Piano chords · Dreamy ballad

How to play What Are You Doing The Rest Of Your Life on piano

By Alan and Marilyn Bergman and Michel Legrand

Tuning the piano…

Learn it

Learn What Are You Doing The Rest Of Your Life in 5 steps

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

1
Chords: Am – Am – Fmaj7 – Fmaj7
How it goes
What Are You Doing The Rest Of Your Life sits in A minor: A is home, where the song ends. It goes round 4 chords: Am is A, C and E; Fmaj7 is F, A, C and E. Play each one as a block with your right hand until the changes feel easy.
AmiAmiFmaj7VImaj7Fmaj7VImaj7
- AmA · C · E
- Fmaj7F · A · C · E
2
Left hand: Rolling waves
How it goes
Rolls up to the high third and back down, like a wave on the shore. Musicians call it open arpeggio 1-5-10-5 (open arpeggio), a medium pattern heard in 545 songs of the library.
Rolling wavesOpen arpeggio · BalladLeft handMedium
3
Right hand: Hopscotch chords
How it goes
Chord, chord, skip beat 3, chord: hopping over a square. It moves with the chords, so it fits every bar of the loop.
Hopscotch chordsBlock chords · StrideRight handEasy
4
Both hands at 100 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 – Am
How it goes
The last chords are bVI – bVII – i, then one chord rolled from the bottom up, left to ring.
FGAm
- FF · A · C
- GG · B · D

What chords are in What Are You Doing The Rest Of Your Life?

The loop is Am – Am – Fmaj7 – Fmaj7 (i – VImaj7 – i – VImaj7) in A minor, and the song ends on F – G – Am.

What key is What Are You Doing The Rest Of Your Life in?

A minor, at about 100 beats a minute in 4/4.

What does the left hand play in What Are You Doing The Rest Of Your Life?

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

Is What Are You Doing The Rest Of Your Life 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.

Can I hear the real melody of What Are You Doing The Rest Of Your Life?

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

Made from 3 arrangements of this song: the left and right hands are the patterns these scores repeat most.