Super Simple Chords

Piano chords · Old-time stride

How to play Follow Your Arrow on piano

Artist unknown

Tuning the piano…
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Left hand Stride jumpsRight hand Double island chordsChords the loop the song repeats most

Learn Follow Your Arrow in 5 steps

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

  1. 1

    Chords: F – Dm – F – Dm

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

    FIDmviFIDmvi
    • FF · A · C
    • DmD · F · A
    135 songs go round the same chords
  2. 2

    Left hand: Stride jumps

    Deep bass, then a chord in the middle: the left hand leaps. Musicians call it stride (stride & boom-chick), an easy pattern heard in 961 songs of the library.

  3. 3

    Right hand: Double island chords

    The island rhythm squeezed in twice per bar: quick and dancy. It moves with the chords, so it fits every bar of the loop.

  4. 4

    Both hands at 90 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: Dm – C – F

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

    DmCF
    • CC · E · G

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Questions about Follow Your Arrow

What chords are in Follow Your Arrow?

The loop is F – Dm – F – Dm (I – vi – I – vi) in F major, and the song ends on Dm – C – F.

What key is Follow Your Arrow in?

F major, at about 90 beats a minute in 4/4.

What does the left hand play in Follow Your Arrow?

Stride jumps: stride, an easy pattern. It follows the chords, so the same shape works for every bar.

Is Follow Your Arrow 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.