5 Chord Progressions Every Worship Keys Player Should Know with Alex Smith

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In this episode, Carson Bruce sits down with special guest Alex Smith from Georgia to break down five must-know chord progressions every worship keys player should have in their toolkit. Recorded live at Foothills Church in Knoxville, Tennessee, this session is packed with practical tips for beginner and intermediate musicians from embellishments and inversions to building confidence behind the keys. Alex also shares her personal journey, demonstrates on a Juno DS keyboard, and unpacks how to stay creative while staying rooted in purpose. Don’t miss the part where they talk about the deeper why behind worship music—and how your playing shapes the atmosphere.

Alex Smith

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Transcript

Speaker: 0:08

Welcome to the Worship Keys YouTube channel. My name is Carson Bruce, so glad you're here. We talk all things music theory, gear, industry and ministry for your worship keys playing. If this episode is beneficial for you or you have any questions as you continue to watch, feel free to comment below and I'd love to hear any feedback that you have along the way. So let's get into today's episode. I'm with Alex Smith. Alex, all the way from Georgia. That's right. And we're in Knoxville, Tennessee right now recording this at Foothills Church. But Alex, welcome to the podcast. Thank you. I'm happy to be here. We are thrilled to welcome you to the Worship Keys fam. You've been able to add a lot of value recently to the Worship Keys community online, which is awesome. And so we have a lot of great content to cover today, guys, so stick around. It's gonna be great. The main thing we're talking about with you today, Alex, is the five go-to progressions for worship keys players. That's right. So with this, it can be very nuanced. There are literally dozens, probably hundreds of combinations of progressions that you can play out there. And we're not talking about jazz today. We're not talking about gospel stuff. All the extensions that come with the nine 11 thirteens, we're talking about some basic stuff today. So if you are a beginner or maybe intermediate and you're like, Hey, I wanna play keys for my church I want to know and build up some of these progressions that are common progressions. For the church world, this episode is for you. If you wanna learn more about Alex, maybe you've seen her on social media and you wanna know a little bit about her life too. Even some more personal questions here at the beginning, this episode's for you. But Alex, on the Keys. Keys is with a Z. With a Z is your Instagram handle. Yes. And maybe you're inspiring me. I wonder if we should change the worship keys to be like worship keys with a Z. You totally should. It's very edgy. It is very edgy. But tell us a little bit about what you're doing on Instagram. You have some subscribers there that are really learning from you. Tell us a little bit about your platform and what you're aiming to do with that. Yeah, so when I started this thing, I honestly. I didn't think it would be what it is now, for sure. But I knew that I wanted to help people. I used to teach piano when I was younger. Okay. And just really didn't have the time, especially like with college and jobs and all that good stuff. I love worship, obviously, and I wanted to start capturing that, but I realized it was a really good opportunity to start teaching some people some things. And so that's just what I did. I told 'em what I did and they ate it up and loved it. But I just remember when I was learning worship when I was younger, I started at about. Maybe 10 or 11, maybe a little younger, I'm not sure. But something like this would've been so helpful for me. And at that point, social media just wasn't what it is today. And so in thinking about that, I was like, if there's a little me, like a little Alex out there that's man, I really wish I could, figure this stuff out. I wanted to be that person. I wanted to help him. So that's awesome. That's just, that's the journey. That is great. You live in Georgia now. Your dad is the pastor? Yep. And your mom's in a connections pastor too. Yep. So y'all are basically running the church over there? Yes. Yes. But, and you're doing the music on stage? Yes. Helping direct it, arranging it, playing. That kind of thing. Tell us a little bit. For one, you went to koa. Falls. Yes. College. Yes. College. Yep. My parents actually went tocoa. Great area, beautiful area. Yeah, it is. What'd you study there? Communications actually. Okay. Yeah. Okay. You would think music major, but I just, I love to talk, so I just decided to now you major and talking your degree today. Yeah. Communicating right here. That's true. Yeah. Yeah, man, that's awesome. That's great. Yeah