'Gospel guitar lives between the organ and the choir: short, voice-led grips that comp the changes without crowding the keys. The signature sounds are guide-tone shells for the moving 2–5–1 chains, 9th and add9 colour on the resting chords, sus tension in the modern praise vamp, and a single passing diminished that makes a plain hymn sound like church. Keep the fifth and often the root to the bass — your job is the 3rds, 7ths, and the colour note.',
comping:[
{
label:'Triplet shuffle (12/8 church feel)',
rhythm:'♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ (compound, lilting)',
description:'The default slow-gospel groove: a swung 12/8 with the chord landing on beat 1 and a soft stab on the last triplet partial of each beat. Let the long notes ring under the choir; chop the pickups.',
},
{
label:'Anticipated push into the change',
rhythm:'tied from the "and" before the bar',
description:'Strike the next chord an eighth (or final triplet) early and tie it over the barline — telegraphs the move to the band, the same anticipation gospel organists use to lead the turnaround.',
},
{
label:'Sustained pads (praise-vamp register)',
rhythm:'𝅗𝅥 𝅗𝅥 (held, no chop)',
description:'For the sus/add9 vamp: let each grip ring its full bar high on the neck, no percussive damping — a guitar "pad" under the worship leader. Move only the changing voices between chords.',
},
],
plays:{
'gospel-cycle-251':[
{
label:'Shell chain, guide-tone glue',
level:'intermediate',
chords:[
{shape:SHELL_5.min7,note:'iii7 — R–♭3–♭7'},
{shape:SHELL_6.dom7,note:'VI7 — the ♭3 of iii falls a half-step to the 3rd of VI7'},
{shape:SHELL_5.min7,note:'ii7 — back to the minor grip'},
{shape:SHELL_6.dom7,note:'V7 — ♭7 leads down to the maj-3rd of I'},
{shape:SHELL_6.maj7,note:'Imaj7 — home'},
],
tips:'Roots alternate 5th-string → 6th-string at nearly the same fret; the two guide tones move 0–1 fret per change. Follow the D and G strings — that thread is the whole cascade.',
{shape:MIN9_5,extensions:['9'],note:'ii9 — same grip slid down'},
{shape:DOM9_6,extensions:['9'],note:'V9 — the dominant shine'},
{shape:MAJ9_6,extensions:['9'],note:'Imaj9 — resolve with the 9 on top'},
],
tips:'Same harmony as the shells but each chord gains its 9th for the gospel "shimmer". The two dominant grips are identical shapes a 5th apart — learn one and transpose.',
},
],
'gospel-amen-625':[
{
label:'Shells through the turnaround + plain Amen',
level:'intermediate',
chords:[
{shape:SHELL_6.min7,note:'vi7'},
{shape:SHELL_5.min7,note:'ii7'},
{shape:SHELL_6.dom7,note:'V7'},
{shape:SHELL_5.maj7,note:'Imaj7'},
{shape:MAJ_6,note:'IV — plain triad: the plagal "Amen" wants no extensions'},
{shape:SHELL_6.maj7,note:'Imaj7 — final resolution'},
],
tips:'Comp the 6–2–5–1 with the small shells, then drop to bare IV–I triads for the Amen so the cadence lands clean and hymn-like. The contrast between busy turnaround and plain plagal tag is the whole effect.',
},
{
label:'9th turnaround, triad Amen high',
level:'intermediate',
chords:[
{shape:MIN9_5,extensions:['9'],note:'vi9'},
{shape:MIN9_5,extensions:['9'],note:'ii9 — same grip down the neck'},
{shape:DOM9_5,extensions:['9'],note:'V9'},
{shape:MAJ9_6,extensions:['9'],note:'Imaj9'},
{shape:MAJ_5,note:'IV — A-shape triad for the Amen'},
{shape:MAJ9_6,extensions:['9'],note:'Imaj9 — back home with colour'},
],
tips:'A richer reading: 9ths through the turnaround, then a clean triad IV for the plagal cadence before the maj9 resolves it. Keep the Amen quieter than the turnaround — dynamics sell the cadence.',
},
],
'gospel-iv-passing-dim':[
{
label:'Open-string add9 with the passing diminished',
{shape:ADD9_6,note:'Iadd9 — resolve up to I as the bass reaches 5/1'},
],
tips:'The whole move is one bass walk: 4 → #4 → home. Hold the upper voices steady and let the diminished slide through underneath — that single borrowed chord is the gospel signature.',
},
{
label:'Compact add9 voicing up the neck',
level:'intermediate',
chords:[
{shape:ADD9_5,note:'Iadd9 — R–3–(root)–9 on the A-string root'},
{shape:MAJ_6,note:'IV — E-shape triad'},
{shape:DIM7_5,note:'#iv°7 — same diminished grip, one shape'},
{shape:ADD9_5,note:'Iadd9 — back home'},
],
tips:'A higher, tighter version of the same idea for when the bass and keys own the low end. The °7 is symmetric — the identical grip works from any of its four notes, so you can place it nearest the chords around it.',
},
],
'gospel-sus-vamp':[
{
label:'Praise-vamp pads (sustained, high)',
level:'intermediate',
chords:[
{shape:MIN9_5,extensions:['9'],note:'vi9 — full ringing grip'},
{shape:ADD9_5,note:'IVadd9 — R–3–9 colour, no chop'},
{shape:SUS4_6,note:'Vsus4 — R–4–5; the 4th hangs, never resolving to the 3rd'},
{shape:ADD9_6,note:'Iadd9 — R–3–5–9 to land the loop'},
],
tips:'Let every chord ring its full bar like a synth pad — no percussive damping. The unresolved sus over V is what keeps the vamp lifting; loop it and the tension never closes.',
},
{
