Piano Cheats

Let’s start with the video…

The original key is C#. I played it in the key of C in the video, as this is a much easier key to follow for most people.

The intro to this song is made up of 2 chords: IIm7 and V chords.

So in the key of C, these 2 chords are: Dm7 and G.

The Dm7 can be improvised as F/D. See “The 3 Minor Chords” post for explanation about the improvisation.

The verse is made up of the following chord progression:

VIm7 –> V/7 –> I –> II4 –> IV –> V/4 –> IIIm7 –> VIm7 –> IIm7 –> IV –> V4 –> V

Now, let’s break this up into 3 more easily recognizable parts:

(1) VIm7 –> V/7 –> I –> II4

(2) IV –> V/4 –> IIIm7 –> VIm7

(3) IIm7 –> IV –> V4 –> V

Progression (1) has the bass notes going up the scale: 6, 7, 1, 2. So that should be easy to remember. For II4, please refer to “Suspension (part 3)” post.

Progression (2) is the common 4,5,3,6 progression, i.e., 4th chord, 5th chord, 3rd minor chord and 6th minor chord. Besides, the IIIm7 –> VIm7 transition is one of the familiar chord-pair mentioned in my earlier “Chord Association (part 2)” post.

In Progression (3) the bass notes climb upward again, i.e., 2, 4, 5. For V4 please see my previous “Suspension (part 2)” post.

In the key of C, this progression, (1)+(2)+(3) is translated as this:

Am7 –> G/B –> C –> D4 –> F –> G/F –> Em7 –> Am7 –> Dm7 –> F –> G4 –> G

Since minor chords can be implemented using major chords (See “The 3 Minor Chords” post), all that the above progression needs are “The 3 Basic Chords” and the D4 chord (Note in the video, the right hand needs only to play C, F, G, D4 and G4 chords).

Lastly, the chorus goes like this.

I –> II4 –> II –> VIm7 –> I/4 –> IIm7 –> IV/5 –> G

In the key of C, this is translated into:

C –> D4 –> D –> Am7 –> C/F –> Dm7 –> F/G –> G

Please see “Suspension (part 3)” for D4.

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The song is originally in F#. To make it easier, I have done my illustration in the key of F instead. Please see the video below:

The introduction is not in the video. It’s just the F chord followed by a Bbm chord.

The progression for the verse is played twice. So is the progression for the chorus.

The verse goes like this…

I –> IIIm –> IIm –> IV –> V

In the F key, this becomes: F –> Am –> Gm –> Bb –> C

The pre-chorus goes like this…

IIIm –> IIm –> IIIm –> IIm –> V

In the F key, this becomes: Am –> Gm –> Am –> Gm –> C

Then the chorus goes like this…

I –> IIIm –> IV/7b –> IIm –> V

In the F key, this becomes: F –> Am –> Bb/Eb –> Gm –> C

In the video, you have seen see me play F(add2) or F2, instead of F. For further explanation of Sus2 please see my “Suspension (part 2)” post.

For Gm, you have seen me play Gm7, and therefore, my right hand actually played Bb. This is by improvising a minor chord with a major chord. See further explanation on “The 3 Minor Chords” post if you don’t already know this.

And instead of a straight C chord, you have seen me play Bb/C first before playing C. This is something I have thought before also in my earlier posts. Please look under the “Cheat Tricks” section if you need help to understand this.

One more thing I need to explain here is what I played on the left hand.

For most parts of the song, you would notice on the video that I played 2 notes for most chords. These 2 notes are the 1st note and the 5th note of the chord.

For example, while I was playing an F with the right hand, my left hand played the F note and the C note (C being the 5th note counting from F). Another example is, while I was playing an Am chord with the right hand, my left hand played the A note and the E note. (E being the 5th note counting from A).

You have probably noticed that when the chord is Am, I actually played the B and C notes on my right hand. Well, I can’t really explain that, except to say that, the purpose was to sound like what you hear on the song. It’s similar to play F(add2) or F2 instead of a straight F. I just the sound that we are after.

I hope this is clear.

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I have also simplified this as much as possible so that one needs only use some simple chords on the right hand to play this song. Btw, this is one of the theme songs for Beijing Olympics 2008.

Here is the video illustration…

First, let’s go to the verse (which is played twice). The progression goes like this…

1st line: I –> IIm7 –> I/3 –> IV –> IV/5

2nd line: I –> IIm7 –> I/3

3rd line: IV –> I/3 –> IIm7 –> I –> IV/7b –> IV/5

The song is actually in C#. To make it easier to learn and to play, I have transposed it down to C. So, in the key of C, the above 3 lines in the verse are translated into…

1st line: C –> Dm7 –> C/E –> F –> F/G

2nd line: C –> Dm7 –> C/E

3rd line: F –> C/E –> Dm7 –> C –> F/Bb –> F/G

The Dm7 can of course be played as F/D (See “The 3 Minor Chords” post to find out how that is possible), i.e., F chord (right hand) with a D bass note (left hand). Therefore, the above 3 lines are made up completely of 2 chords: C chord and F chord on the right hand.

