Super Simple Chords

Piano chords · Pop heartbeat

How to play What’s Up on piano

Written by Linda Perry

  • A major
  • 2/2
  • 80 BPM
  • 1992
  • Medium
Play the full song with sheet music
Tuning the piano…
Learn it
Style

Left hand Pop heartbeatRight hand Gear-shift chordsChords from the chord symbols in the score

Learn What’s Up in 5 steps

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

  1. 1

    Chords: A – A – Bm – Bm

    What’s Up sits in A major: A is home, where the song ends. It goes round 4 chords: A is A, C# and E; Bm is B, D and F#. Play each one as a block with your right hand until the changes feel easy.

    AIAIBmiiBmii
    • AA · C# · E
    • BmB · D · F#
    37 songs go round the same chords
  2. 2

    Left hand: Pop heartbeat

    Long, short, long: the heartbeat under a thousand pop songs. Musicians call it root bass · charleston push (1 · 2& · 3) (root bass rhythm), an easy pattern heard in thousands of songs of the library.

    Pop heartbeatRoot bass rhythm · PopLeft handEasy
  3. 3

    Right hand: Gear-shift chords

    Quick even chords that skip beat 3, like an engine changing gear. It moves with the chords, so it fits every bar of the loop.

    Gear-shift chordsSyncopated chords · PopRight handMedium
  4. 4

    Both hands at 80 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: Bm – D – A

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

    BmDA
    • DD · F# · A

Play next

The same I–ii–IV–I loop

All of them
Marry YouBruno Mars
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SilhouetteKenny G

Questions about What’s Up

What chords are in What’s Up?

The loop is A – A – Bm – Bm (I – ii – I – ii) in A major, and the song ends on Bm – D – A.

What key is What’s Up in?

A major, at about 80 beats a minute in 2/2.

What does the left hand play in What’s Up?

Pop heartbeat: root bass · charleston push (1 · 2& · 3), an easy pattern. It follows the chords, so the same shape works for every bar.

Is What’s Up 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’s Up?

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

Made from 2 arrangements of this song: the left and right hands are the patterns these scores repeat most.