at. This was a perfect blend of simplicity and depth and I would love to see more! In particular, I think this could be a fun series - taking CCM songs that are basic and well-known, and adding color and complexity. Thanks for sharing your knowledge and helping me grow!
Hey, thanks for watching! I'm glad you were able to pull something useful out of this video. Keep at it!
Hey @parkermmyers, this is exactly how I feel 🔥. Dion's video made the entry into gospel SOUND AND THEORY so clear after having searched youtube for quite a while. Thank you so much for your clarity and generosity Dion Todman ! 😁🙏 I could get everything you were talking about and play easily, while knowing what I was doing 😄
I just left a comment before readin this saying almost the exact same thing, please keep it up your teaching style is well needed in this space!
This video was not only a practical teaching but also extremely inspiring!! I had heard the term “borrowed chords” but underestimated them until this video!
@LeytonCurran Let's go! I'm glad you were able to pull at least one nugget from this video. Keep at it!
hello how to purchase your course
@@weiminglee5959 links are in the video description
@@diontmusic any pop music lesson?
Thank you so much for this video!! I'm a completely self taught worship keys player and I have felt like I hit a wall in my learning about a year ago. This is giving me some really exciting news concepts and ideas to learn to implement into my playing and I super excited to get started!!
@janelleapplequist3027 glad you found it useful!
Amazing - I would love a spotify playlist of you playing CCM songs as gospel versions. It's so beautiful!
Top tier vid bro! Trying to step out of my CCM comfort zone and get comfortable with playing the gospel & R&B style that I love hearing so much
Just beautifully done man! As a drummer (who appreciates all instruments) & also grew up playing in the predominantly black church playing gospel music it was my foundation. As time progressed I eventually made my way into the ccm sector. Playing that for a number of years was highly fulfilling but I always always craved the blending of both. I hear so so much beautiful harmonies & possibilities in the two worlds.
@@horacegeorge1754 right on. Thanks for watching!
Yes! So beautiful.
minor 2-5-1s might be my fav. they add such a great flavour. I practiced them in all 12 keys and in different inversions
I'm following along with my guitar right now and have to say this is outstanding. There's a reason this video already has almost 30k views - you are explaining something here that most advanced musicians never take the time to explain clearly - namely how, why and when one can use subsitutionary harmony. If it's explained it's always in a dry academic sense. What you're doing - breaking it down with a single song and showing us your process and particular voicings is just above and beyond. Thank you! Keep it up!
@@pianoatthirty Thanks for your feedback! I'm glad the info was consumable. I try to make concepts as elementary as possible. It's easier to accomplish with some more than others.
Love this🔥also want to make clear that CCM is simple for a reason😁in my worship team it's always a point of contention to keep things simple or gospel-ify songs. it's all about discernment and knowing your team❤️
What's the reason why ccm some are simple?
@@benjamincrosby4350 i'd say the biggest is so that musicians/churches of all experiences can play and sing them. it's for the same reason pop music is often considered simple - so that it's easy to pick up for everyone. you never want your worship team to be playing super interesting/complex parts too often or else they risk stealing attention that should go to God, pastor, etc.
the beauty of simple songs is that, as we see in the video, it leaves plenty of room for people to experiment and add color if they desire. otherwise, it's perfectly serviceable as is
I'd venture to suggest that "simple" is suggestive or relative. I dont think, personally, that anything pertaining to gospel is complicated or hard to perform. But that, for most people, may have much to do with upbringing and environment. Gospel is not the opposite of simple because for many people, gospel is simple....when you're trained in it, involved in it, and love it.
@@musicbygrear I think CCM is on average much simpler music-theory-wise and execution-wise than Gospel. A decent gospel musician would have no difficulty playing CCM, but it’d be much different the other way around. It all takes training and practice, but I think Gospel takes a lot more to get to an equivalent level.
It’s definitely true that growing up with one makes it easier. I really enjoy gospel and have been lucky enough to play on a fair few Gospel sets at my university, so I wish I’d grown up around it so it’d come more naturally.
Your music is fire, by the way!
@@jerielc709this is the common cop out for lack of excellence and misuse of volunteers in churches. I don’t believe it’s biblical.
I play guitar but the music theory behind this is truth so ut helps me be a better musician. Thank you so much!
So so helpful! Thanks!!
This video is clutch man, we play a lot of simple CCM for our kids choir and I've been looking to add some flavor to it!
Thanks for walking through this so methodically. Sounds awesome and super inspiring, especially due to my growing distaste of a lot of CCM musicality.
Bro. I got so much value out of this. I am going to show this to my worship team! Thank you so much!
Please keep up the videos, you explain theory really well and practically. I've known standard music theory for a while but whenever we'd get into the more gospel stuff the theory behind it would confuse me. You explain it well and I've been playing (thus watching youtube videos explaining gospel approaches for YEARS) and you stick out on how you teach as a teacher. I say that all that to say you have a gifting in your teaching and explaining things, keep it up!! Appreciated the text on the screen as well also explaining everything.
