Usually I’ll add lots of synth and loops to a modern arrangement like this but it felt more raw and intimate without the added bells and whistles. Jesus Paid It All is one of those arrangements where if you leave any instrument out it simply won’t sound complete, so be sure to find a good solo cellist and lead electric guitarist.
Music Theory Geek Stuff: A typical modern worship song will cycle through a unique chord pattern and I use that technique on Jesus Paid It All. In this case the pattern is Ab – Ab/Db – Fm7 – Eb. Almost the entire song is built on this sequence.
Over this chord pattern, after the third verse (3:14), I do this walking-up-keyboard-thing on the chorus which I find, oddly enough, works on all kinds of arrangements and popular praise songs. Don’t ask me how or why LOL! This brings us out of the prayerful third verse and launches us into the climax of the arrangement.
Instead of composing a new chorus that’s tacked on to the end of a hymn, I’m using my trick of composing an instrumental intro riff and using it as a vocal bridge. This allows instant familiarity, variety, and doesn’t require the congregation to learn an entirely new chorus melody.
This arrangement also uses the very latest in music technology: both the cello and piano were released as software only a few weeks ago (yes, the cello is completely computerized – I played it on my keyboard!)
vocal demo SATB POP demo SATB ORC demoDownload Jesus Paid It All:
Download sheet music, chord charts, tracks, multitracks and orchestration for Jesus Paid It All exclusively with a hymncharts subscription. You won’t find this arrangement on any other website.
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Hey I have one suggestion, when you’re talking about the chord pattern, use the Nashville numbering in addition to the chords. Everyon’e’s not gonna like Ab and at least for me, despite my good background in theory, I have to count out the intervals (whereas with a more “normal” key such as F, G, E, etc, I would know immediately what the numbers are). I actually write out all my charts in numbers that way I can immediately transpose except into those strange keys like Ab (a/k/a G#)
That isn’t an issue as all the chord charts are transposed into every key, just pick the one you want.
thank you ; as a new bass player in my church worship band, I appreciate tbis music service, as I am having a hard time finding worship music to practice.
what’s the name of the group that’s singing Jesus paid it all on the demo song chart. Love the arrangement and would love to have it
Thanks, that group is made up of “session singers” – people who sing in the studio, so they’re not a group who tour, make records, etc. I have generally the same people sing on all my arrangements.