When a songwriter sits down to write a piece of gospel music, they are trying to write a piece of music that expresses both personal and communal beliefs and values. Some gospel writers have gone on to write elaborate pieces of music that have become popular alternatives to mainstream music. More often then not gospel music is written to be sung by a choir or individual singer with only a gospel piano as an accompaniment. The place that a gospel piano is most commonly heard is in the middle of a Sunday church service.

Types of Gospel Music

There are several types of gospel music that you can write. You can choose to write Southern gospel, which is typically sung a cappella by a quartet of men. Maybe you want to write Bluegrass gospel that taps into the traditional sound of Appalachian music. Perhaps you are attracted to the sound of music that has a country sound. In that case you should write Christian country music. For people who like the sound of a little rock and roll mixed in with your Christian beliefs you might want to write urban contemporary gospel. If you are really ambitious you could always try to take several different types of gospel music and combine it into one piece.

The Piano Parts

The amount of gospel piano you use in the piece of gospel music you are going to compose is entirely up to you. One of the best ways to successfully add the gospel piano into you composition is to start by writing the melody. Once you have settled on a melody you will have to decide what chords you want to use to capture the sound of the melody. When selecting your chords try to imagine what they will sound like when the gospel piano piece is played with other instruments and vocals. Try to imagine what it will sound like when it is played in a different building with different acoustics.

Once you have decided what chords you want to use you need to spend some time playing with them. Try taking the middle note and dropping it down an octave, invert the chords until you have transferred the piece of gospel piano music you hear in your head to the sheet of paper.

Experiment with broken chords, additional notes, and right/left hand combinations until you have created a piece of gospel piano music you are happy with.