Super Simple Chords

Piano chords · Dreamy ballad

How to play The Call on piano

Written by Regina Spektor

Tuning the piano…
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Style

Left hand Open skyRight hand Steady chordsChords the loop the song repeats most

Learn The Call in 5 steps

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

  1. 1

    Chords: Bb – F – Gm – Eb

    The Call sits in Bb major: Bb is home, where the song ends. It goes round 4 chords: Bb is Bb, D and F; F is F, A and C; Gm is G, Bb and D; Eb is Eb, G and Bb. Play each one as a block with your right hand until the changes feel easy.

    BbIFVGmviEbIV
    • BbBb · D · F
    • FF · A · C
    • GmG · Bb · D
    • EbEb · G · Bb
    266 songs go round the same chords
  2. 2

    Left hand: Open sky

    Root, fifth, then a high third: open and airy, the sound of a big sky. Musicians call it open arpeggio 1-5-10 (open arpeggio), a medium pattern heard in 918 songs of the library.

  3. 3

    Right hand: Steady chords

    A full chord on every beat, steady and simple. It moves with the chords, so it fits every bar of the loop.

  4. 4

    Both hands at 90 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: Eb – F – Bb

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

    EbFBb

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Questions about The Call

What chords are in The Call?

The loop is Bb – F – Gm – Eb (I – V – vi – IV) in Bb major, and the song ends on Eb – F – Bb.

What key is The Call in?

Bb major, at about 90 beats a minute in 4/4.

What does the left hand play in The Call?

Open sky: open arpeggio 1-5-10, a medium pattern. It follows the chords, so the same shape works for every bar.

Is The Call 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.