Left-hand pattern · Dreamy ballad
Three-step climb
Root, fifth, octave, then let it ring. Musicians call it broken chord 1-5-8.
Want to mix it with other hands?
How Three-step climb 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.
Broken chord: The chord, one note at a time, close together.
Songs with Three-step climb
Each one opens with this pattern in its player.
Often comes next
The patterns songs move to after Three-step climb, from verse to chorus.
More ripples
All patternsQuestions about Three-step climb
What is Three-step climb on piano?
Root, fifth, octave, then let it ring. Musicians call it broken chord 1-5-8, one of the broken chord patterns: the chord, one note at a time, close together.
How do I play broken chord 1-5-8 with the left hand?
Over C major it is C3 (5), then G3 (2), 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 Three-step climb?
It is heard in thousands of songs of the library, as the main groove of 267 songs, such as A Whole New World, What’d I Say?, I Believe In You, Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word.
Is Three-step climb easy?
It is an easy pattern, in 4/4, usually around 100 beats a minute.