Do Your Own Thing Piano Chords & Patterns

Learn Do Your Own Thing in 5 steps

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

1
Chords: Am – E – Am – E
Do Your Own Thing sits in A minor: A is home, where the song ends. It goes round 4 chords: Am is A, C and E; E is E, G# and B. Play each one as a block with your right hand until the changes feel easy.
AmiEVAmiEV
- AmA · C · E
- EE · G# · B
14 songs go round the same chords
2
Left hand: Ping-pong bounce
High, low, high, low on every beat: a ping-pong bounce. Musicians call it broken chord 8-5 (broken chord), an easy pattern heard in 302 songs of the library.
Ping-pong bounceBroken chord · BalladLeft handEasy
3
Right hand: Sparkler
One note fizzes in quick little bursts, then wiggles at the end. It moves with the chords, so it fits every bar of the loop.
SparklerBroken-chord figure · Film scoreRight handMedium
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: F – G – Am
The last chords are bVI – bVII – i, then one chord rolled from the bottom up, left to ring.
FGAm
- FF · A · C
- GG · B · D

What chords are in Do Your Own Thing?

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

What key is Do Your Own Thing in?

A minor, at about 100 beats a minute in 4/4.

What does the left hand play in Do Your Own Thing?

Ping-pong bounce: broken chord 8-5, an easy pattern. It follows the chords, so the same shape works for every bar.

Is Do Your Own Thing 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.