Wintley Phipps Sings Amazing Grace With A Lesson On Negro Spirituals

Wintley Phipps is the president of the U.S. Dream Academy. This is an organization for the children of prisoners who have been left behind in school work due in large to their circumstances. He tells a story about how almost all Negro Spirituals are played while only using the black notes on the piano. He then demonstrates how this is true by playing a few Spirituals on the piano using the black notes. He then tells the story of how Amazing Grace came about. This is a spiritual written by a white man named John Newton. John Newton was the captain of a slave ship before becoming a Christian. It is thought that he wrote the words to Amazing Grace to a slave tune that he heard on the ships coming from the bottom where the slaves were kept. Many believe the tune of this song sounds much like a traditional West Afrikan Sorrow Chant. This song was written using the black notes or the pentatonic scale sometimes referred to as the slave scale. Listen to this version of the song Amazing Grace sung by Wintley Phipps. If you are like me it will bring tears to your eyes.



Wintley Phipps Negro Spirituals Amazing Grace John Newton slaves pentatonic scale