I have a communications major cool degree as well, so I understand it. Hey, communications. Here we go. Unite. Unite. But yeah, no we're super excited to have you on Alex. Just to sh to share some more tips for keys players. So at your church in Georgia, what's the name of your church? The Pointe Church. With an e point P-O-I-N-T-E. We have to be special just like Alex on the Keys E. Yeah yeah. The Z, yeah. Yeah. Very nice. And tell us about your role there. So I actually the beginning of this May here I've been serving on the worship team for, it's probably, it is been around 10 years. And I was in the youth worship band before that. So I've been at that church for a very long time. But just like this may became part-time music staff and there's four of us now, but we have our worship pastor and then another full-time guy that's like half in the music, half in the youth band, music, all of that to say I'm part-time. But my main job is with choir. So plunking out all the harmony parts. Yeah, I'm over that week's worship set, so I do that. Pick the keys, arrange stuff. It's a random job, just whatever's needed. But yeah. That's the biggest thing is just making sure all those harmony parts are locked in and. That's great. And you're a vocalist, obviously. Yeah. I don't sing a lot, but yes, I am vocalist, but mainly keys, drums, bass. Now, whatever is needed, tambourine, yeah, you kill it on the drums. Thanks. I appreciate it. Yeah, there's a good bit of clips of her playing drums on her social media. You guys can check that out too. But you're on the keys, you're on the drums. You play guitar, so you're well versed in. All things music. You understand the overall whole picture of things. Yes. Which is important to do. It is, and I think many key's players were almost kinda like a producer mindset and we kinda have to be we're arranging, trying to fit in where we need to fit in. I love your reel about being a white girl and playing Eddie James music, do you enjoy playing gospel stuff as well? I do. I like to pretend like I can play gospel and I really, I dunno that I can very much, I feel like I have the feel for it, but just not the theoretical knowledge yet. But I do, I love some gospel. That's awesome. And so when it's my weeks, especially with choir, I like to throw something in there. So that's fun. Yeah, it's fun. That's fun. I see you on the, now, do you play a Nord? I feel like I have the feel for it, but just not the theoretical knowledge yet. But I do. I love some gospel. That's awesome. And so when it's my weeks, especially with choir, I like to throw something in there. So that's fun. Yeah, it's fun. That's fun. I see you on the Now, do you play a Nord? I do, yes. We love the Nord here. It's great. We don't have a Nord in front of us today. We do have a Juno DS from Roland, which is a pretty good standard keyboard, especially if you're using it as a mini controller where you can use it with software and good sounds. I don't wanna say the sounds in here are bad, but they're probably, they're, they're nowhere close to what the Nord can offer. Yeah. Where the Nord is, the Lord is. That's right. That's right. That's right. So we have a keyboard here so that Alex can actually demonstrate some of these go-to progressions, but we're gonna go over some of these five go-to progressions that as a beginner keys player. You should probably know these progressions and maybe you already do know some of these, but we can't. Oversimplify this enough, I guess at the beginning. 'cause you do have to get the basics before you can go off and do all the other things. Mm-hmm. All the other fun things. And sometimes we do get a little complex here, so we're just backtracking a little bit today. Going back to the basics of this, five go-to progressions. So I'm gonna go ahead and intro is here Alex. Let's do it and then we'll let her take this away here in just a second and so y'all can stop hearing me talk. But five, go-to progressions. So the first 1, 5, 6, 4, 1. So again, when we say these numbers, national number system, every scale, seven notes, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7. Then you're back at. One, , when you're playing the diatonic scale, right? Mm-hmm. Uh, we all learned that probably on the keys playing the C scale, right? Mm-hmm. That's the national number system. You can make up major minor chords with that major, minor, minor, major, major minor diminished. So those numbers correlate with those chords, right? And then you can have extensions with that, the dominant seven. Mm-hmm. Major sevens. Mm-hmm. The twos, the fours, the suspensions, then getting, it's endless. Endless. Yeah. Nine 11 thirteens. But anyway, that's what we're referring to when we say the numbers. So when we do say a 5, 6, 4, 1, we're referring to then another go-to progression is 4 1 5, 6. Another one is like