THE OLD RUGGED CROSS

You can accompany yourself on the piano as you sing the Old Rugged Cross by using a very, very easy 3 / 4 time pattern. You start out with a right hand chord, at the same time, your left hand pinky starts out with the root of the same chord. Just hold down the right hand chord as your left hand continues to play the 3rd, and the 5th of the chord. When your left hand completes the chord, then your right hand just breaks the chord up into root, 3rd, and 5th. The best way to understand this pattern is to hear it played as an exercise. This midi file will take the pattern through C - Dm - Em - F chords. This is a 3 / 4 time pattern, and each part of the pattern is an 8th note. You would use a verbal count that goes like this: One and, Two and, Three and. This is an ascending chord arpeggio.

LISTEN TO THE MIDI FILE OF PATTERN 105C

The next step for you to take in order to master this pattern is to take a look at the sheet music of this pattern. So, click on the pdf file below. Print up the sheet music and look at it as you play the midi file again.

PDF FILE OF SHEET MUSIC

If you have trouble reading music, you can download this WORD DOCUMENT which uses color, and graphics, to explain and teach you how to master this pattern.

DOWNLOAD WORD 2000 DOC

Your next step is to listen how this pattern can be implemented into a song. Click on the midi file link next to hear how The Old Rugged Cross sounds when backed up by a piano using only this one pattern.

THE OLD RUGGED CROSS midi

Now, download the pdf file of the music arrangement that you just heard, and play The Old Rugged Cross on your own piano or keyboard and sing it as play.

THE OLD RUGGED CROSS: CHORDS, LYRICS, AND MUSIC

There are about 5 different variations on pattern 105C. You should order my piano pattern books so that you can learn hundreds of piano accompaniment patterns. Once you do this, you can start playing free style piano in the church. You can have better praise and worship singing in your home ministry. You will be able to praise God freely, and joyously.

There are hundreds of different patterns you can put on this song. I heard Charlie Pride sing Amazing Grace in 4/4 time using a rhythm and blues chuck berry left hand piano bass. It worked.....sounded great. It's all about knowing how to arrange a song in any given style or gendre. Once you master the above simple pattern, let's try a different pattern on this song, plus, let's throw in a bass run in-between the chord changes. Bass runs really add a lot to a song. You can slip bass runs right into the middle of any of these patterns. When you listen to the midi file of the next arrangement of The Old Rugged Cross, listen to the left hand play bass runs in the middle of the pattern. It's easy to do. Really! You just need someone to show you how to do. Unfortunately, most piano teachers are trained to teach only classical music and they can't show you things like this. However, anybody can do it, if you just have some one to show you step by step how to do it. So, listen to this midi file. I purposely lowered the volume on the melody so that you can focus on the left hand bass run.

MIDI FILE OF "THE OLD RUGGED CROSS" USING BASS RUNS AND A NEW PATTERN

Now, if you want to, you can download the arrangement of this new pattern that will teach you how to implement bass runs in a 3 / 4 time environment.

MUSIC NOTATION OF NEW PATTERN USING BASS RUNS pdf file.

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WHERE DID THE BODY OF JESUS GO?

Think of the logic concerning the empty tomb. Jesus prophesied that he would rise again on the third day. The Pharisees said, "We don't think so, because no man has ever raised himself from the grave." They were aware that Jesus had raised Lazarus from the dead, but their lust for power blinded their minds to the truth.

It was a bet. Jesus essentially said. Destroy this temple (meaning his body) and on the third day I will raise it back up. And by doing so, he would prove to the world that He indeed was the Son of God. But, nobody believed that he could pull it off.

You see the Jewish leadership even asked him for a sign. He said, you want a sign? I'll give you a sign. Just as Jonah was in the belly of the fish for three days, so will the Son of Man be. (my paraphrase) Of course, the reference was that just as Jonah was buried in death in the belly of a fish and came out of the fish, so will the Son of Man be buried in the tomb for three days and come out of the tomb.

So, the Jews took Jesus up on this prophecy or prediction. They crucified Him and killed him. They thought they won the bet, except for one small detail. On the third day. The five ton rock was removed from the tomb and the body of Jesus was no where in sight. The Jews didn't steal the body. They wanted the body of Jesus to remain locked up in that tomb forever and thereby prove that Jesus was just a mere man. The Romans didn't steal the body they were under the strictest of orders to make sure that the tomb was not opened. The disciples were hiding in fear for their lives and were totally depressed and had decided to go back to their old jobs as fishermen. The disciples had all given up and deserted the cause of Christ. They had no motivation to steal the body. To do so would have been instant death for them. Besides that the Roman guards would have prevented any attempt to remove the body of Christ from the tomb. Where did the body of Jesus go. How did it get out of the tomb.

Well, not only did Jesus rise from the grave, but he appeared to the disciples. If Jesus had not been resurrected from the grave, Christianity would not exist today because all of the disciples had given up and deserted the cause of Christ. Even Thomas would not believe that Jesus had arisen from the tomb.

Think about it. The empty tomb . . . . reasons to believe. That's the only reason that the disciples believed and that is the only reason that the church grew so quickly, all because everyone knew that the tomb was empty, and there was no earthly way that a group of rag tag fishermen were going to steal it from 30 or 40 well armed Roman soldiers. It would take pulleys, tackle, horses, and men to roll that stone away.

The Jews could have stopped Christianity dead in it’s tracks if they could have only produced the corpse of Jesus after three days in the tomb. The fact that the Jews were unable to produce the body of Jesus, proves that Jesus was actually resurrected from the grave. As Christianity grew by thousands on the day of Pentecost, the Jews could have stopped this mass conversion to Christianity simply by going to the tomb and dragging the body of Jesus through the streets of Jerusalem for all to see, and thereby prove that he did not rise from the grave on the third day like he prophesied that he would. The entire population of Jerusalem knew that that the stone had been rolled away. They knew the tomb was empty. They knew that the Roman soldiers had failed in their mission. They knew what had happened, and that is why they were so easily convicted by Peter on the day of Pentecost and repented of their sins and became Christians, because they too, knew that Jesus had indeed risen from the grave. The resurrection is the cornerstone proof that Jesus was the Messiah, the Son Of God, and the Savior of All Mankind. Without the resurrection of Jesus from the grave, there would not be a single Christian church standing today on planet earth. Every time, you drive pass a church, let it remind you that it is indeed a product of the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the grave.

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