Left-hand pattern · Rock drive
Heartbeat octaves
Low, high, low, high: a bouncing heartbeat. Musicians call it rocking octaves.
Want to mix it with other hands?
How Heartbeat octaves 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.
Rocking octaves: The same note jumping low and high, like a heartbeat.
Songs with Heartbeat octaves
Each one opens with this pattern in its player.
Often comes next
The patterns songs move to after Heartbeat octaves, from verse to chorus.
More rock & boogie
All patternsQuestions about Heartbeat octaves
What is Heartbeat octaves on piano?
Low, high, low, high: a bouncing heartbeat. Musicians call it rocking octaves, one of the rocking octaves patterns: the same note jumping low and high, like a heartbeat.
How do I play rocking octaves with the left hand?
Over C major it is C3 (5), then C4 (1), then C3 (5), then C4 (1); 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 Heartbeat octaves?
It is heard in thousands of songs of the library, as the main groove of 711 songs, such as Crocodile Rock, Sweet Caroline, Poker Face, Counting Stars.
Is Heartbeat octaves easy?
It is an easy pattern, in 4/4, usually around 112 beats a minute.