a standard walk down progression, 1 6 5 4 or the 1 6 4 5. Right. Um, we'll talk about that. There's different ways to get to the one, to the six. You can use the five. Over the seven. Mm-hmm. That kind of thing. We'll talk, she'll talk about this here in a minute. Another common one, the fourth one is like a four to the five to the six or in reverse six. Five. One over three to the four, and then another, walk up. Maybe go start on the 2, 2, 1, over three to the four. Yeah. And she's gonna walk us through all of these five common go-to progressions for worship keys, players in modern worship. I have to say all that. It's very, yeah, it's a big descriptor, but because obviously it's debatable what the most common ones are, but the most common, obviously, if you're just kind of starting something is a one. To the four. Mm-hmm. Just a one to the four. One to the four. One to the four. You could even just play open fits in the right hand. Just move a little bit of the base. That one to the four. One to the four, and with with some pads there. Mm-hmm. But beyond that, these are your other most basic, but great five go-to progressions. Honestly, if you know these five, you can pretty much, pretty much play any worship song. Yeah. Out there. Mm-hmm. Would you agree? I would agree. Yeah. Awesome. Awesome. I'm going to just let you take it away, Alex, and teach us your ways. Okay guys, your first go-to progression is gonna be a five, six, a four, one, and we are in the key of C to make it easy for everybody. So I'm gonna play these in the root position first. Starting with that G, that's your five. Now if you still play like that, you really need to keep listening because I have not played like that in probably like 10 years. But we're gonna get you better. Okay? So actually, if that song sounded familiar, this is Your Promises are Yes and Amen. That little part in that song, I'll sing it for you. All your promises are. Sounds super familiar. And guys, all of these chord progressions that we're gonna talk about are actually just pretty much little parts of the song. Any CCM song that is. But what I wanna do for you now, we're gonna talk a little bit, just, just a very tiny bit about inversions as well, which you do need to know, and I've talked to this, or I've talked about this to my subscribers before, we played in that root position, but I'm gonna show you a little bit of how I play it so that technically that's a second inversion in all of these that I'm playing. Aside from that F are inversions super important. And when you're playing behind a pastor, what you don't wanna do is have to jump all over the keys to find the chord. Because if you're anything like me, I like to listen to what he's saying. That's also super important 'cause you wanna follow him and figure out kind of where he's going with things. But anyways, that first chord progression, that 5, 6, 4, 1. Now there's little things I like to do called embellishments, like little rolls. It adds just some flavor, you know, behind the pastor, depending on what he's doing, depending on what he's saying. You're not gonna wanna play in like a super straight tempo, but you're gonna wanna follow some kind of progression that's gonna help you out. But those embellishments kind of give you a little room. It makes it super pretty and it makes you sound like you've been playing piano for 825 years. Not that far. There's also times, um, I play in intervals like thirds, fourth fifths, and just for those who aren't familiar, a third is pretty self-explanatory. It's just three notes away from each other, so this will be a third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh. Those are all throughout chords. Um, but there's times like you can literally play two nodes and it gets the point across. It gets the job done, but it's still super beautiful. And that's also another thing that I've talked, um, about to my subscribers. So guys, that was your 5, 6, 4 1. And when you learned it in the key of seat, make sure you're learning it in every single key. Do not use that transpose button, okay? Don't use the transpose button. That's it. Let's move on. Alright, we're moving on up guys, to the Q of D. This is your second go-to progression, and it's a 4 1 5 6. Now this is probably like my second or third favorite. Still really good. And if you want a song to kind of couple with this to make it make a little sense in your head. Yes, I will. I believe it's vertical worship. That's kind of the the general song we're playing here. We've learned root chords. I'm just gonna be done with those by the way, but you'll still kind of get the idea. That's your one. That's that D. We're going up to the five with the A. And that's six minor, which is a b. Now something that I love to do, especially if you're playing behind a pastor, we talked a little bit about kind of expanding