Super Simple Chords

Piano chords · Lullaby boat

How to play Something He Can Feel on piano

By Curtis Mayfield

Tuning the piano…
Learn it
Style

Left hand Swelling 6/8Right hand Rowing-boat chordsChords the loop the song repeats most

Learn Something He Can Feel in 5 steps

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

  1. 1

    Chords: C – Dm – C – Dm

    Something He Can Feel sits in C major: C is home, where the song ends. It goes round 4 chords: C is C, E and G; Dm is D, F and A. Play each one as a block with your right hand until the changes feel easy.

    CIDmiiCIDmii
    • CC · E · G
    • DmD · F · A
    164 songs go round the same chords
  2. 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. 3

    Right hand: Rowing-boat chords

    Six even chords per bar, rolling along like oars on water. It moves with the chords, so it fits every bar of the loop.

  4. 4

    Both hands at 104 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. 5

    Ending: F – G – C

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

    FGC
    • FF · A · C
    • GG · B · D

Play next

Questions about Something He Can Feel

What chords are in Something He Can Feel?

The loop is C – Dm – C – Dm (I – ii – I – ii) in C major, and the song ends on F – G – C.

What key is Something He Can Feel in?

C major, at about 104 beats a minute in 6/8.

What does the left hand play in Something He Can Feel?

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 Something He Can Feel 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.