Super Simple Chords

Piano chords · Blues & boogie

How to play Mona Lisa on piano

By Nat King Cole

Tuning the piano…
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Style

Left hand Boogie walkerRight hand Late-knock chordsChords the loop the song repeats most

Play the full song with sheet music

Learn Mona Lisa in 5 steps

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

  1. 1

    Chords: Bb – C7 – F7 – Bb

    How it goes

    Mona Lisa sits in Bb major: Bb is home, where the song ends. It goes round 4 chords: Bb is Bb, D and F; C7 is C, E, G and Bb; F7 is F, A, C and Eb. Play each one as a block with your right hand until the changes feel easy.

    BbIC7II7F7V7BbI
    • BbBb · D · F
    • C7C · E · G · Bb
    • F7F · A · C · Eb
    34 songs go round the same chords
  2. 2

    Left hand: Boogie walker

    How it goes

    A walking line that climbs and falls through the chord. Musicians call it boogie-woogie line (boogie & shuffle), a medium pattern heard in 807 songs of the library.

  3. 3

    Right hand: Late-knock chords

    How it goes

    One chord, a long wait, then a quick knock-knock at the end. It moves with the chords, so it fits every bar of the loop.

  4. 4

    Both hands at 70 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: Eb – F – Bb

    How it goes

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

    EbFBb
    • EbEb · G · Bb
    • FF · A · C

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Questions about Mona Lisa

What chords are in Mona Lisa?

The loop is Bb – C7 – F7 – Bb (I – II7 – V7 – I) in Bb major, and the song ends on Eb – F – Bb.

What key is Mona Lisa in?

Bb major, at about 70 beats a minute in 4/4.

What does the left hand play in Mona Lisa?

Boogie walker: boogie-woogie line, a medium pattern. It follows the chords, so the same shape works for every bar.

Is Mona Lisa 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 4 arrangements of this song: the left and right hands are the patterns these scores repeat most.