Piano chords · Lullaby boat
How to play I Know What Lies Ahead on piano
Written by Sylvia Jean Canter
- Ab major
- 6/8
- 87 BPM
- 1982
- Medium
Learn I Know What Lies Ahead in 5 steps
The chords first, then one hand at a time. Each step plays in the player above.
- 1
Chords: Ab – Fm – Ab – Eb7
I Know What Lies Ahead sits in Ab major: Ab is home, where the song ends. It goes round 4 chords: Ab is Ab, C and Eb; Fm is F, Ab and C; Eb7 is Eb, G, Bb and Db. Play each one as a block with your right hand until the changes feel easy.
AbIFmviAbIEb7V7- AbAb · C · Eb
- FmF · Ab · C
- Eb7Eb · G · Bb · Db
- 2
Left hand: Swelling 6/8
Rises to the top and falls back in one rocking six-note wave. Musicians call it open arpeggio 1-5-8-10-8-5 (6/8) (open arpeggio), a medium pattern heard in 73 songs of the library.
- 3
Right hand: Hammock chords
Long-short, long-short: soft chords sway like a hammock. It moves with the chords, so it fits every bar of the loop.
- 4
Both hands at 87 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
Ending: Ab – Eb7 – Ab
The last chords are I – V7 – I, then one chord rolled from the bottom up, left to ring.
AbEb7Ab
Questions about I Know What Lies Ahead
What chords are in I Know What Lies Ahead?
The loop is Ab – Fm – Ab – Eb7 (I – vi – I – V7) in Ab major, and the song ends on Ab – Eb7 – Ab.
What key is I Know What Lies Ahead in?
Ab major, at about 87 beats a minute in 6/8.
What does the left hand play in I Know What Lies Ahead?
Swelling 6/8: open arpeggio 1-5-8-10-8-5 (6/8), a medium pattern. It follows the chords, so the same shape works for every bar.
Is I Know What Lies Ahead 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.