Whilst the piano is an intrinsically diverse instrument that perpetuates some of the most beautiful, complicated sounds from its depths at the hands of talented men and women all over the world, the best part of picking up the piano (not literally, you understand) for the first time is the fact that you’ll be able to play your favourite songs with a minimal amount of practise! And once you’ve mastered the basics, you can move onwards and upwards. You’ll be playing Einaudi before you know what you hit you.
So, how, we hear you ask, will a complete beginner be able to pick up and play some of the most well-known songs in the world? Well luckily, many pop songs follow the same chord progression; after all, there are only 12 notes that repeat getting higher or lower, whilst 7 notes make up a major scale. Better still, C Major features only the white keys; and herein we find our crux.
Most pop songs are written in C Maj, and, as mentioned, follow a similar string of chords. As you can see from the image, the chords that make up the key of C are quite simple, and many, many songs follow the progression of:
1,6,4,5
Similarly:
1,5,4,6 is a popular variation. The list of songs that uses these chords goes on and on and on, each sounding slightly different due to rhythm and timing, with different melodies over the top.
Do you recognize any of these songs that all use the 1,6,4,5 progression?
- Eric Clapton – Something Special -Crocodile Rock (chorus) – Elton John
- D’yer Mak’er (verse) Led Zeppelin
- Earth Angel (verse) The Penguins
- Will Always Love You (chorus) Whitney Houston
- Last Kiss all – Pearl Jam
- My Girl (verse) The Temptations
- Total Eclipse of the Heart (chorus) – Bonnie Tyler
- Wonderful World – Sam Cooke
- Hoobastank – The Reason
- Ricky Nelson – Poor Little Fool
- The Penguins – Earth Angel
- The Police – Every Breath You Take
- The Rolling Stones – Hang Fire
- Standard – In the Still of the Night
- Sting – Every Breath You Take
Have a look at our diagram, search for your favourite songs and see if they use a progression you recognize. Next, get learning! It’s as simple as that. Don’t forget, at Coach House Pianos we stock not only the finest Steinway creations, but also a range of Yamaha pianos, perfect for getting started on or taking your playing to the next level!
