Time After Time Piano Chords & Patterns

Learn Time After Time in 5 steps

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

1
Chords: Dm – G7 – C – Am
Time After Time sits in C major: C is home, where the song ends. It goes round 4 chords: Dm is D, F and A; G7 is G, B, D and F; C is C, E and G; Am is A, C and E. Play each one as a block with your right hand until the changes feel easy.
DmiiG7V7CIAmvi
- DmD · F · A
- G7G · B · D · F
- CC · E · G
- AmA · C · E
37 songs go round the same chords
2
Left hand: Three-step climb
Root, fifth, octave, then let it ring. Musicians call it broken chord 1-5-8 (broken chord), an easy pattern heard in thousands of songs of the library.
Three-step climbBroken chord · BalladLeft handEasy
3
Right hand: Twinkle
Two notes twinkling back and forth. It moves with the chords, so it fits every bar of the loop.
TwinkleTwo-note ostinato · BalladRight handMedium
4
Both hands at 150 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: 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

What chords are in Time After Time?

The loop is Dm – G7 – C – Am (ii – V7 – I – vi) in C major, and the song ends on F – G – C.

What key is Time After Time in?

C major, at about 150 beats a minute in 4/4.

What does the left hand play in Time After Time?

Three-step climb: broken chord 1-5-8, an easy pattern. It follows the chords, so the same shape works for every bar.

Is Time After Time 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.