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I recently started the Duane Shinn Praise and Gospel Course. It’s four DVD’s (~2 hours long each) that cover 14 different hymns. The goal of this course is to provide arrangement techniques that can be applied to any song. Duane uses the 14 hymns to demonstrate the different techniques.

According to Duane’s website the only prerequisite for this course is the ability to read hymnal music. However, this course would have been too advanced for me if I did not complete Duane’s 52 Week Crash Course first. I have no doubt about it. I would not suggest this course as a beginner course.

This first song covered is Amazing Grace. Here is a list of the techniques covered in this first song/lesson.

Chording
syncopation
Walkup and downs
Walkup with parallel tenths
2/1 breakups
Grace notes
Triplets
Harmonizing in parallel sixths
Blues riffs
Plagal cadence
Chord Substitutions

In the second verse of the arrangement I threw in a chord run and a tremolo. Neither of those were covered in this lesson but were covered in the 52 Week Crash Course. I also utilized swing notes in the arrangement that were a carryover from the Crash Course and not covered in this lesson. I’ll play the song as written in the hymnal and then arranged. The piano sound is VSL Steinway D for the hymnal version and new VSL Bösendorfer Imperial for the arrangement.



God bless,
David

David -

I was so pleasantly surprised when this video came up in my YT feed - and then I saw the date and knew you'd have posted it here . . . and answered my immediate question re whether you could have done this without the Crash Course.

Anyway, this is some beautiful playing - and I loved the tremolo!

Thanks.

The next song covered is beautiful. Totally different style compared to Amazing Grace. I'm so happy playing the hymns now. Practice is a blessing everyday. The 52 Week Crash Course was work (most of the time) while this Praise and Gospel course is fun!

God bless,
David

David,

You indicate Duane’s website states the prerequisite is sight reading, but isn’t a knowledge of chords required? And basic arranging techniques learned in the crash course?

It's been a few years since I looked at his website, but I only recall him mentioning the need for hymnal competency. I would assume that he felt someone who could read and play what's in the hymnal could be taught the other stuff. However, I do know it would have been too difficult for me if I did not take his 52 Week Crash Course first.

God Bless,
David

Great playing David. I enjoyed watching you play very much.

I do not believe David indicated that the website states the prerequiste is "sight reading".

He said ....
"Read" hymnal music does not mean you have to be able to "sight read" it.

Yeah, I don't recall Duane mentioning "sight reading." He just mentioned being able to read music and play what's written in the hymnal.

However, he changes his tune (so to speak) in the first video of the Praise and Gospel course. In the first video he mentions the necessity of at least being able to read the melody line.

Either way, I would not recommend this course to someone starting from scratch like I did with the 52 Week Course. I would have been overwhelmed early on and probably not continued with the material. I'm sure there are more competent beginners than me and they might be able to successfully grapple with this material. I'm not a teacher, but I wouldn't start a beginner on this first.

One benefit of the 52 Week Course is that it builds slowly and incrementally, giving the student plenty of opportunity to practice each technique. On the other hand, the Praise and Gospel course jumps right into it and moves quickly.

God bless,
David

Really nice playing Dave. Keep up the good work

Thank you.

God Bless,
David

Here is another song covered in Duane’s Praise and Gospel Course. The focus of this lesson was on chord substitutions, counter melody, open/closed voiced arpeggios, and hand-over arpeggios. The emphasis was mostly on chord substitutions. He gave us four rules to use when considering chord substitutions.

What I appreciate about the emphasis on chord substitutions is that it gives the arranger the option to play the song with more variety. Duane didn’t cover them much in the 52 Week Crash course. Therefore, I would have to repeat the same verse over again if I wanted to play it more than once. With chord substitutions, I could play more than one verse of the song different each time.

This song is a beautiful hymn (Cleanse Me) that I’ll play as written in the hymnal and then arranged. I’ll play two verses of the song arranged with different chord substitutions for variety. The piano sound is the VSL Bösendorfer Imperial.



God Bless,
David

Just yesterday I thought to myself: Haven't heard from David B in a long time... Now I know why that is: You've been learning and practicing hard! :-) Congratulations - and thanks for the wonderful update!

Great job, David B! It sounds like you've continued learning after the 52-week course ended since you've done something different here from where that one ended. Keep posting your progress!

Great job, David!

I really appreciate having these materials to work with.


The Praise and Gospel Course really complements the 52 Week Crash Course nicely. It expands upon the foundation laid in the Crash Course, e.g., chord substitutions were mentioned briefly in the 52 Week course while they are the main focus in this lesson in the Praise and Gospel Course.


Thanks. I wish I could play it with the beauty that Duane does (but then I wouldn't need a teacher).

God Bless,
David

You will get there Dave in a few more years. As you have come to know, piano learning for most of us is a long process


Peace

I know I'll get somewhere, but it might never be "there."

Yep, things I should have learned when I was a kid I must struggle with now. I wish it could be more about the music and not so much about the basics, i.e., reading, technique, theory, etc.

God Bless,
David

Here is another song form the Duane Shinn Praise and Gospel Course. It's a fun song, O How I Love Jesus. Duane covered a lot of theory in this lesson regarding:

chord substitutions (Circle of fifths)
reharmonizing the melody
walk-ups and walk-downs
inside plagal cadence
parallel sixths and tenths
swing notes
contrary motion
triplets
New Chord voicings (even with dissonance)

This song was a bit more challenging because I had to learn a new key (Ab), so chord voicing, runs, etc., were all new patterns for me. I'll play it as written and then arranged. The piano sound is VI Labs Modern U, which works really well for this song.



God Bless,
David

Wow, David B – just: wow!

I will second the ‘wow’. And then a question if you don’t mind: do you ever play the piano at your church services? If not, you should consider it; your congregation would live to hear you play 😊