Piano chords · Pop heartbeat
How to play Automaton on piano
Artist unknown
- F# minor
- 4/4
- 100 BPM
- 2017
- Medium
Learn Automaton in 5 steps
The chords first, then one hand at a time. Each step plays in the player above.
- 1
Chords: F#m – D – G#m – B
Automaton sits in F# minor: F# is home, where the song ends. It goes round 4 chords: F#m is F#, A and C#; D is D, F# and A; G#m is G#, B and D#; B is B, D# and F#. Play each one as a block with your right hand until the changes feel easy.
F#miDVIG#miiBIV- F#mF# · A · C#
- DD · F# · A
- G#mG# · B · D#
- BB · D# · F#
- 2
Left hand: Walking roots
One low note on every beat, steady as walking feet. Musicians call it root bass · quarters (root bass rhythm), an easy pattern heard in thousands of songs of the library.
- 3
Right hand: Rising bubbles
Three notes float up again and again, each time starting just off the beat. It moves with the chords, so it fits every bar of the loop.
- 4
Both hands at 100 BPM
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: D – E – F#m
The last chords are bVI – bVII – i, then one chord rolled from the bottom up, left to ring.
DEF#m- EE · G# · B
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Questions about Automaton
What chords are in Automaton?
The loop is F#m – D – G#m – B (i – bVI – ii – IV) in F# minor, and the song ends on D – E – F#m.
What key is Automaton in?
F# minor, at about 100 beats a minute in 4/4.
What does the left hand play in Automaton?
Walking roots: root bass · quarters, an easy pattern. It follows the chords, so the same shape works for every bar.
Is Automaton 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.