Piano chords · Pop heartbeat
How to play What Love Can Do on piano
By Tom Eyen
- F major
- 4/4
- 120 BPM
- 1988
- Medium
Learn What Love Can Do in 5 steps
The chords first, then one hand at a time. Each step plays in the player above.
- 1
Chords: Dm – C – Dm – Bb
What Love Can Do sits in F major: F is home, where the song ends. It goes round 4 chords: Dm is D, F and A; C is C, E and G; Bb is Bb, D and F. Play each one as a block with your right hand until the changes feel easy.
DmviCVDmviBbIV- DmD · F · A
- CC · E · G
- BbBb · D · F
- 2
Left hand: Groovy roots
Notes jump around the “ands”, giving the bass a funky bounce. Musicians call it root bass · syncopated 8ths (root bass rhythm), a medium pattern heard in 363 songs of the library.
- 3
Right hand: Lub-dub chords
Two quick chords, a pause, two quick chords: just like a heartbeat. It moves with the chords, so it fits every bar of the loop.
- 4
Both hands at 120 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: Dm – Bb – F
The last chords are vi – IV – I, then one chord rolled from the bottom up, left to ring.
DmBbF- FF · A · C
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Questions about What Love Can Do
What chords are in What Love Can Do?
The loop is Dm – C – Dm – Bb (vi – V – vi – IV) in F major, and the song ends on Dm – Bb – F.
What key is What Love Can Do in?
F major, at about 120 beats a minute in 4/4.
What does the left hand play in What Love Can Do?
Groovy roots: root bass · syncopated 8ths, a medium pattern. It follows the chords, so the same shape works for every bar.
Is What Love Can Do 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.