This is a great video. I like how you kept repeating what you were doing. It was very helpful. Thank you for teaching this. Looking forward to more videos.
I need more of these videos! I love learning all the tools to reharmonizing in this style! So far all I knew was the 7 3 6 progression
As long as you show your work it sounds like you can just put any chord you want. This is the 4 of the 2 of the secondary dominant of the next town over. Sounds great man! Love finding this channel!
We need more of this in our churches!
This is the clearest explanation of borrowed chords that I've found online. Thanks for this!
Phenomenal lesson
This video is super crisp, would help a ton if we go a few in C for begineers who have not explored all keys yet.
This is dope! That second pass had so much lovely tension that I had thug tears welling up lol but I’d probably move to bass note from the 1 to the 7 on “me” to create kind of a vi of 2 before resolving to the vi
So glad you came up on my discover page. Subbed immediately.
Yup, that's a subscribe. Great playing.
@@josephestes7076 thanks for watching!
kindly keep making more videos on gospel piano/keyboard play style...this was very informative and i wanna learn more and im sure there are many who want to as well...great work keep it up:)
You're a great teacher!
Subscribing for the amazing lighting!
💡
This was insanely helpful!! Keep them coming!
So good 🎉
Love this video. Thank you teacher!
tnks bro!! ARG 🇦🇷
This is awesome
@@JamieGraceProductions Thanks for watching!
2:27 sheesh🙌🏾
AWESOME BROTHER, YOUR CONTENT IS VERY UNIQUE… THANK YOU FOR MAKING CONTENT FOR US CHURCH PLAYERS! SUBBED ! Love form India 🇮🇳❤️
Beautiful. Thank you for teaching and sharing ❤
Super clear. This is definitely the kind of education I was interested in. I went to your website to learn a bit more...do you have preview or intro videos for your courses? I'd like to know a little more about what kind of stuff I might learn in the "church runs" course.
Hey, thanks for watching! The church runs course mainly teaches the theory and execution of gospel style runs and "shout" moments. Here's a glimpse of one of the lessons:
instagram.com/reel/CrnonzksT4P/?igsh=MWRwbTh4c3Brd2lhMg==
Heeeeey muchas gracias por los tutoriales están increíbles!! Saludos desde Ciudad de México ❤
Good teaching
Subbed!!!
Great explanations man!
The likes were at 666 had to give it 667 LOL😂
Thanks for keeping it simple
Love from Uganda 🇺🇬🇺🇬
I saw the title of the video and was like "Gospel music?? In the boring-vanilla-sounding-4-chord-changing CCM??? Dude, count me in!"
Lol in all seriousness, I just think that CCM is lacking so much musicianship that could be used for glorifying God more in church, but instead many modern churches settle for mediocre-sounding music, so as a musician, something like this video is such a breath of fresh air to me. Just my opinion tho, not saying it's bad if anyone likes that kind of music.
Please Make more CCM/Gospel concept videos 🙏🙌
This is great!!
Don't let them know our secrets lol - Great Video Dion
@@bartanestin 😂😂
Thanks❤
hey Dion! please tell us how long you took to be this good and how consistently you practiced! Tips about how to improve would be great too! Been blessed by your video keep it up 😇
@MoonKhine hey, thanks for watching. I started playing when I was 6 and didn't really get comfortable until I was around 9-10 (with a teacher). For an adult, it may take less time than that, but the most important thing is consistent, good quality practice. You're only going to improve what you practice. Rather than explaining here, I may need to do a video on the subject instead! In general, practice playing chords and their variations, scales/arpeggios, leaps, rhythm, and dynamics.
Love it!
Easy subscribe nice video
game changer
Please drop these instrumentals!!!!
Us college students need this playing while we study, hahah. In all seriousness, please make a full playlist of these instruments specifically a CCM gospelify playlist
BeaUtiful ...
good stuff!
Love this! Dion, what kind of camera are you using in this video?
@@KreationAvenueTV canon eos m50
Gorgeous tutorial! So glad I found you, man! You have a subscriber in me.
Btw, what piano sound/keybord/vst are you using, it’s so rich, full & beautiful. Thanks in advanced.
Cheers…
@@courtneysmith5412 Thanks for watching!
The VST is Noire Piano from Native Instruments.
What does CCM stands for? 🤔
Christian Commercial Music?
Contemporary Christian music
This is amazing! Question though. When using borrowed chords, I noticed you used a whole bunch of sevenths and diminished sevenths.
How do you determine if it's supposed to be diminished or just a natural 7? Or... Does borrowed chords must have 7s in them?
