Piano Cover of "Methodist Medley"

Methodist Medley piano chords come down to one thing: keeping a choir moving through several hymns without dropping the energy between them. Nothando Hlophe’s medley runs fast, at 165 BPM, and in the video above I play it in A major the way a church keyboardist would, strong and steady. Here’s how to get it under your hands.

Why this medley lifts a room

A hymn medley does something a single song can’t. It strings familiar hymns together, so every few minutes a new tune arrives that the older people in the church already know by heart. The energy keeps climbing because nobody has time to sit down.

At 165 BPM, this is celebration music. Think of a choir gathering, a thanksgiving service, or the end of a long service when the leader wants everyone standing. Your job is to be the engine: steady time, clear changes, and clean landings at the end of each hymn.

A major and the chords you’ll need

The medley sits in A major, which has three sharps (F♯, C♯, G♯). The family of chords you’ll lean on:

• 1: A (A, C♯, E)
• 2m: Bm (B, D, F♯)
• 4: D (D, F♯, A)
• 5: E (E, G♯, B)
• 6m: F♯m (F♯, A, C♯)

For the sound, a bright acoustic piano works, but an organ patch layered under it gives the hymn feel a lot of weight. If you’re the only keyboard, try piano in the right hand and organ in the left split.

Methodist Medley piano chords: the hymn family

We don’t have a full chart for this medley yet, so I won’t hand you a progression that might be wrong. What I can tell you is how hymns like these are usually built. They live mostly on the 1, 4 and 5, with the 6m and 2m showing up as colour. The phrases are regular, usually in groups of four bars, and almost every verse ends on a strong 5 to 1 cadence.

Use your ears with the video above. Listen for where the bass lands at the end of each line. If it feels finished, that’s your 1. If it feels like a question, you’re probably on the 5.

Making the transitions clean

Medleys live or die in the gaps between songs. Here’s what I’d focus on.

Right hand

Full triads in the middle of the keyboard, played on the beat. At this speed, stabs work better than held chords. Keep A voiced as C♯, E, A so the root sits on top.

Left hand

Octaves on the root, driving. Don’t add runs between every chord; the choir needs a solid floor.

The turnaround

Before each new hymn comes in, play a 5sus4 to 5 to 1: Esus4 (E, A, B) for two beats, then E, then A. It tells the choir “this one’s ending, get ready”, and it lands each section properly before the next tune starts. If you want a little more pull, use E7 (E, G♯, B, D) instead of a plain E.

If the medley changes key

Choir medleys sometimes step up for the next hymn, and a different leader might start the whole thing lower. Numbers save you here. Think of each hymn as 1, 4 and 5 in whatever key it’s in, and you only have to find the new 1.

Gig Mode will show you the letters in any key, and the Circle of Fifths tool helps you see which keys sit next to each other. For background on how medleys are put together, the Wikipedia page on medleys is a short, useful read.

A 20-minute practice routine

1. 5 minutes: cycle A, D, E, F♯m and Bm with both hands until each one is automatic.
2. 5 minutes: practise the Esus4, E, A turnaround in time. Do it twenty times.
3. 5 minutes: play along with the video at a slower speed, just listening for the hymn changes.
4. 5 minutes: full speed, octaves in the left hand, and don’t stop when you miss a chord.

Common questions

What key is the Methodist Medley in?

The version in the video above is in A major.

Is it hard to play?

The chords are basic hymn chords. The hard part is the speed and knowing when each new hymn begins, so spend time listening.

For more choir-driven praise in the same key, have a look at Nizolibonga.