Lyrics It Is No Secret What God Can Do

Lyrics It Is No Secret What God Can Do: A Practical Guide

It Is No Secret What God Can Do is a gospel hymn written by Andraé Crouch in 1970. I first came across it when a church musician asked me to help arrange it for a choir that was struggling with the harmony parts. The song sits in G major, four-four time, and runs about two and a half minutes in a standard tempo. That basic structure is where most people hit their first problem. The melody line is straightforward but the chord progression underneath has some moves that trip up beginners. People expect simple I-IV-V movement and instead they get secondary dominants and a modal interchange that catches them off guard. I ran into this exact issue when transcribing it for a worship band that kept rushing through the bridge section. They were trying to learn it by ear and missing the B minor chord that shows up before the final chorus. Once I wrote out the full chart with those changes marked, they stopped fighting each other musically.

Where to Find Lyrics It Is No Secret What God Can Do

You can find the complete lyrics and chords on several sites. CCLI licenses the song, so if your church already has a license, check your CCLI songfile database. It lists the key, tempo, and copyright information along with the full text. For personal study, the lyrics are also available through streaming services that display synchronized words, or in printed collections like Voices United and The New Century Hymnal. I keep a folder of chord charts I transcribe myself. When someone asks me to play It Is No Secret What God Can Do at a different venue, I pull from that folder rather than rebuilding it each time. The version I use marks the turnarounds in the second half of the bridge, which most online charts skip entirely. Without those markings, keyboard players tend to just repeat the same four-chord loop and it sounds empty by the third pass. Here is the essential chord progression in the original key. Verse moves from G to D/Fto Em7 to A7, then Dm7 to G. The chorus shifts to C and F before resolving back through D7 and G. The bridge lands on Bm7 and E7, which is the part everyone forgets. Those two chords create the tension that makes the final return to the chorus feel earned. If you play straight C-F throughout that section, the song loses its lift.

The vocal range sits between D4 and D5 for the melody. That is comfortable for most tenors and altos without straining. I have seen arrangers transpose it down to F to accommodate weaker voices, and that works fine, but it removes some of the brightness the higher key gives the chorus. If your congregation includes a lot of baritones or lower female voices, Bb or F is reasonable. Just be consistent with whatever you pick and don't switch keys between songs without a proper transition. One thing worth noting about performing this song: the dynamic arc matters more than most groups allow. The first verse should sit at mezzo piano. Let the words carry the weight without the band pushing volume. The build into the chorus should feel gradual, not sudden. I watched a band blast through the first chorus at full volume and the second verse sounded flat by comparison. You cannot sustain intensity without giving the listener a place to rest. Arrangement choices also affect how the lyrics land. The third line of the chorus, "He can turn a river into a desert," pairs naturally with a slight rhythmic hesitation before the word "desert." A quarter-rest or a held chord there gives the line room to breathe. Without it, the words tumble together and the imagery gets lost. This is something you hear in the original Crouch recording and it is easy to miss when reading sheet music alone.

If you are looking for instrumental backing tracks, several creators have uploaded practice versions on YouTube and dedicated worship music platforms. Search by the title and key you need. Some of those tracks include guide melodies for vocals, which helps when learning the phrasing before memorizing the lyrics. Others strip it down to pads and drums, which works better if you already know the melody cold. The song has been covered by multiple artists over the years. Andraé Crouch and the New Nation recorded the most well-known version. Gloria Gaynor also recorded a rendition that slowed the tempo and leaned into a more dramatic delivery. Neither covers are required listening, but they show how flexible the material is when you understand the underlying structure. That flexibility is both a strength and a liability. Groups that do not understand the chord changes often make it sound generic because they flatten every section into the same energy. For rehearsal purposes, I recommend learning the song in segments. Verse first, then chorus, then bridge separately. Do not run the whole thing until each section feels solid on its own. This approach typically cuts rehearsal time in half compared to starting at the top every time. You will spot exactly which transition is causing problems instead of wrestling with the entire arrangement repeatedly.

Copyright holders include Word Music and Essential Music Publishing. Make sure you cover licensing requirements if you are publishing sheets, recording, or streaming performances publicly. A CCLI license handles most church use cases, but digital streaming and recording require separate considerations that vary by platform. The core melody and lyrics remain the same across all standard versions. If you strip away the production choices and look at what is actually being sung, it is a song about witnessing divine action through concrete imagery. River to desert. Blind eyes opened. Chains removed. Those images appear in sequence and they build on each other. Arrangers who treat each image as equal in weight tend to lose the narrative pull. Giving slightly more space to the later images creates a natural climax without needing to add extra instrumentation. I have played this piece in small house churches and in large auditoriums, and the same principles apply regardless of size. The chords hold up. The melody works. The main variable is always dynamics and clarity of voicing. Get those right and the song does what it was written to do without any additional tricks.