Turning your chords into music (block chords vs. broken chords)
Right now your chords probably sound like this: thud… thud… thud… — correct notes, but flat and mechanical. That’s normal at this stage. The difference between “playing chords” and “playing a song” is almost entirely rhythm, not new notes. This lesson gives your hands 3 patterns, all built on the exact same G–C–D–Em shapes you already know.
Quick reminder of the feel: this song sits in a slow 6/8 groove. Instead of counting 1-2-3-4, count each bar in two big beats made of three small ones: “1-2-3, 2-2-3” (or just say “ONE-and-a, TWO-and-a”). It’s a gentle sway, not a march. Tap your foot on the two big beats before you play anything.
Pattern A — Block Chords, held (what you already know)
Left hand: root note on beat 1. Right hand: full chord, played once, held for the whole bar.
This is your “safe” pattern — use it anytime you get lost. It’s also genuinely how the quietest moments of a ballad are often played, so it’s not just a training tool, it’s a real option for verse 1.
Pattern B — Block Chords, pulsed
Same as Pattern A, but instead of holding the chord silently, you replay it gently on each of the two big beats.
Left hand: root note on big beat 1 and big beat 2 (so twice per bar). Right hand: full chord, replayed softly on big beat 1 and big beat 2.
Feel it as: bass-chord… bass-chord… — two soft pulses per bar instead of one long hold. This alone makes a huge difference; it’s the difference between a chord “sitting there” and a chord “breathing.”
Exercise: loop just G, 8 bars, Pattern B only. Then D, then Em, then C. Then run the full verse progression (G–C–Em–D) using Pattern B throughout.
Pattern C — Broken chords (arpeggio), the “worship ballad” sound
This is the pattern that makes piano parts on songs like this one sound open and flowing instead of blocky. Instead of playing all three notes of the chord at once, you play them one at a time, low to high, in a steady roll.
Right hand, using C major (C–E–G) as the example:
- Beat “1”: play C (thumb)
- Beat “2”: play E (middle finger)
- Beat “3”: play G (pinky)
- Beat “2” (second big beat): play E again (middle finger)
- repeat pattern for the bar
So the shape is: low – mid – high – mid, repeating in a steady stream through the whole bar. Left hand keeps playing the root note on the two big beats underneath, same as Pattern B.
This is genuinely hard to describe in words and much easier felt — go slowly, and don’t worry about matching a recording exactly. The goal is smooth, even motion, not a specific “correct” version.
Exercise: Practice the low-mid-high-mid roll on C alone, right hand only, very slowly, until your fingers move without you thinking about which note is next. Then try it on G, D, and Em. Only once each chord feels smooth on its own should you try switching between them mid-pattern — that’s genuinely advanced and can wait.
Putting patterns onto the song’s sections
You don’t have to use one pattern for the whole song — in fact, real arrangements almost always build in intensity. Here’s a simple, effective mapping using only what you’ve learned:
| Section | Pattern | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Verse | Pattern A or B | Keep it sparse, let the words breathe |
| Chorus | Pattern B | A bit more motion and energy |
| Bridge | Pattern B (or C if you’re feeling ready) | The emotional peak — most full and open |
This “build” — sparse verse, fuller chorus, biggest bridge — is one of the most common shapes in all of pop and worship music. Once you can move between Patterns A, B, and C on command, you can apply this exact same build to almost any song using these four chords.
Practice plan (add this on top of Lesson 1’s plan)
| Day | Focus |
|---|---|
| 1 | Pattern B on all four chords separately, no song yet |
| 2 | Pattern B through the verse progression (G–C–Em–D), hands together |
| 3 | Pattern C (broken chord roll), one chord at a time — just get the motion smooth |
| 4 | Pattern C through a single chord loop, then try C→G only |
| 5 | Apply the mapping: verse in Pattern A/B, chorus in Pattern B |
| 6 | Full run-through: verse (A/B) → chorus (B) → bridge (B or C) |
| 7 | Play the whole thing along with the recording, using your pattern build |
Same rule as before: slow and smooth beats fast and sloppy, every time. Once Pattern B feels automatic, that alone will make the song sound convincingly “real” — Pattern C is a bonus, not a requirement.