the tempo. I don't really follow much of a tempo, but I do follow that progression. But what I like to do sometimes, especially if it's an ultra song, there's a lot of times. Actually, every time I get up and play, I play in the key of whatever the alter song is. But there's times I'll play the actual alter song. Just a bit of an expanded tempo, kind of make your own tempo as you go. But I love to play the melody as an embellishment. It kind of gets you on a good track of what I mean when I say how to embellish a song. So let's take the melody of, yes, I will. I'm gonna play it this time and not sing it so I don't hurt your eardrums. This is a good way to think about it as well. If you think about a vocal ad-libbing, it's the same as a piano player playing a feel, like something like that. I, I mean, I can't do all those vocally, but if you think about all those fun things that they do, that's basically what embellishing is on the keys. And so when I play, I think about, would this sound good if someone sang it? And so when you start getting used to singing, it's like singing with your fingers when you start getting used to that. Embellishing feeling what? Being creative on the keys begins to make a little more sense. You know, it's not just random notes that you're playing, although it can be described like that, um, but they all kind of have a rhyme and a reason. But it's your rhyme and your reason. The most important thing too, following a progression is great, but what you don't wanna do is get stuck in a tempo, get stuck playing the same chords the whole time. Although the focus is on the pastor. You really want to make sure that you're playing tastefully, playing creatively in a way that's not taking away from what the pastor's saying, but also in a way that is supportive of what he's saying and the way that you voice chords, the way that you're playing. It's just super important. But that is your 4 1 5, 6. It builds a lot of momentum. It's really great. Just don't be afraid to embellish a little bit. Do a little fun stuff. I love this, Alex, I gotta, I gotta butt in. I'm off camera here, but, so you did this little extra thing right before you went back to the four. Can you tell everyone what you just, what you did? You, you didn't even know you did it. 'cause it's a habit. There's these little pickup cords, right? These little subtle. Oh, I probably did do it, didn't I? One over three is what I mean. Yeah. Yeah. Tell us a little bit about that. So, I do these a lot, even like, you know, walkups, which we're not talking about gospel today 'cause I, I'm not qualified for that. But that one over three is a, just a nice. Little transition chord that gets you to the four chord, but to me it, the way it's voiced kind of gives a different feeling Instead of that one chord, that one chord is a resolve. It feels really nice. I normally play those when he is like landing a point, and so it just, it's very settling. But that one over three has a little bit of a, a hopeful feel. And so all these chords that I'm playing, they kind of give off different. Vibes they all give off vibes, especially when they're coupled with each other. But that one over three it's hopeful, but it also kind of begs for a resolve as well. Maybe not a one resolve, but four can also be a resolve. But in the same breath too, it doesn't feel entirely resolved. It is a little bit settling, it's a little bit, you're anticipating for more. And so all these chords, these little transition chords, whatever it is, even the five over seven, very hopeful, victorious feeling, it begs you for the one and that settles it So. And another thing to add there, you could instead of, so the 4 1 5 6, to get back from the six to the four, you could do that one over three, or you could just do the five to get down back to the four. So like mm-hmm. Yeah. Yeah. You just walk it back down to get back down to, so just those little subtle things. Wanted to make sure everyone. Knew that, but that was, that was awesome, Alex. Okay, we're moving on up, but this is just a baby step this time. This is like a little bitty step stool. It's not just a stair. We're going up to E flat. This is your third go-to progression. This is arguably one of my favorites because. Well, it's one of the easiest that you can do. This is just a straight up walk down of chords. You start at the one you hit the 6, 5 4. Now, sometimes I'll interchange that four and five, but it still kind of has that same vibe, that same feeling. So let's get into it. We're an E flat, believe I said that already. Now there's lots of songs. Now you think of these first progressions that we've hit in the beginning, the. 1, 5, 6, 4, 1 4, 6 5. I mean, what they, they're going back and forth and those are normally like your very declarative, you're very powerful. These are your openers. This is our