Piano Cover of "We Lift Him Higher"

Benjamin Dube is one of the names every South African gospel keys player grows up hearing, and these We Lift Him Higher piano chords in A♭ are a good way into his sound. I’ll show you how I set it up, what to play in each hand, and how to keep it big and bright without walking all over the choir.

A praise song that wants energy

We Lift Him Higher is a celebration song. It belongs where the church is on its feet: the opening of the service, the high point of praise, or straight after a testimony when the room is ready to shout. The band plays with confidence and the choir is loud.

That doesn’t mean you play everything. The best praise keyboardists know when to hit hard and when to leave a gap for the drummer’s fill or the choir’s entry. Listen for the spaces in the video above and keep them.

Getting comfortable in A♭

The song is in A♭ major. If flats make you nervous, this is a good song to fix that. Here’s the core:

• 1: A♭
• 2m: B♭m
• 4: D♭
• 5: E♭
• 6m: Fm

Sound-wise, I’d use a punchy acoustic piano with a touch of brightness. If your keyboard has an organ, a layer underneath with the percussion off can add that classic gospel body, but keep it low enough that the piano attack still cuts through.

Working out the We Lift Him Higher piano chords

We don’t have our own full chart for this one yet, so I won’t write out a progression and call it the real thing. What I will say is that big praise songs in A♭ almost always lean on the 1, 4 and 5, with the 6m (Fm) for contrast and the 2m (B♭m) helping the song turn back to the 5. Use the video as your reference: follow the bass, count the bars each chord lasts, and write the numbers down.

Not sure how numbers work across keys? The Nashville Number System explains the idea, and our Circle of Fifths tool shows you every key’s 1, 4 and 5 at a glance.

Hands, pattern and a gospel trick

• Right hand: full triads with the top note doubled. A♭ as A♭, C, E♭, A♭. It’s loud and clear, which is what praise wants.
• Left hand: a root and fifth pattern that bounces. A♭ low, E♭ on the offbeat, A♭ an octave up, E♭ again. Lock it with the bass player.
• The 5/7: on the way to the 6m, use E♭/G (the 5 with G in the bass). The bass walks A♭, G, F and the line pulls the whole band down with it.
• The backdoor: before landing on the 5, try a G♭ chord (the ♭7) for a beat. It’s a very gospel sound and it gives the 5 extra weight when it arrives.

Build and compare those shapes in the Chord Voicing Lab before rehearsal.

Changing key on the fly

Praise songs love a lift at the end. If the leader takes it up a half step to A, your 1, 4, 5 and 6m become A, D, E and F♯m. Up a whole step to B♭, they’re B♭, E♭, F and Gm. If you’ve learned the song in numbers, you just keep playing the same shape.

Put it in Gig Mode before Sunday so the new letters are ready the moment the key changes.

Practice in four steps

1. Play A♭, D♭, E♭, Fm and B♭m as triads with the top note doubled, five minutes.
2. Set the Smart Metronome to a comfortable tempo and loop the left-hand bounce for five minutes.
3. Practise the A♭, E♭/G, Fm walk-down and the G♭ to E♭ move, five minutes.
4. Play the whole thing with the video, then once more a half step up in A.

Short FAQ

What key is We Lift Him Higher in?

Our version is in A♭ major. The main chords are A♭, D♭, E♭ and Fm.

Is it hard to play?

The chords are straightforward. The challenge is stamina and keeping the groove tight at full volume.

For a song in the same key and the same spirit, go to Siyabonga Jesu next.