Piano Cover of "Thixo Bawo"

Thixo Bawo is a prayer, and the best Thixo Bawo piano chords are the ones that stay out of its way. The song is by Takie Ndou (credited on the recording as Taki Ndiou), it sits in D♭ major at 96 BPM, and in the cover above I play it with long, held chords and very little else. Here’s why, and how you can do it too.

Playing for a room that’s praying

The title is isiXhosa for “God, Father”. It’s addressed straight to God, so the keys player’s job is to support a room that’s praying, not to lead it anywhere. Think reverent, unhurried, patient.

It works beautifully at the end of a worship set, in the quiet before the Word, or during an altar call when the leader needs music that can sit for a long time without anyone noticing it’s there.

The D♭ setup I use

D♭ major has five flats: B♭, E♭, A♭, D♭ and G♭. The core chords:

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

I use a soft grand piano with a gentle pad underneath. For a song like this, the pad is your friend. It holds the room together when you lift your hands between chords.

Learning the shape without a chart

We don’t have Thixo Bawo in our chart library yet, so I won’t spell out a progression from memory. What I can tell you is how to pick it up. Watch the cover with the sound up and follow my left hand. In a song this patient, every bass note gets plenty of time, so it’s a great one for training your ear. When the bass settles on D♭, that’s home. Test G♭, A♭ and B♭m when it moves.

Write down the numbers. If you’d like more ear training, our Ear Trainer is built for exactly this kind of work.

Thixo Bawo piano chords with weight

Right hand: hold every chord long, and add colour notes. G♭maj7 (G♭, B♭, D♭, F) on the 4 and D♭add9 (D♭, E♭, F, A♭) on the 1 both sound open and calm.

Left hand: whole notes on the root. Let them ring. If the song stretches, play the root and its octave together and leave them.

A move that adds depth: voice the 6m as B♭m9. That’s B♭ in the left hand, then D♭, F, A♭ and C in the right. It adds a soft, aching quality that suits a prayer.

If you’d like a gentle way back home, try the 5/7, A♭/C. Play A♭, C, E♭ over C in the bass, then resolve to D♭. The bass steps up by a half step, C to D♭, and it sounds like the song is settling down to rest. You can see more voicings like these in our Chord Voicing Lab.

When the key changes

Songs like this often get moved for comfort. A leader who’s been singing for an hour might want it in C. Keep it in numbers on your run sheet and you’ll be fine. Gig Mode will give you the letters in any key. If you want to understand more about the language behind the title, Wikipedia’s page on the isiXhosa language is a good read.

A 15-minute practice plan

1. Shapes: play the D♭ family as seventh chords, slowly, and listen to each one ring.
2. Ear: follow the bass in the cover with your left hand and write the numbers down.
3. Colour: practise B♭m9 and A♭/C into D♭ until they feel easy.
4. Play-through: play the whole song along with the video, holding every chord as long as it wants.

FAQ

What key is Thixo Bawo in?

D♭ major, at around 96 BPM.

What does Thixo Bawo mean?

It’s isiXhosa for “God, Father”.

Same artist, same key, different mood: Lebitso La Morena Jesu.