God. Yeah, and you know, you're really into it. Now this walk down progression, you'll find a lot in these slower songs. A lot of the times they're pretty simple songs. Something like He Loves Us or How he Loves Six Minor Here, he Such Simple words, but still so, so powerful. And that walk down. It's simple, but gosh, it's just so good. You think about that. , I even think about, what's that other I trust in God? That's one of the newest ones. That's a huge hit. I trust in God again on that one. My save. Now let me insert something before I start singing this. You're probably like, at that point you're thinking she needs to hit that five over seven. There's gotta be like a little mini walk down right there. But with how he loves, you can get away with just going straight from the one to the six, to the five to the four. And there's not really a transition cord in there. I'm gonna tell you why I think that is. So, if you listen to that melody I trust in God and listen to the timing of it, my sha right here, sha, your, that melody is hitting where that transition cord would be. And I feel like there's a lot of songs, you know, sometimes you can play 'em straight. Sometimes the vocal melody is just very simple. It's hitting on the top of those beats. But this one just, I don't know, some songs just feel like you gotta hit that five ever seven, and that's one of them. Let's keep moving on. Who will nap again with the walk down, never fail. Now in the verses it just stays on that four, but I'm gonna tell you something. We're gonna, we're gonna talk about um, some walkups that start with the two minor and trust in God. It goes down to that two minor and it's such a beautiful feel with the walk down. That's your one over three. He will never fail. And it goes back to that four. So pretty, and you know, there's not a ton of songs that do that, but the way that they voiced this song just, just stunning. But I love, I love those walk downs. Now we were talking about how you can kind of interchange the four and five, and I'm going to sing you. A song that you probably heard if you're my age, you heard it when you were five years old. But it is still being sung in churches all around five bucks, if you can guess it. Before, you know what? I'm gonna play the progression. We gonna give you a little test. I bet some of you just guessed it right there. How great is our God? It's a classic. But you know, they take that, that five and four and they switch it up. So starting on that one, how great they walk it down toing with me. How great. I'm gonna stop right there just for two seconds. , I played something there that I very often play with pretty much any chord, but there's a way that I voice my minors to where it kind of incorporates a sixth and it's technically the five chord in the key. So, you know, when you're playing that minor, my favorite way to play it is this 2, 3, 5 right here. And. There's times where I'll go between sixth intervals right here. It kind of adds a little tension. Anyways, let's keep moving on. Sing us the five and then back up to that five to finish it off. How great is, and that was a sus right there. I love to do that. It creates. A little bit more tension when you're going into. Whether it's you're going into the bridge right there, name above all names, or maybe you're going back into a verse that sus kind of gives it a little movement, gives it a little feeling instead of just hanging on that one. There's little things like that, little tricks that you can do, , to kind of flavor up your playing. But, we were talking about trusting God. It goes down to that two minor. And that's gonna bridge us into my number one top fave thing to play behind the pastor, which is walkups. Now the reality of these is that no matter what you play on the keys, it evokes an emotion. It just depends on whatever emotion that you are. Maybe not trying to evoke, but you're kind of matching with the pastor and the message that he's presenting. If it's a very serious point and you're just on a one chord and you're rocking back and forth to me, that doesn't match. But you know, if he's talking about how Grace can pick you up. Whenever you're down, grace saves us from the pit. It picks us up. It finds us when we're lost. Something like that. That too minor to me. Evokes. I was lost and I was bound. I was blind. But you walk this up. But now I see deaf ears here. It, it really just depends on whatever, whatever point that your pastor's making, but what you wanna do, and honestly, what I think and what I would consider being a good steward of your talent is, not just playing to play, but making sure that what you're, what you're, I mean, I've said it matches the pastor, but that you're also conveying the message that the Lord has put on the pastor's heart. It becomes your heart too. And so, you know, there's a lot of times