Piano chords · Pop heartbeat
How to play You Can’t Make Old Friends on piano
Artist unknown
- Eb major
- 4/4
- 95 BPM
- I–V–vi–IV loop
- 2013
- Medium
Learn You Can’t Make Old Friends in 5 steps
The chords first, then one hand at a time. Each step plays in the player above.
- 1
Chords: Eb – Bb – Cm – Ab
You Can’t Make Old Friends sits in Eb major: Eb is home, where the song ends. It goes round 4 chords: Eb is Eb, G and Bb; Bb is Bb, D and F; Cm is C, Eb and G; Ab is Ab, C and Eb. Play each one as a block with your right hand until the changes feel easy.
EbIBbVCmviAbIV- EbEb · G · Bb
- BbBb · D · F
- CmC · Eb · G
- AbAb · C · Eb
- 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: Pausing chords
Three steady chords, then beat 4 left empty to breathe. It moves with the chords, so it fits every bar of the loop.
- 4
Both hands at 95 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
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Questions about You Can’t Make Old Friends
What chords are in You Can’t Make Old Friends?
The loop is Eb – Bb – Cm – Ab (I – V – vi – IV) in Eb major, and the song ends on Ab – Bb – Eb.
What key is You Can’t Make Old Friends in?
Eb major, at about 95 beats a minute in 4/4.
What does the left hand play in You Can’t Make Old Friends?
Groovy roots: root bass · syncopated 8ths, a medium pattern. It follows the chords, so the same shape works for every bar.
Is You Can’t Make Old Friends 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.