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YOU ARE WHAT YOU PLAY!

Or Are You?
I have played piano since I was in the 5th grade. I taught myself. I started out in
solely classical music. My first song that I learned to play was Fur Elise. I loved
playing and learning but I felt that it was very difficult to learn on my own. I
bought a few books, watched countless hours of video, and practiced for hours
on end. Then, when my cousin started taking piano lessons, I focused more on
the music that we were both familiar with: gospel music. We’ve been in church
since we were born and we’ve sang the old songs countless times. Now, I wanted
to play them.
The best way to learn how to play something is to watch someone else do it.
Janet Haas, a gospel singer and pianist for many years has agreed to help me
put things in this book that will in turn help you (and me) play better. I’m
writing this book for anyone is like me. I was determined to play better but I
was sick of getting nowhere.
In this book, I have typed out add-ins and bells and whistles that will make
your playing more colorful and more exciting. Towards the back of this book
are pages upon pages of sheet music. Some I have slightly arranged. Others are
the same as I found them. I encourage you to mark in this book. Write in notes,
chords, and anything else that will helo you learn and play like a pro.The things
we put in this book are not always easy. I am learning as I put things in this
book. I promise that this book will help you become as good as you want to be.
You are what you play!
 WHAT ARE THE
SYMBOLS FOR?
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Sym r This Look for these tags...
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On the pages where I show you something new, I’ll put a tag at the top. On that tag
is a symbol. Each new add-in will have a different symbol.
In the back of this book, I will include some sheet music that has no add-ins written in.
The only thing that I’ll have on there is symbols. Where ever I put a symbol, you can
use the corresponding add-in.
For example: The symbol for Octave Chord Chord is a red triangle. On the songs in
the back of this book that are in 3/4, 6.8, or 12/8 time, I’ll put a red triangle at the
beginning of the song so that you’ll know that you can use Octave Chord Chord on that
page.
 OCTAVE CHORD CHORD
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This can be used in

songs where the top

A Great Left Hand Add-in For number of the time

signature is divisible
by 3.
Any Song In 3/4 Time. (ex. 3/4, 6/8, 12/8)

TAKE A LOOK AT:

“AMAZING GRACE”

HOW TO DO OCTAVE CHORD CHORD:

As you are playing, look at the chord symbols.
Let’s say you are coming up on a measure that
has the chord Eb. One the first beat, play the
low Eb with your little finger and the Eb one
octave up with your thumb. On beat two, play
Eb, G, and Bb. (Starting with the Eb your Octave (Beat 1) Chord (Beat 2 & Beat 3)
thumb was on. For beat three, do the same as
beat 2.

Here’s what “Amazing Grace” looks like if you

were to be looking in a hymnal.

Try It Like This.

I’ve taken the base line off the original and
added the octave chord chord style.

If you want to use Octave Chord Chord in a song with 6/8

time, you would just do Octave Chord Chord twice. And for
12/8 time, you’d do Octave Chord Chord four times.
 OCTAVE CHORD OCTAVE CHORD
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Sym r This
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This can be used in

songs where the top

A Great Left Hand Add-in For number of the time

signature is a
multiple of 4.
Any Song In 4/4 Time. (ex. 2/4, 4/4, 8/8)

TAKE A LOOK AT:

“WHAT A FRIEND WE HAVE IN JESUS”

HOW TO DO OCTAVE CHORD OCTAVE CHORD:

As you are playing, look at the chord symbols.
Let’s say you are coming up on a measure that
has the chord Eb. One the first beat, play the
low Eb with your little finger and the Eb one
octave up with your thumb. On beat two, play
Eb, G, and Bb. (Starting with the Eb your Octave (Beat 1 and Beat 3) Chord (Beat 2 & Beat 4)
thumb was on. On beat three, go back and do
the octave again. On beat four, play the chord
just as you did on beat two.

Here’s what “What a Friend We Have In Jesus”

looks like if you were to be looking in a
hymnal.

Try It Like This.

I’ve taken the base line off the original and
added the octave chord octave chord style.

If you want to use Octave Chord Octave Chord in a song

with 2/8 time, you would just do Octave Chord. And for 8/8
time, you’d do Octave Chord Octave Chord Octave Chord
Octave Chord.
 ALTERNATIVE CHORDS
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You Don’t Always Have To Use

What’s Written.
TAKE A LOOK AT:
“OH MY DARLING CLEMENTINE”

It’s Perfectly Alright To No Abide By The

Suggested Chords Of A Song.The Use Of
Alternative Chords Can Change The Mood
and Feeling And Give The Song Some Color.

