Does Your Mother Know Piano Chords & Patterns

Learn Does Your Mother Know in 5 steps

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

1
Chords: Cm – G – Cm – G
Does Your Mother Know sits in G major: G is home, where the song ends. It goes round 4 chords: Cm is C, Eb and G; G is G, B and D. Play each one as a block with your right hand until the changes feel easy.
CmivGICmivGI
- CmC · Eb · G
- GG · B · D
14 songs go round the same chords
2
Left hand: Rockabilly wiggle
Root, a skip down, a step down and back up: a rockabilly shake. Musicians call it broken chord 8-6-5-6 (broken chord), an easy pattern heard in 76 songs of the library.
Rockabilly wiggleBroken chord · BalladLeft handEasy
3
Right hand: Pumping chords
A chord on every eighth note, driving the song forward. It moves with the chords, so it fits every bar of the loop.
Pumping chordsPumping 8ths · RockRight handMedium
4
Both hands at 120 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 – C – G
The last chords are I – IV – I, then one chord rolled from the bottom up, left to ring.
GCG
- CC · E · G

What chords are in Does Your Mother Know?

The loop is Cm – G – Cm – G (iv – I – iv – I) in G major, and the song ends on G – C – G.

What key is Does Your Mother Know in?

G major, at about 120 beats a minute in 4/4.

What does the left hand play in Does Your Mother Know?

Rockabilly wiggle: broken chord 8-6-5-6, an easy pattern. It follows the chords, so the same shape works for every bar.

Is Does Your Mother Know 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.