4 Chord Praise Songs

[Billi Mayhue]

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A few years ago, I ate dinner with a well-respected producer of Christian music and I remember him bemoaning how tired our music is getting. One of the things he complained about was the current fad of ending songs with something other than the I chord. The most common substitution of course is the IV chord.

Now, I am not saying the idea itself is bad. There is nothing morally wrong with ending on a IV chord. I have heard some try to claim things like it breaks the laws of nature and goes against some Biblical principle. That is so far-fetched that I am not going to even argue against it.

Nor is there anything musically wrong with it. Yes, almost all Western music has resolved to the I chord for the past 600 years but there have always been exceptions. And of course, there is certainly no one with the authority to tell us that we have to end on I chords.

Since it means something, I am skeptical when I note that all of a sudden a huge percentage of praise and worship songs end on IV chords. That was not true 20 years ago. What has changed? Do the new songs have a different message that calls for ending on a IV chord? As best I can tell, the answer is no. They are still about God, worship, faith, hope and other messages we associate with Christianity.

Four easy chords are all you need to know to play any of these popular worship songs, carols, and hymns. All the arrangements follow the original recording so that you can still play along with the recording. All the chords have been simplified down to G, C, Em, and D. You can transpose all of these songs into any key and even edit the arrangement online. If you want to stick with G, C, Em, and D chord shapes, pull out your capo to play any of these songs in any key. Every song starts in the key of G.

This article is supposed to be comprehensive. So if you are brand new to piano and music theory, I would recommend taking your time while reading through the theoretical parts. Understanding the different concepts will help you later in your musical development.

There are many ways you can go about learning the piano. The most common one is learning how to read sheet music, which requires an understanding of notation in the bass and treble clef.

While being able to read notes is undoubtedly valuable, it can be a rather slow and lengthy process.

Even though 88 keys may seem like a lot to remember, there are, in fact, just 12 different keys. As you can see on the piano keyboard diagram below. These 12 notes repeat throughout the rest of the keyboard.

There are two most common ways to learn the notes of all 12 major keys. You can either memorize them or learn a simple formula on how to build scales which will also tell you the notes of a given key, since major scales and major keys share the same notes.

As I mentioned earlier, every major scale consists of 7 notes. The distance between each note of the scale is called an interval. The smallest interval we can play is called half step (H), which is simply the closest note to the one we are playing (either black or white). The second important interval to know in order to build a scale is a whole step (W), consisting of two half steps.

Now that you understand the two basic intervals. Here is a formula for creating major scales: W, W, H, W, W, W, H. As an example, I built a G major scale using the rule above, where I show how the formula works.

Tip: When playing chords, make sure to use correct finger placement. For example, when playing G major chord, play the note G with the thumb, the note B with your middle finger, and D with your pinky. By doing so, you will minimize the tension in your hand, and start forming the right habits.

As you may have already figured out a chord progression is nothing more than a sequence of 2 or more chords. Majority of worship songs are built around one or more different chord progressions, which generally tend to repeat throughout the song.

TIP: Often, the first chord of the song tells us the key of the song, but not in this case. This can cause you to have a problem singing the melody. If so, start with 4 beats of G major chord to establish the key of the song in your ears.

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In this post I wanted to create an outline of chord shapes that can equip any guitarist, electric or acoustic, to be able to get up on stage at their church and fill in the mix nicely. Many people ask us about transposing, so here is a great solution. If I had these basic chords given to me when I was younger I would have most likely advanced in my playing much quicker.

With each of the chord shapes outlined in this post there are countless variations. In my own playing, I have developed many preferred alternative chords that I play differently than what is listed here. After mastering these basics, I encourage everyone to pursue deeper knowledge of theory and the fretboard so you can easily explore alternative chord voicings. Many chord choices I have found have come from learning other songs and developing an ear for what works, so keep practicing!

With all of the chords, I have listed out the general 7 chord shapes you would need for each song. Most worship songs are simple and call for the 1, 5, 6, and 4 chords (that progression is the most common). To keep things simple, for guitar, you can get away with interchanging the 1/3 with the 1, and the 5/7 with the 5. If all of these numbers are confusing you, do not worry about it, but I would encourage you to research The Nashville Number System as you practice.

These are the most basic chords anyone could probably know. Many people play them differently, but most of the time this is how I roll. I rarely play the high E string with these chords and if I do I will alternate what note I choose depending on what emotion I want (i.e. 0, 2, 3). If you have a capo, you should be able alternate between these G and D open chord shapes to play in any key.

These box chord shapes will allow you to play in any key, but without a capo. These will give you some different voicings to help you play better with other guitarists as well as open the door for more lead guitar options. Make sure to practice using your fretting hand to mute any unplayed strings to make things cleaner.

This is a great worship song (I personally love this song!), and a great one to play as a part of any worship team, in front of your church, or just learn by yourself to sing along to whenever you'd like.

Who You Say I Am is another easy song you can learn to play on guitar without too much struggle. The chords are fundamental, core chords that you'll have to learn at one point or another (or should already know if you've been playing for a period of time!)

Note: All of the songs from this point onward will be played with 4 chords. Even though I could've simplified a few of them even more into just 3 chords, they just wouldn't have sounded the same. I decided to do all I could to keep the "essence" of the music.

You'll notice that the remainder of the songs listed here sound a bit "richer" than the first song we simplified down to only 3 chords (Amazing Love). Even though Amazing Love still sounds good, adding an E Minor (Em) into the chord progression would significantly improve the sound. Just my two cents!

As I mentioned in the previous description (Who You Say I Am), every song from this point on is going to have 4 chords instead of 3 (giving them a richer sound, and having them all sounding even more like the original!)

Once again, these aren't tricky chords. After practicing for a few hours (this is, realistically, how long it should take if you're new to this - perhaps a bit longer), you'll be able to have these chords down pretty well.

When I was learning my first chord progression on guitar, it took me roughly a week (practicing an hour or so a day), until I could play the chords without looking at the frets, purely by muscle memory.

This song is a little bit more difficult in that it doesn't have a "rotating" chord progression. When I say rotating, I mean playing the same four chords over and over again in the same order each time.

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