The incredible power of “6-2-5-1″ chord progressions in gospel songs!

Posted on 01 February 2007 See Comments | Post Comment

 

By now, I doubt I need to go over the individual scale tones and corresponding chords, as we’ve covered these basic fundamentals in the last two month’s of lessons. If you haven’t read January and February’s newsletter, scroll above to get the link to the newsletter archives, where you can view all 2004 newsletters.
Meanwhile, let’s get right to work.
The following chart will list my favorite “6-2-5-1″ progressions. I will start each progression with the “1″ chord just so that you get a sense of what major key the chord progressions start and end on.


“6-2-5-1″ Chord Progressions

The following examples will be in the key of Db major:
A ” / ” slash means that the note to the right will be played on the bass (left hand).
 
“1″ “6″ “2″ “5″ “1″
Bb Eb Ab / Db Ab C Db F / Bb Gb Bb Db F / Eb C F A / Ab Bb Eb Ab / Db
Db Eb F Ab / Db Ab C Eb G / Bb Gb Bb Db F / Eb F A C E / Ab Eb Ab Db / Db
B F Bb / Db Ab D F / Bb G C Db F / Eb Gb C F / Ab B F Bb / Db
F B / Db D Ab / Bb Db G / Eb C Gb / Ab B F / Db
Ab Db Eb F / Db Ab B D F / Bb G Bb Db E /Eb Gb B C E / Ab B F Bb / Db
Bb Eb Ab / Db Ab Bb C Eb / Bb G C Db F / Eb C F A / Ab Bb Eb Ab / Db

Also, keep in mind that just because the progressions says “6-2-5-1″ doesn’t mean you must only play one chord on the “6,” one chord on the “2,” and so on…

I actually like to play multiple chords on the “6.” Here are some examples below.

From the “1″ chord in Db:

(1) Ab Db Eb F / Db

(6) Ab C Eb G / Bb

(6) Ab B D F / Bb

(2) Ab C Db F / Eb

(2) G C Db F / Eb

(5) Db Gb Bb / Ab

(5) C F A / Ab

(1) Bb Eb Ab / Db

Notice how many chords I used in the above “6-2-5-1″ progression. The first chord of each scale tone was usually more subtle but the second chord of the two would always push us towards the next chord. For example, the first “6″ chord above led to a stronger “6″ chord, which ultimately led us to our “2″ chord. Keep these types of ideas in mind when playing “6-2-5-1″ or any other progressions for that matter!

 

 

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Related posts:

  1. Opening and closing your songs with “2-5-1″ progressions!
  2. Variations of “2-5-1″ Chord Progressions
  3. How to Add Bigger “3-6-2-5-1″ Progressions to your Songs!
  4. What are chord progressions?
  5. Question: How do I find the chord progressions in songs?
  6. You don’t have to be a math whiz to master “2-5-1″ chord progressions in every key
  7. “1-4″ chord progressions you can use!



This post was written by:

Jermaine - who has written 297 posts on Hear and Play Music Learning Center.


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8 Comments For This Post

  1. sangiwa eliamani says:

    Incredible !! God bless you msoooooooooooooomuch.
    What is the major difference between gospelkeys 202 and urban pro600?
    Thanks

  2. Jermaine says:

    @Sangiwa: GospelKeys 202 is all about contemporary worship. It is best suitable for someone at an intermediate level although students just finishing the GK101 have found great success with it. It basically teaches you several chords on every time of the scale, as it relates to worship music. You learn over 60 different chords and voicings on each tone. Then on disc 2, you combine these chords together to create “couples” — these are small little chord progressions that you find in your worship songs. once you’ve learned all your progressions, it’s time to put everything to work. You learn several songs using all the chords and couples you’ve mastered.

    GospelKeys 600 is definitely for the experienced. It explores a number of urban, r&b-sounding, gospel chords and progressions. The emphasis is on west coast-sounding chords and styles. Also, every chord pretty much utilizes both hands. Unlike 202 which dealt with chord on right and usually bass note or power chords on the left, GK urban pro 600 deals with chords in both hands. The chords and movements get pretty advanced. They are what you hear played by some of the greatest west coast musicians around. With the use of a bass player, you also get to see how to use these movements in real life settings.

    Depending on where you are, both courses can help.

    I hope this answers your questions.

  3. sangiwa says:

    Thanks. I might have missed the reply ,however not disappointed. As you may know i have ordered some of the materials and looking forward to get going .
    WHAT IS YOUR SUGGESTION ON HOW TO EFFECTIVELLY PRACTICE THESE LESSONS(THE DAILLY ROUTINE) ?

  4. moses says:

    this lessons have add up a lot to my playing. thanx Jermaine. i will like to know more about passing chords.

  5. Amankwah De-Joy says:

    I do not understand most of the chords you are trying to teach. I am a beginner and i really want to learn piano and bass guitar. Please help me. God richly bless you that you will help me

  6. Jennifer says:

    I really trying to understand this number system which I believe that I got it down pat when practicing the scales, but I am a little confused when it comes to this numbers system with the progressions. If for example you have a 1-6-2-5-1 progression like the recent comment. To me it means, Db-Bb-Eb-Ab-Db. As a beginner I always thought that with three finger chords they are three different ways of playing, with the bass key being in the right finger chord. Am I wrong, or just confused?

  7. Peter James Nelly says:

    Hi Mr JERMAINE GRIGGS,
    You said we don’t play only one one chord on “6″,”2″,”3″ and so on of a scale
    My questions are,
    -how many chords are you supposed to play on each of “6″,”3″ etc
    -how do you get those multiple chords without changing the base cause i see, you played from above AbCEbG/Bb and AbBDF/Bb on the “6″ chord.
    -I don’t understand where you got the chords in the above table like BbEbAb/Db ,DbEbFAb/Db etc.
    THANKS MR JERMAINE GRIGGS MAY GOD BLESS YOU THE MORE

  8. Danny (p-rex) says:

    Nice voicings Mr. Griggs. I like them.

    I’ll make an attempt to help you out a little if you don’t mind Peter. You can indeed play multiple different notes over the same bass like that. To give you a basic picture of what that might look like imagine a simple C major chord. Play it C E G/C. That’s one way to play it. Now try B E G/C. The difference between the two is the B. The B is what’s called the major seventh of C. You could also play D E G/C. That would be replacing the C in the right hand with the D. That one is called an Add 9 chord. What Mr. Griggs did with the Bb chord is similar but with more advanced stuff. GospelKeys202 would definitely cover stuff like this. You might wanna check it out.

    Chords like Bb Eb Ab/Db would also be covered and explained in GK202. Just holla if you’re still curious though.

    Hope I was of assistance. Great post Jermaine. God bless.

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