Super Simple Chords

Piano chords · Bossa beach

How to play Clarinade on piano

By Benny Goodman

  • D major
  • 4/4
  • 140 BPM
  • 1943
  • Medium
Tuning the piano…
Learn it
Style

Left hand Bossa seesawRight hand Hurrying chordsChords the loop the song repeats most

Learn Clarinade in 5 steps

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

  1. 1

    Chords: D – D7 – D – G

    Clarinade sits in D major: D is home, where the song ends. It goes round 4 chords: D is D, F# and A; D7 is D, F#, A and C; G is G, B and D. Play each one as a block with your right hand until the changes feel easy.

    DID7I7DIGIV
    • DD · F# · A
    • D7D · F# · A · C
    • GG · B · D
  2. 2

    Left hand: Bossa seesaw

    Low-low, high-high in a laid-back Brazilian sway. Musicians call it root–fifth 1-1-5-5 (root–fifth bass), an easy pattern heard in 428 songs of the library.

  3. 3

    Right hand: Hurrying chords

    Calm chords in the first half, then twice as fast to the end. It moves with the chords, so it fits every bar of the loop.

  4. 4

    Both hands at 140 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. 5

    Ending: D – C – D

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

    DCD
    • CC · E · G

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Questions about Clarinade

What chords are in Clarinade?

The loop is D – D7 – D – G (I – I7 – I – IV) in D major, and the song ends on D – C – D.

What key is Clarinade in?

D major, at about 140 beats a minute in 4/4.

What does the left hand play in Clarinade?

Bossa seesaw: root–fifth 1-1-5-5, an easy pattern. It follows the chords, so the same shape works for every bar.

Is Clarinade 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.