This Piano Riff Works For Any Song

So here’s what you do.

Take the bass note of the chord and play it in the left hand. I default to octaves, and play the upper octave note only if I need an extra pulse to keep things rolling. This helps prevent the bass tones from building up and becoming over-bearing.

Next, I take the right hand 3 note chord and play it in this order: thumb note (bottom note of the chord), pinky note (top note of the chord) and then middle not (ring or middle finger, depending.)

Keep a steady beat: 1-2-3-4, and boom: you are rolling along with a nice arpegiated pattern that will help keep the song moving nicely along.

As a bonus: for a more commercial sound, or “contemporary” sound, just keep your right handing playing the tonic chord (so, C if we are in C major) while your left hand changes it’s bass notes. This sound is the primary “mood” differentiator between “traditional’ and “contemporary” music.

As another bonus: your voice actually is a massive determiner of the “Feel” of the music you are playing. I used a soft, breathy sound to sing the hymn, which makes it feel soft and modern. But I could have used my big opera voice to give it that classic, Southern Baptist power.