Super Simple Chords

Piano chords · Rock drive

How to play Give Me Your Tired, Your Poor on piano

By Irving Berlin

  • C major
  • 4/4
  • 105 BPM
  • 1949
  • Medium
Tuning the piano…
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Style

Left hand Power fifthsRight hand Steady chordsChords the loop the song repeats most

Play the full song with sheet music

Learn Give Me Your Tired, Your Poor in 5 steps

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

  1. 1

    Chords: Dm – D#dim – C – F

    How it goes

    Give Me Your Tired, Your Poor sits in C major: C is home, where the song ends. It goes round 4 chords: Dm is D, F and A; D#dim is D#, F# and A; C is C, E and G; F is F, A and C. Play each one as a block with your right hand until the changes feel easy.

    DmiiD#dimbiii°CIFIV
    • DmD · F · A
    • D#dimD# · F# · A
    • CC · E · G
    • FF · A · C
  2. 2

    Left hand: Power fifths

    How it goes

    Root and fifth together: big and bold. Musicians call it lh power fifths (left-hand chords), a medium pattern heard in thousands of songs of the library.

  3. 3

    Right hand: Steady chords

    How it goes

    A full chord on every beat, steady and simple. It moves with the chords, so it fits every bar of the loop.

  4. 4

    Both hands at 105 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 – G7 – C

    How it goes

    The last chords are I – V7 – I, then one chord rolled from the bottom up, left to ring.

    CG7C
    • G7G · B · D · F

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Questions about Give Me Your Tired, Your Poor

What chords are in Give Me Your Tired, Your Poor?

The loop is Dm – D#dim – C – F (ii – biiio – I – IV) in C major, and the song ends on C – G7 – C.

What key is Give Me Your Tired, Your Poor in?

C major, at about 105 beats a minute in 4/4.

What does the left hand play in Give Me Your Tired, Your Poor?

Power fifths: lh power fifths, a medium pattern. It follows the chords, so the same shape works for every bar.

Is Give Me Your Tired, Your Poor 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.