The library · Gospel & spirituals
Amazing Grace
Traditional American melody
The best-known hymn in the English-speaking world, in three-four time: a melody of only five notes (pentatonic) over a bass that sets down each chord.
F major · 3/4 · 90 beats per minute · 16 bars · 32 s · intermediate level
The form
The sections of the piece and their chords: the map you learn before playing a single note.
Pickup A B A' C
| Section | Bars | Chords | Phrase ending |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pickup | 0–0 | C V |
— |
| A | 1–4 | F · Fmaj7 · B♭ · F I · Imaj7 · IV · I |
Plagal cadence |
| B | 5–8 | Dm · G7/B · C vi · V7/V · V |
Imperfect cadence |
| A' | 9–12 | F · Dm · B♭ · C/E I · vi · IV · V |
Imperfect cadence |
| C | 13–16 | G/B · F/A · Fsus4 · F V/V · I · Isus4 · I |
— |
The key
- F major
- 1 flat in the key signature: B♭
- Scale
- F · G · A · B♭ · C · D · E
- Pillar chords
- I = F · IV = B♭ · V7 = C7
The tricky passages
- Bar 5: fast runs (9.0 notes per second)
- Bar 9: fast runs (9.0 notes per second)
- Bar 13: fast runs (9.0 notes per second), notes outside the key
The plan: 10 days
Half an hour a day. First I help you understand the map of the piece, then we lay down the chord framework, learn each section phrase by phrase, work on the tricky passages, put it together and bring it up to tempo, until you can play it from memory.
More pieces from the library
- When the Saints Go Marching In · Traditional spiritual
- Swing Low, Sweet Chariot · Traditional spiritual
- Go Down, Moses · Traditional spiritual
- Joshua Fit the Battle of Jericho · Traditional spiritual
- He's Got the Whole World in His Hands · Traditional spiritual
- Au clair de la lune · Traditional French song
Peter Gerloff / Wikimedia Commons (piano reduction) · CC BY-SA 3.0