Here’s what “Clementine” normally looks like.

Try It Like This.

Notice that I’ve put in “odd” chords (such
as minors and 7ths) and progressive parts at the
ends of the lines.
!" #$%&" '(" )*$#"!"#"

There is no set rule to this. You just play around with the song.
+(" #$%&" '(" '($," +(-" #-" )$!"!!"
It sounds terrible while you’re practicing, but when you find
what you want, it sounds great!
 6 MINOR TO 2 MAJOR

This can be used in

songs where you are
A transition from a minor chord going from the 6th
minor of a key to the
to a major. 2nd.

TAKE A LOOK AT:

“SWEET HOUR OF PRAYER”

HOW TO DO THE 6MINOR TO 2 SWITCH:

First, you need to look at the key signature of
the song. Then, look for the 6th. This is the
minor note of the scale. For the key of C, the $ #
minor is A. For G, it’s E. Now, look in the song ! "
for places where minor chords are used. If the
song has a minor chord that is the 6th of the
key and is going to the 2nd of the key, you can
use this.

Here’s what “Sweet Hour of Prayer” looks like

if you were to be looking in a hymnal.
Specifically look at the box at “a world of..”

Try It Like This.

Notice that you go from Am to D7.
Am is the 6th and D is the 2nd.

This takes some practice if you want to use it well. There’s no

trick to finding places where you can add this in. You just have
to rely on trial and error.
MODERN MUSIC NOTATION
Lots of us don’t really know all of the new symbols that
writers use in music these days. Over the last 100 years or so,
we’ve come up with lots of new symbols that are written in.
Lots of musicians just pay them no regard because they
don’t know what they actually do or mean.

Below is a few symbols that you may encounter:

This is called a “double flat”. A flat moves the note

a half step down. This moves it 2 half steps down.

This is called a “double sharp”. A sharp moves the

note a half step up. This moves it 2 half steps up.

This is called a “marcato”. This is just like an accent

(the < sign) just a little louder. This is a mega-accent.

This is called a “staccatissimo”. This is just like a staccato mark only

shorter. There is a larger pause after this note is played staccato

This is a long fermata. Just hold it a little longer than a normal one.

This is a short fermata. Like a fermata just not as much.

8va means “play one octave higher”. 8vb

means “play one octave lower”.
15va means “play two octaves higher”. 15vb
means “play two octaves lower”.
!e Classics

Section...

This
se
that w ction inclu
d
I’ve m e all listen es the old
ad ed t son
the w e some hel o growing gs
ay to p
get yo ful notes a up.
u goin long
right g on th
foot. e
The Original

!" #$%&" '(" )*$#"!"#"

+(" #$%&" '(" '($," +(-" #-" )$!"!!"

 I Suggest You
Play This in 3/4.
Iʼve put some alternate chords on the
first part of this song for you to try.

G
G
C
Am
D7
C/E
D/F#
Music # $ nearest at hand. !e mo& orderly, $

mo& delicate, and $ mo& perfect of all bo(ly

pleasures. It # $ only one which # equally hel)ul

to all a*s of man. -Ruskin

This is in 2/4. This means that per measure youʼll play
Octave Chord only. Whereas in 4/4 youʼd play Octave
Chord Octave Chord.
!e Go+el

Section...

This
se
you’d ction inclu
h d
I’ve p ear in ma es the son
urpos ny ch gs tha
that y e ly inclu u r ch t
d se r vic
ou ca
n’t fin ed old hym es.
d any n
more s
.
Be sure to take this one slow as you play it. A slow
tempo will allow you to get the timing right and it
ends up making the song more meaningful.
 D7

D7 Bm

D7

D7 Bm
Bb add2 Bb add2

Bb add2 Bb add2

“Sing unto Him a new song, play

skillfully wi, a l-d no#.”

Psalms 33:3
 This is the most difficult arrangement
in this book. It has some “off-the-wall”
chords that are very hard to do but
they sound amazing if youʼll just try it.
Ab ! Ab/C ! Eb7/Bb Eb7 Ab Fm Bb7 Bbm Eb7

Ab ! Db6/Ab ! Csus C7 Fm Bbm Eb7 EbMaj7 Gb7 Ab

Csus Fm Csus C7 Fm Eb/G Ab Eb/G Fm7

Bbm7 Eb Ab Cm7 Fm7 Bbm Edim Ab

I guarantee you donʼt know this
song. I was written by my
grandmotherʼs former pastor.
He just never published it.