Piano chords · Film & wonder
How to play The Apartment on piano
Artist unknown
- F major
- 4/4
- 80 BPM
- Medium
Learn The Apartment in 5 steps
The chords first, then one hand at a time. Each step plays in the player above.
- 1
Chords: F – G#dim – Gm – F
The Apartment sits in F major: F is home, where the song ends. It goes round 4 chords: F is F, A and C; G#dim is G#, B and D; Gm is G, Bb and D. Play each one as a block with your right hand until the changes feel easy.
FIG#dimbiii°GmiiFI- FF · A · C
- G#dimG# · B · D
- GmG · Bb · D
- 2
Left hand: Ocean swell
Eight notes rise high and fall back down: one big ocean swell per bar. Musicians call it open arpeggio 1-5-8-10-12-10-8-5 (open arpeggio), a medium pattern heard in 80 songs of the library.
- 3
Right hand: Hopscotch chords
Chord, chord, skip beat 3, chord: hopping over a square. It moves with the chords, so it fits every bar of the loop.
- 4
Both hands at 80 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: Bb – C – F
The last chords are IV – V – I, then one chord rolled from the bottom up, left to ring.
BbCF- BbBb · D · F
- CC · E · G
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Questions about The Apartment
What chords are in The Apartment?
The loop is F – G#dim – Gm – F (I – biiio – ii – I) in F major, and the song ends on Bb – C – F.
What key is The Apartment in?
F major, at about 80 beats a minute in 4/4.
What does the left hand play in The Apartment?
Ocean swell: open arpeggio 1-5-8-10-12-10-8-5, a medium pattern. It follows the chords, so the same shape works for every bar.
Is The Apartment 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.