Piano chords · Pop heartbeat
How to play With Or Without You on piano
Written by U2
- Eb major
- 4/4
- 100 BPM
- 1987
- Medium
Learn With Or Without You in 5 steps
The chords first, then one hand at a time. Each step plays in the player above.
- 1
Chords: Cm – Ab – Eb – Bbsus4
With Or Without You sits in Eb major: Eb is home, where the song ends. It goes round 4 chords: Cm is C, Eb and G; Ab is Ab, C and Eb; Eb is Eb, G and Bb; Bbsus4 is Bb, Eb and F. Play each one as a block with your right hand until the changes feel easy.
CmviAbIVEbIBbsus4Vsus4- CmC · Eb · G
- AbAb · C · Eb
- EbEb · G · Bb
- Bbsus4Bb · Eb · F
- 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.
- 3
Right hand: Firefly blink
The top note and the one below blink back and forth like a firefly. It moves with the chords, so it fits every bar of the loop.
- 4
Both hands at 100 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: Ab – Bb – Eb
The last chords are IV – V – I, then one chord rolled from the bottom up, left to ring.
AbBbEb- BbBb · D · F
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Questions about With Or Without You
What chords are in With Or Without You?
The loop is Cm – Ab – Eb – Bbsus4 (vi – IV – I – Vsus) in Eb major, and the song ends on Ab – Bb – Eb.
What key is With Or Without You in?
Eb major, at about 100 beats a minute in 4/4.
What does the left hand play in With Or Without You?
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 With Or Without You 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.