label:'Two-voice movement vamp (different register)',
level:'intermediate',
chords:[
{shape:SHELL_6.min7,note:'vi7 — leaner shell to contrast the pads'},
tips:'Same vamp, sparser: a shell vi instead of the wide min9, and the sus voiced low. Use this when a second guitar or keys is already holding the pad — you supply motion, not width.',
{shape:SHELL_5.dom7,note:'♭VII7 — the back-door dominant, a whole step below I'},
{shape:SHELL_6.maj7,note:'Imaj7 — resolves UP by step, not down a fifth'},
],
tips:'Listen for how ♭VII7 → I rises by a whole step into home rather than falling a fifth like V7 — a warmer, less expected cadence. The ♭7 of ♭VII7 is the ♭7 of the key: keep it under your fingers between the chords.',
},
{
label:'9th-coloured back door',
level:'intermediate',
chords:[
{shape:MIN9_5,extensions:['9'],note:'iii9'},
{shape:MIN9_5,extensions:['9'],note:'vi9 — same grip slid up a fourth'},
{shape:DOM9_6,extensions:['9'],note:'♭VII9 — back-door dominant with its 9'},
tips:'The two min9 chords are the identical shape a fourth apart — one of the easiest gospel moves to internalize. The maj9 resolution sounds especially plush after a back-door dominant.',
},
],
},
improv:{
scales:[
{over:'ii7 / iii7 / vi7',scale:'dorian',why:'Minor 7 chords in a major key take Dorian — the natural 6 keeps them bright, not mournful, which suits gospel.'},
{over:'V7',scale:'mixolydian',why:'The built-in ♭7 fits the dominant; over the praise-vamp Vsus4, stay on the 4th (suspension) and avoid the leading tone until you want to resolve.'},
{over:'VI7 / ♭VII7',scale:'mixolydian',why:'Borrowed dominants are still dominants — Mixolydian off their own root. Over ♭VII7 that scale is the key\'s major scale starting on ♭7, so it stays diatonic-sounding into the resolution.'},
{over:'Imaj7 / Iadd9',scale:'major',why:'The home major (or its pentatonic) sings over the tonic; the major 6th and 9th are the gospel sweet notes — lean on them.'},
{over:'#iv°7',scale:'dim',why:'A symmetric diminished (half-whole/whole-half) over the passing chord; it lasts a beat or two, so an arpeggio of its four notes usually says more than a run.'},
],
targetNotes:
'On the resting chords land the 6th or 9th, not just the root — those are the gospel colour tones. Through the 2–5–1 chains, target the 3rd of each new chord on the downbeat; the ♭7 of one dominant falls a half-step into the 3rd of the next chord, the same guide-tone rail as in jazz.',
licks:[
{
over:'gospel-amen-625',
description:'Classic plagal turn over the Amen: walk the bass/lowest voice down from the 1 of IV to the 5 then 1 of I (e.g. degrees 4-chord root → 3 → tonic), letting the major 3rd of I ring on the resolution. The whole point is the smooth descent into the cadence.',
source:'hearandplay.com — "Who Else Wants To Learn The Famous Amen Cadence?"; Wikipedia: Plagal cadence',
},
{
over:'gospel-iv-passing-dim',
description:'Over the IV → #iv°7 → I, run the diminished arpeggio (R–♭3–♭5–𝄫7, all minor-3rds apart) connecting the IV chord tones to the I chord tones — the symmetric shape lets you start it from whichever note sits nearest your IV grip and land on the 3rd of I.',
source:'hearandplay.com — "The [Extended] Resolution Of The #4-Diminished Seventh Chord"; pianogroove.com gospel passing chords',
character:'Church harmony in motion — cascading 2–5–1 chains, the plagal "Amen", chromatic passing diminisheds, and sus/9th colour everywhere, all pulling toward a big resolution.',
// Song references are kept honest: where a single definitive recording isn't
// certain, the move is described by its standard use in the tradition.
exportdefault[
{
id:'gospel-cycle-251',
name:'Cascading 2–5–1s (cycle of dominants)',
rn:['iii7','VI7','ii7','V7','Imaj7'],
degrees:[4,9,2,7,0],
qualities:['min7','dom7','min7','dom7','maj7'],
bars:[1,1,1,1,2],
mode:'major',
songs:['traditional gospel turnaround','His Eye Is on the Sparrow (reharmonized)'],
tip:'Every root falls a fifth and the off-diatonic VI7 pushes hard to ii — chain two ii–V cells back to back and the ear is dragged home. Voice-lead the 3rds and 7ths and your hand barely moves.',
tip:'The 6–2–5–1 is the gospel turnaround — the extended cousin of the 2–5–1 that returns you from chorus to verse. Tag it with the plagal IV–I "Amen" for the classic church ending.',
tip:'The #iv°7 is a chromatic passing chord linking IV back to I (bass walks 4 → #4 → 5/1). It is almost a signature of the gospel sound — one borrowed diminished and a plain hymn turns into church.',
tip:'Contemporary gospel leans on open sus and add9 colour instead of plain triads — the suspended 4th over V never fully resolves, keeping the vamp hovering and "lifting". Loop it; the tension is the point.',
tip:'iii→vi is a soft diatonic drop; the ♭VII7 is the "back door" — a borrowed dominant a whole step below I that resolves up by step instead of down a fifth. A warmer, less expected way home than V7.',
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