We sing Victory Is Mine often at my church.
How often have we seen, and/or heard this “I can pick out the tune with my right hand but what do I do with my left hand?”
I too struggle with that problem. So I have been dedicating a nice portion of my practice time focusing on the left hand.
Let’s take Victory Is Mine in the key of F.
Know the scale. You don’t have to play the scale up and down to know it. In fact I believe if you just mindlessly play the scale up and down you won’t know it. So what do I mean by knowing the scale? Be able to think in the scale. Know that the scale has one flat, which is Bb. Know the note numbers and the chords that are occurring diatonically in the scale. Quiz yourself randomly identifying the second note, the sixth note, the fourth note and so on. Play other simple tunes in the key of F.
Root chords of the F scale
I F-A-C
ii G-Bb-D
iii A-C-E
IV Bb-D-F
V C-E-G
vi D-F-A
vii E-G-Bb
All links including links to midis and sheet music are provided at the end of this post.
Next play the melody for Victory Is Mine in the key of F.
Now, here’s where it gets a little tricky and a little controversial. What do I do with my left hand? Based on a single note melody, I don’t have enough information to figure out what to do with my left hand. And because I am a beginner, I don’t have the experience or insight or intuition to just start playing with my left hand.
I am going to expand the melody from a single voice to a triad (chord) using one of the major chords. Each of the notes of the scale is contained in at least one of the three major chords, I, IV or V.
Did I mention that you should know your scale?
There is a very nice post on how to chord songs but as a beginner start with the three major chords of the scale. Then try different chords once you learn the majors.
Looking at the chord chart above for the key of F or if you “know”
, your scale you select a chord, which contains the melody note. Which chord do you select when you have a multiple choice? Select the chord which sounds best to you or which conforms to a theory you want to put into practice. Once you select your chord, invert the chord so that the melody note is on top.
Now we have enough information to do something with the left hand. You don’t want your left hand to bang out each syllable of the lyrics. Okay, we don’t always want our right hand to bang out each syllable either but bear with me. We are going to train our left hand to maintain the consistent beat. So while it is important that your right hand should have learned its part while you were doing all that right hand stuff above, it is really important for your left hand to know its part without you thinking about it much. The left hand is going to play the 1 and 5 of the chord you selected as your melody chord. Simply put, you play the first and last note of your chord. If you “know”
your scale you won’t need to look at the chart. You play one note per beat for how many beats the chord is played. When the chord lasts for more than one beat, you can play the 1, then the 5. Or you can play the 5 then the 1. Or you play the 1 then the 1 an octave higher and so on in any combination that sounds good to you. If the chord lasts for one beat, you get to play just the 1 or just the 5. If I just lost you that’s okay, just play the first and last note of your right hand chord. And check out below where I try to explain “What I mean by the 1 and 5?”
It is very important that you change your 1, 5 patterns when you practice. This trains your brain and your fingers to work together. When you perform for an audience, play your favorite arrangement.
Be sure to practice your left hand alone. At first you will just hear your left hand banging out oom-pah, oom-pah. As you gain experience, insight and intuition, you’ll begin to hear bass lines.
I provided sheet music and midis. Left hand and right hand are recorded separately. Sing while you play the left hand only or mute the left midi track while you play along to the recorded melody with your left hand. Get the left hand working pretty effortlessly. Then work on the right hand. Once you add the right hand, I hope you now find that your right hand wants to dance to the oom-pah, oom-pah of the left hand. Your right hand will at first make mistakes. Be patient, slow your tempo. If it doesn’t happen for you as quickly as you want, don’t be discouraged just keep practicing and keep having fun. It will happen.
One last thing, when we sing Victory Is Mine, we don’t sing all of the syllables on the beat. We sing some syllables on beat and some off beat. The offbeat stuff is called syncopation. So I provided a version with a little syncopation to make the song more realistic. The left hand is still banging out a consistent beat ... oom-pah, oom-pah,
What do I mean by the 1 and 5?
You really need to “know”
your scales.
1. F Bb C
2. G C D
3. A D E
4. Bb Eb F
5. C F G
6. D G A
7. E A B
Key of F has 3 major chords F-A-C, Bb-D-F and C-E-G
Although we are playing Victory Is Mine in the key of F, when we play the F chord, our left hand is thinking F scale ... select the F(1) and C(5) of the F scale. When we play Bb chord, our left hand is thinking Bb scale ... select the Bb(1) and the F(5) of the Bb scale.. When we play C chord, our left hand is thinking C scale ... select the C(1) and the G(5) of the C scale.
LINKS
Beginner’s midi in the key of C
http://www.learngospelmusic.com/media/displayimage.php?album=432&pos=0Beginner’s sheet music for key of C
http://www.learngospelmusic.com/media/displayimage.php?album=432&pos=1Midi (melody line key of F)
http://www.learngospelmusic.com/media/displayimage.php?album=432&pos=10Sheet music for melody line in key of F
http://www.learngospelmusic.com/media/displayimage.php?album=432&pos=9Midi (key of F no syncopation version) Start out with this version then move on to the syncopated version
http://www.learngospelmusic.com/media/displayimage.php?album=432&pos=8Easy note sheet music for midi ( key of F no syncopation version)
http://www.learngospelmusic.com/media/displayimage.php?album=432&pos=7Midi (key of F syncopated)
http://www.learngospelmusic.com/media/displayimage.php?album=432&pos=6Sheet music for midi (key of F syncopated)
http://www.learngospelmusic.com/media/displayimage.php?album=432&pos=5T-Block provided chords and bass line for Victory Is Mine in the key of Eb. These are very nice chords.
T-Block’s post on congregational songs
http://www.learngospelmusic.com/forums/index.php/topic,31797.0.htmlI created a midi of Part 1 and the first turnaround. Here’s the midi and the sheet music.
Midi
http://www.learngospelmusic.com/media/displayimage.php?album=432&pos=2Sheet Music
http://www.learngospelmusic.com/media/displayimage.php?album=432&pos=3Sheet Music with easy notation
http://www.learngospelmusic.com/media/displayimage.php?album=432&pos=4Here’s the link to Sam’s Tolbert’s video of Victory Is Mine in the key of F.
http://www.learngospelmusic.com/media/displayimage.php?album=search&cat=0&pos=3 5 Steps for Chording Songs Yourself Methodically and Nicely
http://www.learngospelmusic.com/forums/index.php/topic,40171.0.htmlExplanation of diatonic scales:
http://www.andymilne.dial.pipex.com/Diatonic.shtmlIf you need a scale/chord formation refresher, here’s the link to T-Block’s post on scales.
http://www.learngospelmusic.com/forums/index.php/topic,30189.0.html
