Piano chords · Pop heartbeat
How to play Pray For Me on piano
By The Weeknd with Kendrick Lamar
- E minor
- 4/4
- 85 BPM
- 2018
- Medium
Learn Pray For Me in 5 steps
The chords first, then one hand at a time. Each step plays in the player above.
- 1
Chords: Em – D – Am – C
Pray For Me sits in E minor: E is home, where the song ends. It goes round 4 chords: Em is E, G and B; D is D, F# and A; Am is A, C and E; C is C, E and G. Play each one as a block with your right hand until the changes feel easy.
EmiDVIIAmivCVI- EmE · G · B
- DD · F# · A
- AmA · C · E
- CC · E · G
- 2
Left hand: Galloping heartbeat
Ta-DUM, ta-DUM: quick pickups into beats 2 and 4, like hooves. Musicians call it root bass · 1 · 1a · 2 · 3 · 3a · 4 (root bass rhythm), a medium pattern heard in 115 songs of the library.
- 3
Right hand: Ticking clock
One high note repeated on every quick beat: tick, tick, tick. It moves with the chords, so it fits every bar of the loop.
- 4
Both hands at 85 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: C – D – Em
The last chords are bVI – bVII – i, then one chord rolled from the bottom up, left to ring.
CDEm
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Questions about Pray For Me
What chords are in Pray For Me?
The loop is Em – D – Am – C (i – bVII – iv – bVI) in E minor, and the song ends on C – D – Em.
What key is Pray For Me in?
E minor, at about 85 beats a minute in 4/4.
What does the left hand play in Pray For Me?
Galloping heartbeat: root bass · 1 · 1a · 2 · 3 · 3a · 4, a medium pattern. It follows the chords, so the same shape works for every bar.
Is Pray For Me 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.