where for years I was thinking, you know, keys are just not that important. We get buried in the mix, whatever. But it's a lot more important than I think we may even realize. I mean, we, we have, there's power. There's power in what we play. Anyways, so let's talk about these walkups. Okay. So anytime you start on a minor, to me it, it, it's kind of a, it's a dissonant feeling. Kind of, uh, unsettling. Maybe not entirely unsettling, but just, icky is really the only word I can think. It begs resolve. Okay. And you can resolve on a one. But what I love to do is I love to resolve or walk up one over three and resolve on that four. Little tip, little tidbit. When I'm on that four, after I've done a walkup, I like to hit these three nodes. And that's another, that's a walk down, which is technically 1 7 6. And you can throw in a five in there if you want to. But to me, I just love the way it sounds. It kind of, it finishes it off. Not entirely. 'cause that one is, that one's gonna seal it. But it kind of, it's rest right there. Now, another walk down that I love to, or a walk up that I love to play, you're already on that four. If you wanna keep going, you go up to that five and then hit that six. And that's normally when he's driving home a very serious point, but it hasn't, that point hasn't closed just yet. And there's a lot of times, guys, I told you to kind of expand the tempo and, just play how you feel, but with these walkups and walk downs and whatever I, there are times I'll let a chord sit for like a solid 30 seconds and I just let that pad carry, especially if it's a super serious point and he just wants to let it rest. I mean, he's gonna talk more than, I mean, he's not gonna let 30 seconds go by without saying something, the pastor, but with us. If he's really driving home a point and every single word he's saying needs to be heard, that pad carrying over what you've played it. Th there's a lot to be said for the space that you're creating with what he's saying. Anyways, so that 4, 5, 6 walk up, I love it. And guys, I, I actually shared this with my subscribers. , this is just a little juicy cord voicing I wanted to show you. Super easy. It goes with a lot of chords, and, , if you're in the Kia V, it's a 7 1 5. I've already said it. But I'm gonna play it with you with a four, five, and six and show you kind of how it sounds, efl, right? E flat, right? Yeah. EFL does say E. Yeah, you say E was making sure. Making sure E flat. Kind of give it a little movement. You can play each a little differently. Anyways, that was just a little tip. Now there's times where maybe you wanna do some walk downs. Those are really nice too. I like to start on minors with those serious points. I mean, we all know alter's, just kind of where everything's coming to a head and you wanna walk it down. This is when he's driven home, the point you found the pinnacle of what he's saying. Sometimes I add like a little embellishment, a little higher, kind of adds a little, a little pizazz, a little fun. There's walkups too, like, um, like a 1, 2, 3. You know, you start on that e-flat walkup to two minor. That gives it a bit of a hopeful feeling and also gives you one more cord to resolve how it feels. , but guys, honestly, I mean. You don't have to play it exactly like this. You don't have to play a 1, 2, 3 to sound like you're the best thing on earth. A walkup is any chord in the key. You start where you feel like you need to start. And that's part of creative playing too. You know, if you play like me the whole time, you're not being used to, to your highest potential because you know, and this sounds crazy and I know it's gonna sound crazy, but maybe the Lord wants you to start on the five. I know it sounds cra. I hear myself and I know it sounds crazy, but I'm telling you there's some points that just need, that There's power. There's just power in how you play and don't sell yourself short. I remember there was one time. We had, we were having our prayer time in church. It was just about two or three minutes, and we were just gonna go back into the chorus of the song we sang, and I, the Lord put on my heart the old rugged cross cherish the, and. Normally I'm supposed to stay on the song, the last song that we sing, but I felt so strongly that I needed to play that, and I was like, this is the silliest thing in the world. I, I, I don't feel like I have to play something. The Holy Spirit didn't tell me to play something, and I heard later that there was someone that was visiting the church for the first time. And her and her husband had a discussion. She loved contemporary, but he was like from that old Baptist denomination, he was like, I just wanna go somewhere that can appreciate a good hymn. And we didn't sing any hymns in the worship set, but he heard Old Rugged Cross, and he said, that's what sold me. And that's what the wife said as well. I love how they incorporated just an old classic hymn and she said, I felt the atmosphere shift and for us, we both looked at each other after that moment and said, we're home. And I wish I was making this up. 