The bass notes’ patterns should be obvious above, i.e., in the 1st line and 2nd line, the bass notes climb up the scale, whereas in the 3rd line, it climbs down.

The chorus also has 3 lines. This is how they go…

1st line: I –> V/7 –> VIm7

2nd line: VIm7 –> VIm7/5 –> VIm7/4

3rd line: VIm7 –> IVm6/6b –> I/5 –> II/4# –> IV –> IV/5 –> I

In the C key, these are translated into:

1st line: C –> G/B –> Am7

2nd line: Am7 –> Am7/G –> Am7/F

3rd line: Am7 –> Fm6/Ab –> C/G –> D/F# –> F –> F/G –> C

Again, from “The 3 Minor Chords” post, we know that Am7 can be improvised by C/A, i.e., C chord (right hand) with an A bass note (left hand). So, for the first 2 lines, all that you need are 2 chords: C chord and G chord.

For the 3rd line, however, there are Fm6 and D chords to take care of. To simplify matter, do this:

- For Fm6 chord, on the right hand, just play D note and F note, when your left hand plays Ab note.

- And for D chord, on the right hand, just play D note and A note, when you left hand plays F# note.

I hope that is simple enough.

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The following video illustrates how this song can be played with 3 fingers, while one sings along. The whole purpose is to make it easy to play for adult learners especially.

I used only one finger for the bass (left hand), mainly because that way, it’s easier to fit into the camera view. It would sound better if you were to play an octave instead.

By following the video, you should be able to play the song and sing along even if you haven’t played any piano before.

However, for those who are interested to know how I arrived at 3 chords, or 3 fingers, please read on…

Basically, the 2 chord progressions go like this…

I –> -I/1 –> IV –> I/3 –> VIm –> II/M –> V

Followed by…

I –> -I/1 –> IV –> I/3 –> IIm –> V –> I

Please refer to “The M Bass” post for the “M” notation, and “The Minus-One Chord” post for the “-1″ notation.

In the key of G, the first progression is translated into:

G –> F/G –> C –> G/B –> Em –> A/C# –> D

What I actually played however, with a little bit of tweaking here and there is…

G –> F/G –> C2 –> G/B –> Em7 –> A/C# –> C2/D

If you don’t know what a C2 is, please refer to my earlier “Suspension” post.

As for the second progression, in the key of G, it is translated into:

G –> F/G –> C –> G/B –> Am –> D –> G

Again, with a little bit of tweaking, what I actually played is…

G –> F/G –> C2 –> G/B –> C2/A –> C2/D –> G

Please refer to “The 3 Minor Chords” post to see how ‘Am’ can be improvised by ‘C/A’.

After the tweaking, you would notice that the chords for right hand are left with G, F, C2, Em7 and A.

Therefore on the right hand, this is what I played:

For G, C2 and Em7 chords, I played the 2 common notes: D and G

For F chord, I played C and F notes.

And for A chord, I played E and A notes.

Thus the resulting 3 “chords” with 2 notes each.

You may use any two fingers you like for the two notes on the right hand. The reason I used the Index and Middle fingers in the video is just for the purpose of showing more distinctively which notes I actually pressed.

That’s all.

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I have done this song the “cheat” way — in the C key and using only the 3 basic chords (on the right hand). I hope a beginner, especially an adult beginner, will find this easy to follow.

The progression for the verse goes like this (played twice):
C –> G/C –> F/D –> F/C –> F/Bb –> F/G

That means your right hand plays: C, G, F, F, F, F in that order.

And your left hand plays: C, C, D, C, Bb, G in that order.

The alphabet to the right of (or under) the “/” sign means the bass note. When it is not there, you just place the same note as the chord symbol.

For example, when you see a “C”. Play C chord on the right hand, and the C note on the left hand. But if you see “C/A”, that means you should play C chord on the right hand, with the A note on the left hand.

The chorus goes like this (also played twice):

C –> C/A –> C/F –> G –> F/G –>G –> C

You will note that in the video, I played the F chord in its root position, but for the G chord, I used the 2nd inversion, and for the C chord, I used the 1st inversion. The different positions/inversions simply make it easier to change chords, without having to move my right hand too much. See my “Inversions” post if you need help with understanding inversions.

Here is the video illustration…

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