Creating Intros For Songs & Hymns
In this lesson we explore different ways to create solo piano introductions which can be applied to jazz standards, songs, and church hymns.
We use the tune “What A Wonderful World” for all of the demonstrations but remember that these concepts and principles for creating introductions can be applied to any song or church hymn.
Check out the introduction examples below and download the full notation PDF files in the Downloads section.
Use The Ending Of The Tune
One of the easiest ways to create an introduction is to play the last 4 or of the song or hymn. This will lead you smoothly and convincingly into the start of the tune.
Creating an introduction with the final bars of the song is a failsafe ways to create a compelling introduction. For longer introductions we can use the last 8 bars or even the last 16 bars.
Create An Intro Using The V7sus Chord
Another simple method to construct an introduction is to use sus chord voicings. This works well when the starting chord is a major I chord such as the first chord in “What A Wonderful World” which starts on an Fmaj7 chord.
The V7 chord of Fmaj7 is a C7sus chord. We can also look at this at a Bbmaj7/C which gives the Sus13 flavour. Experiment with arpeggios and inversions of the Bbmaj7 chord.
Create A Free Rubato Introduction
Rubato introductions, also known as ‘free time introductions’ are very effective when playing solo piano. We can use the chords and harmony of the tune as inspiration to create an interesting intro chord progression:
We can also use the words and lyrics of the song for inspiration when creating an introduction. When we try to express the meaning of the lyrics musically we can create a very effective and fitting introduction for any tune.
Lesson Downloads
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Introduction Example 1 File Type: pdf -
Dom7Sus Chord Introduction File Type: pdf
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Rubato Free-Time Introduction File Type: pdf
Related Lessons
In this lesson we broaden the harmony of the 145 progression by introducing alternate chord changes, reharms, and passing chords.
We can always play the last 4 or 8 bars of the tune as an intro. In this lesson, we will explore other ways to create introductions for any tune.
Intros can be useful to extend the length of your performance and also to establish the tonality or the key in which the tune is being played.
Practice Tips
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Experiment with the 3 types of introduction examples presented in this video.
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Begin by taking the final bars of the tune to set yourself up to start the song.
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Next play the final V7 chord with a sus flavour to create suspense and tension which then resolves as we start the tune.
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Finally use the lyrics as inspiration to create your own melodic ideas and motifs.
Can someone provide additional insight on the voicing / note selections in the rubato section? This was really well done and I’m just trying to understand the thought process on how these notes may have been chosen.
I posted too soon as I now see the LH was just playing the chord tones in arp form and the RH was doing different variations of the chord making it sound interesting. Studying the handout is really helpful.
Leo, Thanks so much for the lesson and the downloads. Even though you provide a download for the transcription for What a Wonderful World, would you mind sharing the lead sheet that you showed in the lesson?
Hi James,
I have added the chord chart to the lesson downloads.
Please let me know if I can help further and enjoy the lessons!
Talk soon,
Hayden