Super Simple Chords

Piano chords · Pop heartbeat

How to play An Unexpected Rain on piano

By Melissa Etheridge

Tuning the piano…
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Left hand Tick-tick-boom pulseRight hand Pumping chordsChords the loop the song repeats most

Play the full song with sheet music

Learn An Unexpected Rain in 5 steps

The chords first, then one hand at a time. Each step plays in the player above.

  1. 1

    Chords: Am – F – Am – F

    How it goes

    An Unexpected Rain sits in A minor: A is home, where the song ends. It goes round 4 chords: Am is A, C and E; F is F, A and C. Play each one as a block with your right hand until the changes feel easy.

    AmiFVIAmiFVI
    • AmA · C · E
    • FF · A · C
    54 songs go round the same chords
  2. 2

    Left hand: Tick-tick-boom pulse

    How it goes

    Two quick low notes and a high one, twice: ta-ta-DUM, ta-ta-DUM. Musicians call it root bass · 8ths 1-2, 3-4 (root bass rhythm), a medium pattern heard in 479 songs of the library.

  3. 3

    Right hand: Pumping chords

    How it goes

    A chord on every eighth note, driving the song forward. It moves with the chords, so it fits every bar of the loop.

  4. 4

    Both hands at 75 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. 5

    Ending: F – G – Am

    How it goes

    The last chords are bVI – bVII – i, then one chord rolled from the bottom up, left to ring.

    FGAm
    • GG · B · D

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Questions about An Unexpected Rain

What chords are in An Unexpected Rain?

The loop is Am – F – Am – F (i – bVI – i – bVI) in A minor, and the song ends on F – G – Am.

What key is An Unexpected Rain in?

A minor, at about 75 beats a minute in 4/4.

What does the left hand play in An Unexpected Rain?

Tick-tick-boom pulse: root bass · 8ths 1-2, 3-4, a medium pattern. It follows the chords, so the same shape works for every bar.

Is An Unexpected Rain 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.