Piano chords · Blues & boogie

How to play Bills on piano

Tuning the piano…

Learn it

Learn Bills in 5 steps

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

1
Chords: C7 – F – C7 – F
Bills sits in F major: F is home, where the song ends. It goes round 4 chords: C7 is C, E, G and Bb; F is F, A and C. Play each one as a block with your right hand until the changes feel easy.
C7V7FIC7V7FI
- C7C · E · G · Bb
- FF · A · C
414 songs go round the same chords
2
Left hand: Boogie walker
A walking line that climbs and falls through the chord. Musicians call it boogie-woogie line (boogie & shuffle), a medium pattern heard in 807 songs of the library.
Boogie walkerBoogie & shuffle · Blues and boogie-woogieLeft handMedium
3
Right hand: Ticking clock
One high note repeated on every quick beat: tick, tick, tick. It moves with the chords, so it fits every bar of the loop.
Ticking clockRepeated-note pulse · RockRight handMedium
4
Both hands at 127 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: Bb – C – F
The last chords are IV – V – I, then one chord rolled from the bottom up, left to ring.
BbCF
- BbBb · D · F
- CC · E · G

What chords are in Bills?

The loop is C7 – F – C7 – F (V7 – I – V7 – I) in F major, and the song ends on Bb – C – F.

What key is Bills in?

F major, at about 127 beats a minute in 4/4.

What does the left hand play in Bills?

Boogie walker: boogie-woogie line, a medium pattern. It follows the chords, so the same shape works for every bar.

Is Bills 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.