How to play "Mabothakga"

This Mabothakga piano tutorial takes Fisbo’s fast praise song apart one section at a time, so you can learn it properly instead of faking it by ear. At 135 BPM in D♭ major, it’s packed with passing diminished chords that most players skip, and those are exactly what make it sound like the record.

Where Mabothakga fits in a service

This is a celebration song. It works as an opener or as the high point of the praise section, when the choir is moving and the drummer is pushing. At 135 BPM, there’s no time to think about the next chord, so the goal of this tutorial is to get every change into your hands before Sunday.

Fair warning: the verse is long and the bridge is longer. Learn it in chunks. Don’t try to swallow the whole song in one sitting.

Step 1: get comfortable in D♭ major

D♭ has five flats, and that scares people. It shouldn’t. Most of the chords sit on black keys, which actually makes the hand shapes compact. Here are the numbers you need:

• 1 = D♭ (D♭, F, A♭)
• 2m = E♭m (E♭, G♭, B♭)
• 3m = Fm (F, A♭, C)
• 4 = G♭ (G♭, B♭, D♭)
• 5 = A♭ (A♭, C, E♭)
• 6m = B♭m (B♭, D♭, F)
• 7dim = Cdim (C, E♭, G♭)

Play each one up and down three times before you move on. For sound, a bright grand or a stage piano patch cuts through a loud band better than anything soft.

Step 2: learn the Mabothakga piano chords for the intro and chorus

Everything here comes from our full chord chart for Mabothakga.

Intro: 5, 3m, 2m, 1, 6m, 5, 1, 6m, 5, 3m, 2m, 1. In letters: A♭, Fm, E♭m, D♭, B♭m, A♭, D♭, B♭m, A♭, Fm, E♭m, D♭. It’s a descending line, so let your bass walk down with it.

Chorus: 1, 3m, 4, 2m, 5, 7dim, 1, 3m. That’s D♭, Fm, G♭, E♭m, A♭, Cdim, D♭, Fm. Learn the chorus before the verse, because the verse opens with the same eight chords.

Notice the 5 to 7dim to 1 move. Cdim shares two notes with A♭ (C and E♭), and C sits a half step under D♭, so it slides home without effort.

Step 3: add the verse passing chords

The verse starts exactly like the chorus, then takes a second pass with extra colour:

1, 3m, 4, ♯4dim, 5, ♭3dim, 5, 6m, 1

In letters: D♭, Fm, G♭, Gdim, A♭, Edim, A♭, B♭m, D♭.

• Gdim (G, B♭, D♭) sits between G♭ and A♭. The bass goes G♭, G, A♭, a straight chromatic climb. This is the classic gospel passing chord.
• Edim (E, G, B♭) comes between two A♭ chords. Our chart labels it ♭3dim. Think of it as a quick tension that pushes back into the 5 before the 6m and home.

Practise these two moves on their own, slowly, until the bass line feels obvious.

Step 4: tackle the bridge

The bridge is the longest run of chords in the song:

3m, 4, ♯4dim, 5, 2m, 3m, 4, 4, ♭3dim, 5, 6m, 1, 5, ♯4dim, 4, 3m, 4, ♯4dim, 3m, 1

In letters: Fm, G♭, Gdim, A♭, E♭m, Fm, G♭, G♭, Edim, A♭, B♭m, D♭, A♭, Gdim, G♭, Fm, G♭, Gdim, Fm, D♭.

Split it into four groups of five and learn one group a day. Here’s the tip: in the second half, the Gdim is used going down too (A♭, Gdim, G♭). Same chord, opposite direction. Once you see that, the bridge stops feeling random.

Step 5: make it groove

• Right hand: short triad stabs on the off-beats. Keep the top note close between chords so your hand isn’t jumping.
• Left hand: octaves on the root, with the chromatic walk on every passing dim.
• One lift: on the last 5 before the chorus, play A♭sus4 for two beats, then A♭. The band hears the turnaround coming.

Changing key mid-set

Fast praise songs often go up a step for the final chorus. If you’ve learned Mabothakga in numbers, the shape doesn’t change. Check the every-key table on the chart page, and keep Gig Mode open on the day so the letters update for you. If the dims still feel awkward in a new key, map them out first in the Chord Voicing Lab.

Your 20-minute practice plan

1. Five minutes on the D♭ chord list from Step 1.
2. Five minutes on the intro and chorus at half speed.
3. Five minutes on the two verse passing dims.
4. Five minutes on one bridge group, then play the chorus at full tempo to finish on a win.

Is Mabothakga hard to play?

The tempo and the passing dims make it intermediate. Learn it in sections and it’s very doable.

When you need a breather, try Jesus Iye, a much slower song on the same black keys.