Right-hand pattern · Old-time stride
Clockwork chords
Four quick, even chords per short bar, ticking like clockwork. Musicians call it syncopated chords in 2/4 8ths.
Want to mix it with other hands?
How Clockwork chords goes
One bar over a C chord: a row for each key, a column for each step, the finger on each note. Over another chord, move the same shape to its root.
Syncopated chords: Chords that land between the beats: that pop push. In 4/4 it is played twice a bar.
Songs with Clockwork chords
Each one opens with this pattern in its player.
Often comes next
The patterns songs move to after Clockwork chords, from verse to chorus.
More pushing chords
All patternsQuestions about Clockwork chords
What is Clockwork chords on piano?
Four quick, even chords per short bar, ticking like clockwork. Musicians call it syncopated chords in 2/4 8ths, one of the syncopated chords patterns: chords that land between the beats: that pop push.
How do I play syncopated chords · 2/4 8ths with the right hand?
Over C major it is G4 (1) + C5 (3) + E5 (5), then G4 (1) + C5 (3) + E5 (5), then G4 (1) + C5 (3) + E5 (5), then G4 (1) + C5 (3) + E5 (5), then G4 (1) + C5 (3) + E5 (5), then G4 (1) + C5 (3) + E5 (5), and so on; the number after each note is the finger (1 is the thumb). Over any other chord, move the same shape to that chord's root.
What songs use Clockwork chords?
It is heard in 179 songs of the library, as the main groove of 26 songs, such as When The Roll Is Called Up Yonder, Rondo Alla Turca (Finale), A Hundred Million Miracles, You’re A Grand Old Flag.
Is Clockwork chords easy?
It is a medium pattern, in 2/4, usually around 100 beats a minute.