Piano chords · Pop heartbeat
How to play I Shot The Sheriff on piano
By Bob Marley
- G minor
- 2/2
- 160 BPM
- 1974
- Medium
Play the full song with sheet music
Learn I Shot The Sheriff in 5 steps
The chords first, then one hand at a time. Each step plays in the player above.
- 1
Chords: Gm – Gm – Cm7 – Cm7
How it goes
I Shot The Sheriff sits in G minor: G is home, where the song ends. It goes round 4 chords: Gm is G, Bb and D; Cm7 is C, Eb, G and Bb. Play each one as a block with your right hand until the changes feel easy.
GmiGmiCm7iv7Cm7iv7- GmG · Bb · D
- Cm7C · Eb · G · Bb
- 2
Left hand: Tick-tick-boom pulse
How it goes
Two quick low notes and a high one, twice: ta-ta-DUM, ta-ta-DUM. Musicians call it root bass · 8ths 1-2, 3-4 (root bass rhythm), a medium pattern heard in 479 songs of the library.
- 3
Right hand: Hand-clap chords
How it goes
Rests on beat 1, then clap-clap on 2 and one more clap on 4. It moves with the chords, so it fits every bar of the loop.
- 4
Both hands at 160 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
Ending: Eb – F – Gm
How it goes
The last chords are bVI – bVII – i, then one chord rolled from the bottom up, left to ring.
EbFGm- EbEb · G · Bb
- FF · A · C
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Questions about I Shot The Sheriff
What chords are in I Shot The Sheriff?
The loop is Gm – Gm – Cm7 – Cm7 (i – iv7 – i – iv7) in G minor, and the song ends on Eb – F – Gm.
What key is I Shot The Sheriff in?
G minor, at about 160 beats a minute in 2/2.
What does the left hand play in I Shot The Sheriff?
Tick-tick-boom pulse: root bass · 8ths 1-2, 3-4, a medium pattern. It follows the chords, so the same shape works for every bar.
Is I Shot The Sheriff 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.
Can I hear the real melody of I Shot The Sheriff?
Yes: "The part you know" plays the bass riff of the song from a score, with both hands.
Made from 3 arrangements of this song: the left and right hands are the patterns these scores repeat most.