4 Right Hand Accompaniment Patterns for Worship Piano [Video Tutorials]
One of the most common questions I am asked as a worship piano teacher is, "What are some interesting accompaniment patterns I can use in worship/church music?" In this tutorial, you will learn several beginning- and intermediate-level patterns that you can use in the right hand.
Before you begin, download your free chord & reference charts to use as you play these patterns!
Pattern 1: Basic Chording
The most basic pattern (and the first one that you should learn) is Basic Chording. For this pattern, simply play a chord on every beat:
This video demonstrates the Basic Chording pattern in more detail, using the songs "Majesty" and "Way Maker":
This accompaniment pattern is the foundation of all other patterns and is used the most often, so be sure to master it before moving on to the other patterns.
Pattern 2: Skip Beat 3
The Skip Beat 3 pattern is a variation of the Basic Chording pattern. For the Basic Chording pattern, we play on every beat (beats 1, 2, 3, and 4). However, for the Skip Beat 3 pattern, we play on every beat except beat 3. So we play on beats 1, 2, and 4:
This video explains the Skip Beat 3 pattern in more detail:
Pattern 3: Decorative
The Decorative pattern is a variation of the two previous accompaniment patterns. For the Decorative pattern, we play a complete chord on beats 1 and 2, and then we skip beat 3. Then on beats 3&, 4, and 4&, we play the single notes of the chord starting at the bottom. (If you don't know how to read music, this explanation is probably quite confusing... so skip on down to the video and it will make more sense!)
This video shows the Decorative pattern:
Pattern 4: Rocking
For the Rocking pattern, we split each chord into two parts: the top two notes, and the bottom note. Top two notes, bottom note, top two notes, bottom note, etc.:
This video explains the Rocking pattern:
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