Blue Ain’t Your Color Piano Chords & Patterns

Learn Blue Ain’t Your Color in 5 steps

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

1
Chords: G – Am – C – D
Blue Ain’t Your Color sits in G major: G is home, where the song ends. It goes round 4 chords: G is G, B and D; Am is A, C and E; C is C, E and G; D is D, F# and A. Play each one as a block with your right hand until the changes feel easy.
GIAmiiCIVDV
- GG · B · D
- AmA · C · E
- CC · E · G
- DD · F# · A
32 songs go round the same chords
2
Left hand: Swelling 6/8
Rises to the top and falls back in one rocking six-note wave. Musicians call it open arpeggio 1-5-8-10-8-5 (6/8) (open arpeggio), a medium pattern heard in 73 songs of the library.
Swelling 6/8Open arpeggio · LullabyLeft handMedium
3
Right hand: Rowing-boat chords
Six even chords per bar, rolling along like oars on water. It moves with the chords, so it fits every bar of the loop.
Rowing-boat chordsSyncopated chords · LullabyRight handMedium
4
Both hands at 81 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: G – Am – G
The last chords are I – ii – I, then one chord rolled from the bottom up, left to ring.
GAmG

What chords are in Blue Ain’t Your Color?

The loop is G – Am – C – D (I – ii – IV – V) in G major, and the song ends on G – Am – G.

What key is Blue Ain’t Your Color in?

G major, at about 81 beats a minute in 6/8.

What does the left hand play in Blue Ain’t Your Color?

Swelling 6/8: open arpeggio 1-5-8-10-8-5 (6/8), a medium pattern. It follows the chords, so the same shape works for every bar.

Is Blue Ain’t Your Color 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.