Super Simple Chords

Piano chords · Pop heartbeat

How to play Harder To Breathe on piano

Written by James Valentine, Adam Levine & others

  • E major
  • 4/4
  • 100 BPM
  • 2002
  • Medium
Tuning the piano…
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Style

Left hand Pop heartbeatRight hand Running-late chordsChords the loop the song repeats most

Play the full song with sheet music

Learn Harder To Breathe in 5 steps

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

  1. 1

    Chords: C#m – F#m – C#dim – F#m

    How it goes

    Harder To Breathe sits in E major: E is home, where the song ends. It goes round 4 chords: C#m is C#, E and G#; F#m is F#, A and C#; C#dim is C#, E and G. Play each one as a block with your right hand until the changes feel easy.

    C#mviF#miiC#dimvi°F#mii
    • C#mC# · E · G#
    • F#mF# · A · C#
    • C#dimC# · E · G
  2. 2

    Left hand: Pop heartbeat

    How it goes

    Long, short, long: the heartbeat under a thousand pop songs. Musicians call it root bass · charleston push (1 · 2& · 3) (root bass rhythm), an easy pattern heard in thousands of songs of the library.

    Pop heartbeatRoot bass rhythm · PopLeft handEasy
  3. 3

    Right hand: Running-late chords

    How it goes

    Misses beat 1, then hurries in with busy chords around the beats. It moves with the chords, so it fits every bar of the loop.

    Running-late chordsSyncopated chords · PopRight handMedium
  4. 4

    Both hands at 100 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: A – B – E

    How it goes

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

    ABE
    • AA · C# · E
    • BB · D# · F#
    • EE · G# · B

Questions about Harder To Breathe

What chords are in Harder To Breathe?

The loop is C#m – F#m – C#dim – F#m (vi – ii – vio – ii) in E major, and the song ends on A – B – E.

What key is Harder To Breathe in?

E major, at about 100 beats a minute in 4/4.

What does the left hand play in Harder To Breathe?

Pop heartbeat: root bass · charleston push (1 · 2& · 3), an easy pattern. It follows the chords, so the same shape works for every bar.

Is Harder To Breathe 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.