Piano chords · Pop heartbeat
How to play Skin on piano
By Rihanna
- G minor
- 4/4
- 65 BPM
- 2010
- Medium
Learn Skin in 5 steps
The chords first, then one hand at a time. Each step plays in the player above.
- 1
Chords: Gm – Cm – Eb – Gm
Skin sits in G minor: G is home, where the song ends. It goes round 4 chords: Gm is G, Bb and D; Cm is C, Eb and G; Eb is Eb, G and Bb. Play each one as a block with your right hand until the changes feel easy.
GmiCmivEbVIGmi- GmG · Bb · D
- CmC · Eb · G
- EbEb · G · Bb
- 2
Left hand: Pop heartbeat
Long, short, long: the heartbeat under a thousand pop songs. Musicians call it root bass · charleston push (1 · 2& · 3) (root bass rhythm), an easy pattern heard in thousands of songs of the library.
- 3
Right hand: Twinkle
Two notes twinkling back and forth. It moves with the chords, so it fits every bar of the loop.
- 4
Both hands at 65 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: Eb – F – Gm
The last chords are bVI – bVII – i, then one chord rolled from the bottom up, left to ring.
EbFGm- FF · A · C
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Questions about Skin
What chords are in Skin?
The loop is Gm – Cm – Eb – Gm (i – iv – bVI – i) in G minor, and the song ends on Eb – F – Gm.
What key is Skin in?
G minor, at about 65 beats a minute in 4/4.
What does the left hand play in Skin?
Pop heartbeat: root bass · charleston push (1 · 2& · 3), an easy pattern. It follows the chords, so the same shape works for every bar.
Is Skin 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.