'cause it, it's crazy that something that small can, can be the deciding factor for a couple to get involved into a church. And they hadn't been in church in a very, very long time. So don't sell yourself short. If you hear the Lord telling you to do something, you do it. And that's the crux of piano playing anyways. It's not us playing, it's the Lord playing through us. So you know what? If you feel like you need to start on a six minor, you start on a six minor. I believe the Lord gives us these inclinations in our heart of where. He wants us to begin what message he wants to convey through our playing. And our playing is just as powerful as the words that the pastor's speaking. And when those come together, I. And they couple together guys, life change happens and it's not because of you and it's not because of the pastor, but it's because two people who are vessels of the Lord are choosing to listen to his promptings. And it's huge. It's such a huge deal and it's good and it's really good. So those are your walkups. Amen. Not, not to get super serious. Take us to church. I'm getting saved all over. That's good. Oh gosh. I mean, not to get super serious guys, but it is super serious. It is super serious. But those are some walkups walk downs. Again, it's up to your interpretation. You play how you feel like you need to play, but that gives you kind of a general basis of, so just some things that you need to know, some ways that you can play a good starting point for you to take your journey on finding how you play, finding your style, finding your creative playing. And because I love you so much and because you've stuck around for this long, I'm gonna show you some very juicy cools that you can play on a Sunday. Okay? So I'm just gonna show you how I voice some of these chords. We're gonna start with a one. I love a seven and I love adding a two in there too, and I love walking down to those sixth. For that six minor, I've already showed you this, but I also love playing it with just a regular five. That's a 2, 3, 5, sometimes. No, not that. That's very jazzy. We don't do that. Very jazzy, very jazzy. We don't do that. I voice it like that as well, which is kind of the same structure except you're just adding a two in there. For the five, same thing that DE flat. B flat. It's just good. Sometimes I'll add a two in there just for funsies. Um, but what I do love to play is I like to play at AD six. It's a very, it's very somber. It's a very somber chord, and that kind of bridges over to that next chord. I'm gonna show you that I play for the four chord in the key of E flat or honestly any key, but it's a seven, so that six that G in there transitions. You watch how my fingers move right here. It bridges very well in that two minor, kind of the same concept as this right here. You just move it. That's a 2, 3, 5 if you're considering the F minor right there. Sometimes I add a C for Walkups. Either walk up, I kind of structure it like it's a E-flat major, but you just add that D in there, which is a seven, and that kind of sets you up for that right there. Um, for a five over seven cord, kind of the same concept here. It's a FB flat d, E flat. Which I'm trying to think is structured like that. So it's technically like playing a five, a five chord ad, four like a sus, and it sets you up really nicely for that one. Okay. If you wanna know anymore, go check my channel out for now. All of that was free for you because I love you. I hope y'all enjoyed this episode with Alex Smith. Alex on the keys on Instagram, keys with the Z. What is he? It's so cool and edgy. I love it. Um, thank you for sharing with us, Alex. Yeah, it was a pleasure. Absolute pleasure. Do you have any other last words of advice to worship Keith players, maybe your younger self. Any person playing in church right now getting going? What would be the one thing you would say to them? I actually do. Um, the Lord was, uh, kind of dealing with my heart last week. This is a little random, but um, I think it's easy as musicians to kind of beat ourself up for not being as good as, you know, anyone you see on Instagram being as good as even like your primary keys person. And I was beating myself up the other day. I was playing drums. Our primary drummers out right now. And I was just thinking, man, I absolutely hate that. I'm not as good as that guy. I hate that I'm not as good as all these people on Instagram and just, I mean, tear myself to shreds. And the Lord spoke to me and he said, the only better that I want you to be is not better than them, but better than who you were yesterday. It rocked me to my court and