Super Simple Chords

Piano chords · Old-time stride

How to play Something’s Coming on piano

Written by Leonard Bernstein

Tuning the piano…
Learn it
Style

Left hand Toy-soldier marchRight hand Polka-hop chordsChords the loop the song repeats most

Learn Something’s Coming in 5 steps

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

  1. 1

    Chords: C – D – C – D

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

    CIDIICIDII
    • CC · E · G
    • DD · F# · A
    15 songs go round the same chords
  2. 2

    Left hand: Toy-soldier march

    A bright two-note chord, then the low root: a toy soldier’s left-right. Musicians call it lh triads (2/4) (left-hand chords), a medium pattern heard in 205 songs of the library.

  3. 3

    Right hand: Polka-hop chords

    Chords only on the “ands” in a quick two-beat bar: the “pah” of a polka. It moves with the chords, so it fits every bar of the loop.

  4. 4

    Both hands at 160 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’s Coming

What chords are in Something’s Coming?

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

What key is Something’s Coming in?

C major, at about 160 beats a minute in 3/4.

What does the left hand play in Something’s Coming?

Toy-soldier march: lh triads (2/4), a medium pattern. It follows the chords, so the same shape works for every bar.

Is Something’s Coming 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.