(I grew up playing by ear, don't know any music theory. I'm just pick up by these type of tutorials and videos 😅)
Hey! The short answer is that different 7th chords and diminished chords lead to different landing points. For example, dominant 7th chords lead to a chord that is a 5th away 99% of the time.
I may do a video on the topic of chord theory that shows examples of when to use certain chord types. Thanks for watching!
Man that G#/F# builds so much tension
😍😍😍😍
Sir , Can you teach us how to solo in piano ..in a slow and clarified way
Shocking that CCM is not doing their chord inversions. Less hand movements and better voice leading are benefits being left on the table
They do , I play both is just more about the only use of major and minor triads
I've always loved Gospel piano just don't know how to play it. But that 5th doesn't always sound good before you go to chords..I like using it when I play how great is our God like C, Am, F, G..I add C, E, Am, C, F , G..it adds a little flavor but I love those borrowed 2, 5, 1 sounds good.
This is amazing work! I will say that to my ear the G#/F# sounds like an unanswered question if you play it for the whole bar. Any suggestions on what you could fill beats three and four with?
Dope. It’s always refreshing to know there are other people out there who think in a similar way as myself. Keep educating bro. It’s time to get away from this 1 4 5 6 because God is worthy of so much more!
Bro this guy look like he is from soul
Fr 😮
When i moved to OKC and joined the worship at the church there, I was reharming everything on a super basic level, nothing crazy, a passing chord here and there, a 3 over the 1 instead of just the 1 type deal and they told me to stop because i was doing too much😂😂, couldn't blame them tbh😂
@@youngeshmoney I feel this 😂
I have a theory.. I genuinely think people who grew up listening to gospel music and people who are more endowed with a great natural sense of rhythm are far less likely to be distracted by more complex arrangements and can still worship the Lord. Whereas others who may not have that background might be too distracted by more intricate music, hindering their ability to worship… what do y’all think?
What is CMM?
Contemporary Christian Music
Hey I wanna say that Jesus loves you guys and that He died on the cross for your sins. He paid the penalty of our sin and gave us His righteousness
You don't have to depend on things from this world, you can find peace and joy in Jesus, if you keep Him first always, above everyone and everything else, He will surely reward you.
Ei, quero dizer que Jesus ama vocês e que Ele morreu na cruz pelos seus pecados. Ele pagou a penalidade do nosso pecado e nos deu Sua justiça
Você não precisa depender das coisas deste mundo, você pode encontrar paz e alegria em Jesus, se você mantê-Lo sempre em primeiro lugar, acima de todos e de tudo, Ele certamente irá te recompensar.
Gospelize?
What is CCM?
@@aarontoalet contemporary Christian music
What is the difference between CCM (Contemporary Christian Music) and Gospel music?
In my opinion the difference is the style of play, and a million other small things like different harmonies, rhythms, etc. It’s similar to how there are subgenres of rock that can sound completely different like soft rock and metal. They are technically within the same genre but make a lot of different decisions musically that make them sound very different. Also CCM is generally connected to white churches, while gospel music is traditionally connected to black churches. It doesn’t have to do with the content of the music so much (they are both Christian music), but the musical style of play. Hope that helps a little.
@@RyanTaylorMedia Oh....I now understand the difference.
CCM for white churches, Black Gospel for black churches especially COGIC.🙂
It's very simple, isn't it? The result is more like POP style than Gospel. In Gospel there would be much more advanced chords + tritones and so on.
@istominmusic Sure, gospel CAN get far more complex than what is in this video, but not all gospel music is super complex. Just like not all Romantic Era pieces are as difficult as a Liszt or Chopin etude.
Seriously, who wants to play this in F#?
Nice video bro! Like the content :) check out some of my hymn arrangements if you have time! I use some jazz / gospel elements as well
Gospelize??
Very useful video but not the best of explanations. Had to look at your hands and figure it out for myself
You know how much stank face I did on this??
Ugh ccm is so boring…most musicians can’t read music so they do the 4 chords and that’s all
GOSPELIZE
@@I.I.10 That's it 👆🏾
ねえ、イエスはあなたたちを愛していて、あなたの罪のために十字架で死んでくださったと言いたいのです。神は私たちの罪の代償を払い、私たちに義を与えてくださいました。
この世のものに頼る必要はありません。イエスのうちに平安と喜びを見つけることができます。常に、誰よりも、他のすべてよりもイエスを第一に保つなら、イエスは必ずあなたに報いてくださいます。
🤦🏽♂️
CCM is gospel. Gospel means good news so how are you going to gospel it up when it gospel already?
The chord names should have been named as flats, not sharps, with the exception of F#7.
Why? Let’s spell an A#7 chord: A#, C double sharp, E#, G#. It makes things needlessly complicated.
@jonasaras Agreed. I used sharps because a lot of less seasoned players tend to be less comfortable with flats. For those who are a bit more knowledgeable about chord relationships, like you seem to be, it's not an issue to do the mental conversion. Thanks for watching!