Piano chords · Waltz garden
How to play To Be Alone on piano
By Hozier
- F minor
- 3/4
- 66 BPM
- 2014
- Medium
Play the full song with sheet music
Learn To Be Alone in 5 steps
The chords first, then one hand at a time. Each step plays in the player above.
- 1
Chords: Fm – Db – Ab – Eb
How it goes
To Be Alone sits in F minor: F is home, where the song ends. It goes round 4 chords: Fm is F, Ab and C; Db is Db, F and Ab; Ab is Ab, C and Eb; Eb is Eb, G and Bb. Play each one as a block with your right hand until the changes feel easy.
FmiDbVIAbIIIEbVII- FmF · Ab · C
- DbDb · F · Ab
- AbAb · C · Eb
- EbEb · G · Bb
- 2
Left hand: Spinning-top pulse
How it goes
Six even low notes in a three-beat bar, spinning round and round. Musicians call it root bass · 3/4 8ths (root bass rhythm), a medium pattern heard in 87 songs of the library.
- 3
Right hand: the chords, held
How it goes
In this song the right hand mostly plays the tune itself. Hold the chords lightly, or play the melody over the left hand.
- 4
Both hands at 66 BPM
How it goes
Put the two hands together over the loop. Start at half speed with the player's speed control, and bring it up once every change is easy.
- 5
Ending: Db – Eb – Fm
How it goes
The last chords are bVI – bVII – i, then one chord rolled from the bottom up, left to ring.
DbEbFm
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Questions about To Be Alone
What chords are in To Be Alone?
The loop is Fm – Db – Ab – Eb (i – VI – III – VII) in F minor, and the song ends on Db – Eb – Fm.
What key is To Be Alone in?
F minor, at about 66 beats a minute in 3/4.
What does the left hand play in To Be Alone?
Spinning-top pulse: root bass · 3/4 8ths, a medium pattern. It follows the chords, so the same shape works for every bar.
Is To Be Alone easy to play on piano?
It is a medium one: learn the 4 chords as blocks first, then add the left hand, then the right, slowly.
Made from one arrangement of this song: the left and right hands are the patterns these scores repeat most.