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How to play Fifty Ways To Leave Your Lover on piano

By Simon & Garfunkel

  • G major
  • 3/4
  • 160 BPM
  • 1975
  • Medium
Tuning the piano…
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Left hand Moon River rollThe right hand sings the tuneChords the loop the song repeats most

Play the full song with sheet music

Learn Fifty Ways To Leave Your Lover in 5 steps

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

  1. 1

    Chords: B7 – Em – D – C

    How it goes

    Fifty Ways To Leave Your Lover sits in G major: G is home, where the song ends. It goes round 4 chords: B7 is B, D#, F# and A; Em is E, G and B; D is D, F# and A; C is C, E and G. Play each one as a block with your right hand until the changes feel easy.

    B7III7EmviDVCIV
    • B7B · D# · F# · A
    • EmE · G · B
    • DD · F# · A
    • CC · E · G
  2. 2

    Left hand: Moon River roll

    How it goes

    A wide, flowing roll in three, the Moon River feel. Musicians call it open arpeggio 1-5-10 (3/4) (open arpeggio), a medium pattern heard in 441 songs of the library.

  3. 3

    Right hand: the chords, held

    How it goes

    In this song the right hand mostly plays the tune itself. Hold the chords lightly, or play the melody over the left hand.

  4. 4

    Both hands at 160 BPM

    How it goes

    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: C – D – G

    How it goes

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

    CDG
    • GG · B · D

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Questions about Fifty Ways To Leave Your Lover

What chords are in Fifty Ways To Leave Your Lover?

The loop is B7 – Em – D – C (III7 – vi – V – IV) in G major, and the song ends on C – D – G.

What key is Fifty Ways To Leave Your Lover in?

G major, at about 160 beats a minute in 3/4.

What does the left hand play in Fifty Ways To Leave Your Lover?

Moon River roll: open arpeggio 1-5-10 (3/4), a medium pattern. It follows the chords, so the same shape works for every bar.

Is Fifty Ways To Leave Your Lover 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.