Piano Cheats

I have done the illustration using 2 different keys: F# (the original key) and F (an easier key to play).

There are only 2 different progressions in the whole song. The 1st progression is repeated throughout the song except during the bridge. This is how the 1st progression goes:

I –> IIIm –> VIm –> I/5 –> IV –> V

In the key of F, this is translated into:

F –> Am –> Dm –> F/C –> Bb –> C

For those who want to know the notes for those chords (i.e., what I played on the right hand), they are:

In the F# key:

In the F key:

The chord progression for the bridge goes like this:

IIm –> I/3 –> IV –> VIm –>

IIm –> I/3 –> IV –> IV/5

In the key of F this is translated into:

Gm –> F/A –> Bb –> Dm –>

Gm –> F/A –> Bb –> Bb/C

For those who want to know the notes for those, they are:

In the F# key:

In the F key:

Here is the video…

Tags: better in time, chord progressions, how to play, leona lewis, piano cheats, piano chords, piano shortcuts, simplified, video illustration

Have you ever played a song, a complete song, without having to change chord? Here is your chance… I call this video illustration the “lazy” version!

For those who are interested to know how the one “chord” on the right hand came about, please read on.

The progressions for the verse and chorus are the same, i.e.,

I –> IIm7 –> IV –> V

With a little bit of tweaking, that can be turned into…

I –> IIm7 –> IV2 –> V4
Please see “Suspension (part 2)” for IV2 and “Suspension (part 1)” for V4.

Now, if we were to improvise the IIm7 with a major chord, then we get…

I –> IV2/2 –> IV2 –> V4

Please see “The 3 Minor Chords” post for the improvisation if you don’t already know how.

This song is in the key of E. So the above is translated into…

E –> A2/F# –> A2 –> B4

The chords, E, A2 and B4 have these 2 notes in common: B note and E note. That what makes up our one “chord” in the video (the right hand).

The bridge goes like this…

IIm7 –> I/M –> IV –> V

If you don’t know what “M” is, please refer to “The M Bass” post.

In the E key, that progression is translated into…

F#m7 –> E/G# –> A –> B

Again, with some tweaking, we can turn that into…

A2/F# –> E/G# –> A2 –> B4

That’s all.

Tags: chord progressions, how to play, i could sing of your love forever, piano cheats, piano chords, piano shortcuts, simplified, video illustration

I appreciate all kinds of songs of all languages. Here are a couple of them I discovered on YouTube that I think are really cool!

First, I believe this video deserves more views than it has already received so far. Come on… every-bud-day… let’s do the mong-key dance!

And this one below is simply cool…! It’s called “Singh is Kinng”…!

Tags: Akshay Kumar, berryz kobo, RDB, singh is kinng, Snoop Dogg, yuke yuke monkey dance

等 — 陈百强

I have simplified the playing of this song so that you only need to use 3 fingers to play it. In fact, in this case, it is even not necessary to learn what chords to play or what the word “chord” means! The notes to play are quite clearly shown on the video. The purpose of the simplifying is so that an adult beginner can enjoy the song, by picking up the playing easily and singing along while playing.

Note: I used my thumb and the index finger (right hand) in the video so that you can see the notes I was playing clearly. You don’t have to follow the fingers I used. Simply use any fingers that you find easier to play the notes with.

Here is the video…

Do you want to know the chord progression and how I simplify them to playing with 3 fingers? My guess is you are probably not interested. If anyone is, please email me at leshmye@gmail.com for details.

I will save my time explaining it for now. ：）

These are the “cheat” chords I played…

Verse: C - G/B - Am7 - G - F - G/F - Em7 - Am7 - D/F# - F/G - G
Chorus (Part 1): F - Em7 - Am7 - Dm7 - G/B - C - Bb/C
Chorus (Part 2): F - Em7 - Am7 - D/F# - F - C

Tags: cheats, chord progressions, danny chan, how to play, on piano, piano chords, shortcuts, simplified, video illustration, wait, 等， 陈百强

It should be quite simple to just follow the video above. However, if you want to know more about the chords and chord progressions, please read on.

The verse may be divided into 2 parts as below:

(1) I –> IV/1 –> I –> I/M –> IV –> V4 –> V –>

(2) IV/M –> IV –> I/M –> IV –> I/5 –> V –> I

Please see “The M Bass” post for the M notation above.

The song actually modulates from Eb to F, then to F#. I am only showing the chords in F key on the video. If you know how to play “by number”, then any key should be okay for you. Anyway, in the key of F, the above progression is translated into…

(1) F –> C/F –> F –> F/A –> Bb –> C4 –> C –>

(2) Bb/D –> Bb –> F/A –> Bb –> F/C –> C –> F

One thing worth noticing is this… that when I play a chord with M bass, I usually do not play that M note in the chord itself. For example, for F/A: my left hand plays the A note, and my right hand chord is only made up of 2 notes: F and C (i.e., A note is removed). Someone told me before that this is the rule. Don’t ask me why, but I do agree that it sounds better this way. So, let’s do that whenever we use the M bass (as much as possible).

The chorus may be divided into 3 parts:

(1) IV/M –> IV –> I/M –>

(2) (V/M) –> IV/M –> IV –> V4 –> V

(3) I –> IV/1 –> I –> IV –> I/5 –> V –> I

In the F key, the 3 parts are translated into:

(1) Bb/D –> Bb –> F/A –>

(2) (C/E) –> Bb/D –> Bb –> C4 –> C

(3) F –> Bb/F –> F –> Bb –> F/C –> C –> F

That’s all. You only need the 3 basic chords (I, IV and V) to play this song (on your right hand, that is). Well, except a C4. Please see “Suspension (part 1)” post for C4.

Tags: cheats, chord progressions, how to play, josh groban, piano chords, shortcuts, video illustration, westlife, you raise me up