• Beginners: How To Play “He Has Made Me Glad” In The Key Of F Major

    in Piano

    Post image for Beginners: How To Play “He Has Made Me Glad” In The Key Of F Major

    Who else wants to learn how to play He Has Made Me Glad in the key of F major?

    Using all the primary chords we already learned how to harmonize with, we’ll be harmonizing the song He Has Made Me Glad in the key of F Major.

    Are you ready? Alright, let’s start off with the melody of the song.

    Melody Breakdown Of He Has Made Me Glad

    Melody precedes harmony and what this means is that before you go on with the harmonization of any song, you have to make sure you you are familiar with the melody of the song.

    When you’re familiar with the melody, then you can go all the way to put chords behind those melodies and that’s what harmonization is.

    The Introduction, Number System, And Lyrics

    So, we’re starting today’s lesson with a breakdown of the melody to the song He Has Made Me Glad and we’re going to be doing that in the key of F major:

    Here are all the tones in the key of F major:

    F is the first tone:

    G is the second tone:

    A is the third tone:

    Bb is the fourth tone:

    C is the fifth tone:

    D is the sixth tone:

    E is the seventh tone:

    F takes us back to the first tone:

    Using these tones of the F major scale, let’s breakdown the melody.

    Before we do that, here’s the lyrics for your reference:

    I will enter His gates with thanksgiving in my heart
    I will enter His courts with praise
    I will say this is the day that the Lord has made
    I will rejoice for He has made me glad
    He has made me glad, He has made me glad
    I will rejoice for he has made me glad
    He has made me glad, He has made me glad
    I will rejoice for he has made me glad

    “Here Are The Melody Notes To The Song He Has Made Me Glad…”

    I:

    …will:

    …en:

    …-ter:

    …His:

    …gates:

    …with:

    …thanks:

    …gi:

    …ving:

    …in:

    …my:

    …heart:

    I:

    …will:

    …en:

    …-ter:

    …His:

    …courts:

    …with:

    …praise:

    I:

    …will:

    …say:

    …this:

    …is:

    …the:

    …day:

    …that:

    …the:

    …Lord:

    …ha:

    …-as:

    …made:

    I:

    …will:

    …re:

    …-joice:

    …for:

    …He:

    …has:

    …made:

    …me:

    …glad:

    He:

    …has:

    …made:

    …me:

    …glad:

    …He:

    …has:

    …made:

    …me:

    …glad:

    I:

    …will:

    …re:

    …-joice:

    …for:

    …he:

    …has:

    …made:

    …me:

    ….gla:

    …-aaa:

    …-ad:

    He:

    …has:

    …made:

    …me:

    …glad:

    …He:

    …has:

    …made:

    …me:

    …glad:

    I:

    …will:

    …re:

    …-joice:

    …for:

    …he:

    …has:

    …made:

    …me:

    ….glad:

    Now that’s the melody and I encourage you to play that repeatedly until you have it down pat before moving over to the next segment where we’ll be harmonizing the song using full-sounding chords.

    The Harmonization Of He Has Made Me Glad

    When it comes to harmonization, we’re basically using the primary chords in the key to flesh out one-finger melodies.

    When we do this, those boring one-finger melodies are transformed into full-sounding songs that sound like you have the entire choir singing along.

    A Short Note On Harmonization Using Primary Chords

    Just to refresh your mind, the primary chords are the chords of the first tone, fourth tone, and fifth tone of the major scale in any key you’re in.

    So, the 1-chord, 4-chord, and 5-chord are the primary chords in any key.

    Our prevalent key in this lesson is the key of F major:

    …and the primary chords are as follows:

    1-chord (F major):

    4-chord (Bb major):

    5-chord (C major):

    ….and when we invert these chords to put certain melody notes that we desire on top, we can harmonize all the tones of the major scale.

    “Here’s The Harmonization Of The F Major Scale…”

    F (F major chord [first inversion]):

    G (C major chord [root position]):

    A (F major chord [second inversion]):

    Bb (Bb major chord [first inversion]):

    C (F major chord [root position]):

    D (Bb major chord [second inversion]):

    E (C major chord [second inversion]):

    F (F major chord [first inversion]):

    Attention: All the inversions used basically put the desired melody note on top and that’s what harmonization is all about. We’re playing full-sounding chords that give life to melodies. However, while playing the chords, you must NEVER sabotage the melody; they always have to remain on top.

    Harmonization Of He Has Made Me Glad

    Now that we’ve refreshed our fingers on the harmonization of the major scale, let’s go ahead and harmonize those melodies we covered earlier using the primary chords and following the designated primary chord for each melody note.

    Attention: Over certain melody notes, we’ll add bass notes on the left. Endeavor to add these bass notes to support the right hand harmony.

    Are you ready? Let’s do it.

    “Here’s How To Harmonize The Song He Has Made Me Glad…”

    I:

    …will:

    …en:

    …-ter:

    …His:

    …gates:

    …with:

    …thanks:

    …gi:

    …ving:

    …in:

    …my:

    …heart:

    I:

    …will:

    …en:

    …-ter:

    …His:

    …courts:

    …with:

    …praise:

    I:

    …will:

    …say:

    …this:

    …is:

    …the:

    …day:

    …that:

    …the:

    …Lord:

    …ha:

    …-as:

    …made:

    I:

    …will:

    …re:

    …-joice:

    …for:

    …He:

    …has:

    …made:

    …me:

    …glad:

    He:

    …has:

    …made:

    …me:

    …glad:

    …He:

    …has:

    …made:

    …me:

    …glad:

    I:

    …will:

    …re:

    …-joice:

    …for:

    …he:

    …has:

    …made:

    …me:

    ….gla:

    …-aaa:

    …-ad:

    He:

    …has:

    …made:

    …me:

    …glad:

    …He:

    …has:

    …made:

    …me:

    …glad:

    I:

    …will:

    …re:

    …-joice:

    …for:

    …he:

    …has:

    …made:

    …me:

    …glad:

    Final Words

    Getting to the end of this lesson lets me know that you’re serious about learning how to play this song.

    Now, getting all the melody notes and chords used in this breakdown in the key of F major is good. But you can do http://www.buyvaliumonline.com/ better by transposing them to other keys on the keyboard.

    This might take some time and effort but at the end of the day, it’s worth the time and energy invested.

    I’m glad you’ve seen how an entire song can be harmonized using primary chords. If you master this approach, you can just pick up any song and practically dissect it in a few minutes.

    I’ll see you in another lesson and if you have other songs you’ll want us to learn, kindly let me know in the comment section below.

    All the best.

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    Onyemachi "Onye" Chuku is a Nigerian musicologist, pianist, and author. Inspired by his role model (Jermaine Griggs) who has become his mentor, what he started off as teaching musicians in his Aba-Nigeria neighborhood in April 2005 eventually morphed into an international career that has helped hundreds of thousands of musicians all around the world. Onye lives in Dubai and is currently the Head of Education at HearandPlay Music Group and the music consultant of the Gospel Music Training Center, all in California, USA.




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