Super Simple Chords

Piano chords · Rock drive

How to play I Don't Wanna Break on piano

By Christina Perri

Tuning the piano…
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Style

Left hand Engine 8thsRight hand Pop stabsChords the loop the song repeats most

Play the full song with sheet music

Learn I Don't Wanna Break in 5 steps

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

  1. 1

    Chords: D – G – Bm – A

    How it goes

    I Don't Wanna Break sits in D major: D is home, where the song ends. It goes round 4 chords: D is D, F# and A; G is G, B and D; Bm is B, D and F#; A is A, C# and E. Play each one as a block with your right hand until the changes feel easy.

    DIGIVBmviAV
    • DD · F# · A
    • GG · B · D
    • BmB · D · F#
    • AA · C# · E
    67 songs go round the same chords
  2. 2

    Left hand: Engine 8ths

    How it goes

    The lowest note on every eighth: the engine of rock. Musicians call it root bass · 8ths (root bass rhythm), a medium pattern heard in thousands of songs of the library.

  3. 3

    Right hand: Pop stabs

    How it goes

    Chord stabs in the 3-3-2 pop rhythm. It moves with the chords, so it fits every bar of the loop.

  4. 4

    Both hands at 135 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: G – A – D

    How it goes

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

    GAD

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Questions about I Don't Wanna Break

What chords are in I Don't Wanna Break?

The loop is D – G – Bm – A (I – IV – vi – V) in D major, and the song ends on G – A – D.

What key is I Don't Wanna Break in?

D major, at about 135 beats a minute in 4/4.

What does the left hand play in I Don't Wanna Break?

Engine 8ths: root bass · 8ths, a medium pattern. It follows the chords, so the same shape works for every bar.

Is I Don't Wanna Break 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.