
26 Feb Fact: With 3 Chords You Can Play Hundreds of Songs On The Piano
Sound too good to be true? It’s not! Hey there – Scott Houston here. One of my three “Secrets” to teaching adults of any age how to learn AND enjoy playing the piano is that you only need a couple of chords to play dozens and dozens of songs that you know and enjoy. Learning songs you like helps to keep you energized and makes the learning process enjoyable instead of a chore. Over the years, many of the most popular songs we hear on the radio actually use this secret to create their chart topping hits.
But don’t just take my word for it! Below, you’ll find a comical video by the Australian comedy rock group “The Axis of Awesome.” Back in 2009, they preformed a skit to prove just how many chart topping hits only use 4 chords by meshing together 35+ songs into one “4 chord song.” It demonstrates in a fun and entertaining way how just a few chords can open up the flood gates!
WARNING: I must warn that there is one instance of “colorful” language at the beginning of this video – around the 0:45 second mark. But don’t worry, the rest of the video is very clean and entertaining! I think you’ll be surprised by how many tunes you recognize.
35+ Songs With Only 4 Chords
Here is a full list of the songs they play:
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Pretty incredible huh? With just a handful of chords in your pocket, songs that you know and love, just like these, will open up to you on the piano!
Happy Playing!
Scott Houston
Steve holloway
Posted at 10:43h, 04 Marchwhat do you do when the melody notes intersect the chords. ie.. Am chord and notation requiring a c note
Scott Houston
Posted at 12:29h, 06 MarchThat’s an easy one Steve … Just play your entire melody line up on octave higher. It will create more separation between your LH chords and the Rh melody and will solve that problem. Also, it often sounds nicer to play the melody up an octave from where you might see it written in a lead sheet. it’s the same reason sopranos always get the melody in choir, it just “sings” a little more played up higher.
Donna Christensen,Donna
Posted at 15:35h, 11 FebruaryThat was very good and fun. can’t wait to get to the piano.
Donna Christensen
Ulla
Posted at 10:31h, 26 FebruaryLooking forward 😃
sophie
Posted at 15:54h, 19 MarchWow! Incredible!