Hallelujah Omnichord Chords

Leonard Cohen · 1984

Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah, released in 1984, moves at a walking pace and leans on the space between its chords. On the omnichord that space fills with the long, shimmering decay of the strum plate, so even one sweep per chord sounds full. The rolling triplet feel of the Slow Rock rhythm suits the song's sway far better than a straight beat would.

It is a step up from the easiest songs on the site, though. There are five chords instead of four, a seventh chord on a different row, and a few bars that squeeze two changes into four slow beats. Those details are what make it rewarding: once they are under your fingers, the whole song flows in one long arc.

▶ Play on the omnichord

Played in C (original key) · Slow Rock rhythm · 58 BPM · Medium

Omnichord buttons for Hallelujah

5 chord buttons cover the whole song. The highlighted square shows where each one sits on the 27-button grid.

  • C R

  • Am J

  • F E

  • G T

  • E7 ,

Bar-by-bar chart

Each box is one bar of 4 beats. Two chords in a box split the bar in half.

Verse

  1. C
  2. Am
  3. C
  4. Am
  5. F
  6. G
  7. C
  8. G
  9. C · F
  10. G
  11. Am · F
  12. G
  13. E7
  14. E7
  15. Am
  16. Am

Chorus

  1. F
  2. F
  3. Am
  4. Am
  5. F
  6. F
  7. C · G
  8. C

Chord changes, step by step

The order you press the buttons in, with the computer key for each one, and every new hand move the first time it appears.

Verse

C RAm JC RAm JF EG TC RG TC RF EG TAm JF EG TE7 ,Am J

  • C to Am: down to the Minor row, three columns right
  • Am to C: up to the Major row, three columns left
  • Am to F: up to the Major row, four columns left
  • F to G: two columns right
  • G to C: one column left
  • C to G: one column right
  • C to F: one column left
  • G to Am: down to the Minor row, two columns right
  • G to E7: down to the 7th row, three columns right
  • E7 to Am: up to the Minor row, one column left

Chorus

F EAm JF EC RG TC R

  • F to Am: down to the Minor row, four columns right
  • F to C: one column right

Key and simplifications

Hallelujah stays in its original key of C: every chord it needs has a button on the instrument.

No chord had to be simplified.

Tips for playing Hallelujah on the omnichord

Map the five chords

Four of the chords are close together: F, C and G sit side by side in the Major row on E, R and T, and A minor is in the Minor row on J. The fifth is E7, in the bottom 7th row under the E column, played on the comma key.

On the grid E7 is one column to the right of A minor and one row down, so the move from E7 into A minor, which closes every verse, is a short diagonal step up and to the left. Conveniently, comma to J is the same up-and-left move on a laptop keyboard.

Counting through the verse

The verse is sixteen bars long. The first eight are calm, alternating C and A minor before F, G, C and G. Bars nine and eleven are the tricky ones: each splits into two chords, C to F and then A minor to F, with the change landing halfway through the bar. Then comes the climb: G, two full bars of E7, and two bars of A minor.

At 58 BPM the Slow Rock pattern gives you plenty of time, but a slow pulse also exposes every late change. Learn the order in Follow mode, which waits for the right chord, then switch to Play-along, which counts in one bar and scores each change. Bar nine and the jump to E7 are where most players lose time.

Sound settings for a slow ballad

Push Sustain toward three seconds so each strum rings across the bar. With Memory on, tap a chord once and spend the rest of the bar on slow upward sweeps of the plate, either by dragging or by stepping through the number keys from 1 to Backspace. The chorus is mostly two-bar blocks of F and A minor, a good place to try a single long strum per bar. If the drums feel too busy, pull the Beat fader down and keep the Chord fader up; the Hold chord style keeps the harmony continuous under the harp.

Hallelujah on the omnichord: questions

What key is Hallelujah played in on the omnichord?

It stays in C, the key used in the chart. C, A minor, F, G and E7 each have their own button, so no transposition is needed. The E7 lives in the 7th row rather than the Major row, which is the main thing to get used to.

Which rhythm works best for Hallelujah?

Slow Rock at 58 BPM. It plays four beats per bar, each divided into a rolling triplet, which gives the song its gentle sway. If 58 BPM is hard to keep steady, nudge the Tempo up a little, but avoid plain Rock, which flattens the feel.

Is Hallelujah hard to play?

It is rated medium. The tempo is slow, but the verse has two bars that change chord halfway through and a seventh chord on a separate row. Most people feel comfortable after a few runs in Follow mode, and the chorus is easier than the verse.

How do I reach E7 from the keyboard?

Press the comma key. The bottom row of letter keys, Z through to the period, maps to the 7th row of the grid, and comma sits under the E column. From there, J for A minor is one key up and to the left, matching the change at the end of each verse.

How many buttons does Hallelujah need on the omnichord?

5: C (R), Am (J), F (E), G (T), E7 (,). Am carries the song, sounding for about 27% of all beats, and there are 21 chord changes from start to finish.

How long does it take to play Hallelujah through once?

The chart here is 24 bars of 4 beats. At the suggested 58 BPM that is about 1 min 39 s, plus a one-bar count-in in Play-along mode. Slow the Tempo fader down while you learn the changes.