Super Simple Chords

Piano chords · Pop heartbeat

How to play The Fire Down Below on piano

By Bob Seger

Tuning the piano…
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Style

Left hand Double-skip footstepsRight hand Run-up chordsChords the loop the song repeats most

Learn The Fire Down Below in 5 steps

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

  1. 1

    Chords: C – G – F – C

    The Fire Down Below sits in C major: C is home, where the song ends. It goes round 4 chords: C is C, E and G; 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.

    CIGVFIVCI
    • CC · E · G
    • GG · B · D
    • FF · A · C
    202 songs go round the same chords
  2. 2

    Left hand: Double-skip footsteps

    Steady steps with two quick skips, one mid-bar and one at the end. Musicians call it root bass · 1 · 2 · 2& · 3 · 4 · 4& (root bass rhythm), a medium pattern heard in 397 songs of the library.

  3. 3

    Right hand: Run-up chords

    Four steady chords plus a quick extra one leading into the next bar. It moves with the chords, so it fits every bar of the loop.

  4. 4

    Both hands at 110 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

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Questions about The Fire Down Below

What chords are in The Fire Down Below?

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

What key is The Fire Down Below in?

C major, at about 110 beats a minute in 4/4.

What does the left hand play in The Fire Down Below?

Double-skip footsteps: root bass · 1 · 2 · 2& · 3 · 4 · 4&, a medium pattern. It follows the chords, so the same shape works for every bar.

Is The Fire Down Below 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.