Piano Cheats

I wonder if I need any explanation for this song. I believe the video is quite easy to follow.

Perhaps what I need to do here is instead a reiteration of one of that purposes of my blog, that is, to help adult learners pick up the playing quickly and sing along while playing the piano. Call this “karaoke” piano or “sing-along” piano, if you like.

Here’s the video…

These are the “cheat” chords I played…
Part 1: G - A - D - C - G (repeat)
Part 2: Bb - F - G - A - D
Part 3: G - A - D - C - G - Bb - D
Ending: G - A - D - G - D - G - A - D - C/G - G

Tags: bee gees, boyzone, chord progressions, how to play, karaoke piano, piano chords, piano shortcuts, sing-along piano, words

There are 2 very similar progressions in this song.

The 1st one goes like this…
I –> V/M –> VIm –> VIm/5 –> IV –> V –> I

See “The M Bass” for the “M” notation above.

The original key is Ab. To make it easier to play, I have used the key of G for illustration. In G, the above progression is translated into:
G –> D/F# –> Em –> Em/D –> C –> D –> G

With some tweaking, we get…
G –> D4/F# –> G/E –> G/D –> C2 –> C2/D –> G

The 3 chords: G, C2 (see “Suspension (part 2)”) and D4 (see “Suspension (part 1)”) have these 2 notes in common: D note and G note. That’s why in the video you can see me playing these 2 notes only throughout this 1st progression.

The 2nd progression goes like this…
I –> V/M –> VIm –> VIm/5 –> I/M –> -I/2 –> -I –> V

See “The Minus-One Chord” post for the “-I” notation above.

In the G key, the progression is translated into:
G –> D/F# –> Em –> Em/D –> G/B –> F/A –> F –> D

With some tweaking, we get…
G –> D4/F# –> G/E –> G/D –> G/B –> F/A –> F –> C2/D

Here’s the video…

Tags: chord progressions, how to play, lionel richie, piano cheats, piano chords, say you say me, shortcuts, simplified, video illustration

There are 3 different parts/sections in this song.

Section 1 and the introduction are the same, alternating between the Chord I and Chord IV. The song originally is in B. I have used the key of C for an easier and clearer illustration. So the chords (I & IV) here are C chord and F chord (see the video).

Section 2 is a progression with the bass walking down the scale from “fa” (4), all the way to the lower “ti” (7) note, i.e., 4 –> 3 –> 2 –> 1 –> 7, then end with a “so” (5) note. The chord progression is this…
IV –> I/M –> IIm7 –> IIm7/1 –> V/M –> V7

Please see “The M Bass” post for the “M” notation above. In the key of C, this is translated to:
F –> C/E –> Dm7 –> Dm7/C –> G/B –> G7

By substituting the minor-7 with the basic chords (see “The 3 Minor Chords” post), we get…
F –> C/E –> F/D –> F/C –> G/B –> G7

The chord progression for Section 3 is quite interesting…
IV –> V –> I –> III –> III7

In the key of C, that is….
F –> G –> C –> E –> E7

Then the song simply ends with IV –> V –> I, i.e., in the key of C…. F –> G –> C.

Here is the video…

Tags: Add new tag, chord progressions, how to play, III7, imagine, John Lennon, piano cheats, piano chords, shortcuts, simplified, The Beatles, V7, video illustration

If you have noticed (or are still noticing) some strange symbols on my blog, that’s because you are using Microsoft Internet Explorer (IE) to view the blog.
These symbols do not appear on other browsers, e.g., Firefox, Netscape, Safari, etc.

Anyway, I have done my best to not let those symbols appear on IE also, by moving the text out from Wordpress to a simple Notepad, then paste them back to Wordpress again. However, I have not managed to get rid of all of them. So you may still see some of those strange symbols. I hope they aren’t too annoying any more.

For those who do not know what I mean by the strange symbols, that means you have not encountered them. Lucky you!

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This song is in the key of D.

The 1st part of the verse goes like this…

I –> V/M –> VIm7 –> VIm7/5 –> IV –> IV/5

The 2nd part is the same except that it has an additional IIM7 chord towards the end…

I –> V/M –> VIm7 –> VIm7/5 –> IV –> IIm7 –> IV/5

See “The M Bass” post for the “M” notation above.

In the key of D, this is translated into….

D –> A/C# –> Bm7 –> Bm7/A –> G –> Em7 –> G/A
By applying chord substitution to improvise the minor-7 chords with major chords (see “The 3 Minor Chords”), we get…

D –> A/C# –> D/B –> D/A –> G –> G/E –> G/A

See the video for illustration…

The chorus goes like this…

I –> V/M –> IV/M… (repeat)… IIm7 –> IV/5 –> I

In the key of D, this is…

D –> A/C# –> G/B… (repeat)… Em7 –> G/A –> D

Or in the “Piano Cheat” way…

D –> A/C# –> G/B… (repeat)… G/E –> G/A –> D

Tags: chord progressions, hillsong, how to play, piano cheats, piano chords, shortcuts, video illustrations, with all i am