Piano Cover of "Oceans"

"Oceans (Where Feet May Fail)" by Hillsong United is one of the most-sung worship songs of the last decade. Slow, sustained, atmospheric. The piano lives in space.

1. The key: E♭ major

E♭ major. Scale: E♭, Fm, Gm, A♭, B♭, Cm, Ddim.

2. The chord shape

Verse: 6m to 4 to 1 to 5 (Cm, A♭, E♭, B♭), the modern-worship staple loop. Chorus: same shape, wider dynamics. The Hillsong United recording shows the atmospheric arrangement.

3. The Sunday-ready play

• Right hand: sustained triads voiced high. Cm as C, E♭, G, high on the keyboard.
• Left hand: whole notes way down low. Nothing else.
• One move to add: the 5 (B♭) at the end of every phrase held as a suspended chord (B♭sus4). Never resolve it cleanly. Ambiguity is the mood.

4. When the leader calls a different key

Hillsong tunes travel worldwide. Numbers hold. Use Gig Mode.

Next step

Play Jireh next. Same E♭, similar atmospheric worship.