Piano chords · Rock drive

How to play The Best Of Times on piano

Tuning the piano…

Learn it

Learn The Best Of Times in 5 steps

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

1
Chords: Am – G – Am – G – Am – G – Am – F – G
How it goes
The Best Of Times sits in C major: C is home, where the song ends. It goes round 9 chords: Am is A, C and E; G is G, B and D; F is F, A and C. Play each one as a block with your right hand until the changes feel easy.
AmviGVAmviGVAmviGVAmviFIVGV
- AmA · C · E
- GG · B · D
- FF · A · C
23 songs go round the same chords
2
Left hand: Power fifths
How it goes
Root and fifth together: big and bold. Musicians call it lh power fifths (left-hand chords), a medium pattern heard in thousands of songs of the library.
Power fifthsLeft-hand chords · RockLeft handMedium
3
Right hand: Mouse-run chords
How it goes
Skips beat 1, scurries through four quick chords, then hides. It moves with the chords, so it fits every bar of the loop.
Mouse-run chordsSyncopated chords · PopRight handEasy
4
Both hands at 80 BPM
How it goes
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: F – G – C
How it goes
The last chords are IV – V – I, then one chord rolled from the bottom up, left to ring.
FGC
- CC · E · G

What chords are in The Best Of Times?

The loop is Am – G – Am – G – Am – G – Am – F – G (vi – V – vi – V – vi – V – vi – IV – V) in C major, and the song ends on F – G – C.

What key is The Best Of Times in?

C major, at about 80 beats a minute in 4/4.

What does the left hand play in The Best Of Times?

Power fifths: lh power fifths, a medium pattern. It follows the chords, so the same shape works for every bar.

Is The Best Of Times easy to play on piano?

It is a medium one: learn the 9 chords as blocks first, then add the left hand, then the right, slowly.

Can I hear the real melody of The Best Of Times?

Yes: "The part you know" plays the repeating figure of the song from a score, with both hands.

Made from 2 arrangements of this song: the left and right hands are the patterns these scores repeat most.