Piano chords · Dreamy ballad
How to play Your Mama Don’t Dance on piano
Written by Jim Messina & Kenny Loggins
- C major
- 4/4
- 100 BPM
- 1972
- Medium
Play the full song with sheet music
Learn Your Mama Don’t Dance in 5 steps
The chords first, then one hand at a time. Each step plays in the player above.
- 1
Chords: F7 – C – F7 – C
How it goes
Your Mama Don’t Dance sits in C major: C is home, where the song ends. It goes round 4 chords: F7 is F, A, C and Eb; C is C, E and G. Play each one as a block with your right hand until the changes feel easy.
F7IV7CIF7IV7CI- F7F · A · C · Eb
- CC · E · G
- 2
Left hand: Boogie climb
How it goes
Each note played twice as the line climbs: a rocking boogie bass. Musicians call it broken chord 1-1-3-3-5-5-6-5 (broken chord), a medium pattern heard in 25 songs of the library.
- 3
Right hand: Run-up chords
How it goes
Four steady chords plus a quick extra one leading into the next bar. It moves with the chords, so it fits every bar of the loop.
- 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 – C
How it goes
The last chords are IV – V – I, then one chord rolled from the bottom up, left to ring.
FGC- FF · A · C
- GG · B · D
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Questions about Your Mama Don’t Dance
What chords are in Your Mama Don’t Dance?
The loop is F7 – C – F7 – C (IV7 – I – IV7 – I) in C major, and the song ends on F – G – C.
What key is Your Mama Don’t Dance in?
C major, at about 100 beats a minute in 4/4.
What does the left hand play in Your Mama Don’t Dance?
Boogie climb: broken chord 1-1-3-3-5-5-6-5, a medium pattern. It follows the chords, so the same shape works for every bar.
Is Your Mama Don’t Dance 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 2 arrangements of this song: the left and right hands are the patterns these scores repeat most.