Gospel Piano Study

This time around it's time to dive into a Gospel Piano study and explore new musical horizons with a spiritual feel and plenty of harmony coming straight down from heaven. 

It's all about having a spiritual experience, but not Enrique Iglesias style, rather in the purest African American spirit and with a sense of worship to the eternal God that so many adore so fervently. 

Are you ready for this Gospel Piano study? You'd better be, because it has enough material for hours of practice and fun.

What Gospel Is

Technically speaking, “Gospel” means “the Word or message of God.” So in music, Gospel is an expression of the word of God sung and voiced through the various musical instruments. 

Since 1930, among African American religious communities in the United States there have been many leading Gospel artists. There have also been others like Elvis Presley, who is considered one of the most important Gospel singers in the world and the King of Rock & Roll.

That said, among the Black communities of the inner cities we can find names like Ray Charles Robinson and the genre's legend Rosetta Tharpe, who have been exactly that, demigods of the Gospel style and feel. 

The Gospel Piano

The Gospel piano is nothing less than an extension of Gospel—and without a doubt its most important one—because it holds all of the genre's harmonic and rhythmic expression and its purest feeling. 

Without question, the best known are Ray Charles, Stevie Wonder, Alicia Keys and Nat King Cole, among others. 

Gospel Piano Method

To make real progress in studying Gospel piano, there's no better way to do it than with Kurt Cowling's Gospel Piano method. 

This method was published by the music publishing house Hal Leonard. It's one of the most important ones and the first that any young pianist should turn to in order to learn how to play Gospel. 

Broadly speaking, this method consists of eight chapters, and we'll walk you through them. 

Chords and Chord Symbols

Right from the start, the method begins with chord triads and their inversions. The goal is for the new pianist to strengthen their knowledge in this area. 

The scales in thirds are also vital to the Gospel piano style, and you'll be able to learn them quickly and easily. On top of that, intervals of a fifth are required study because they let you strengthen your harmony. 

Major, minor, harmonic and melodic scales, chord voicings like Sus2, Add4, 9th, 11th, 13th and many more are all here for you to discover. 

Harmony

The harmony of Gospel piano is the most important thing, and in this book you'll find four chapters devoted to it. 

This way, after a flood of chords, inversions and scales, you'll be able to put it all into practice in the form of short pieces that come with an mp3 audio you can download here. 

Rhythmic variations, seventh-chord sequences and complex harmonic forms are the main course of these four chapters. 

Melody and Fills

This section is about putting cadences and syncopated tempos into practice, with dotted rhythms and delays that give Gospel piano its one-of-a-kind flavor. 

As a result, the student will be able to dig deeper and improve their timing across every musical aspect. 

Other parts this method covers are the Form, tempo, Styles and the Groove of Gospel piano. 

Don't miss this great opportunity to start your journey through the style that, if you choose to see it that way, brings you closest to God. 

Always remember that you can download as a PDF the methods we review for you.