Chords for Billy Joel - Piano Man Guitar lesson
Tempo:
116.7 bpm
Chords used:
F
G
E
C
Am
Tuning:Standard Tuning (EADGBE)Capo:+0fret
Start Jamming...
[Am]
[F]
[D] [G]
[C] [G] [Am]
[C] [F] [G]
[C]
[G]
[G] A lot of songs go just like that or something [Db] like that, but [F] that one in that arrangement
is most like Piano Man, of course, Billy Joel, kind of his first big hit early 70s.
This [Db] song makes a great [G] strumming guitar song, [F] something I throw kind of in the campfire range.
All you gotta do is strum through the chords.
[C] Starts with a C chord and just hitting bass [F] note, hitting the fifth string in the bass
[E] and keeping going for the next two [B] beats.
It's in three, four times, so you're hitting the bass note on beat one [Ab] and then strumming
something like down, up, down, up for beats [C] two and three.
One, two, and three, and, or one, two, three, and [G] one, two, [Am] three, and one.
Now, of course, it goes a little quicker than that.
[Eb] And there are a lot of songs that sound like this.
Of course, Mr.
[G] Bojangles by Jerry Jeff Walker, America by Paul Simon, [F] almost the same song,
except in Piano Man, he uses a secondary [D] dominant at one point.
There's a D7 that comes in as part of the [N] chord progression.
So what you typically hear in these songs [C] is the descending bass line in the key of
C, starting with a C [G] chord, then going to [B] C with B in the bass, [G] done just [Ebm] by moving
your second [F] finger to the second fret of [B] the fifth string.
[D]
Now, that chord by itself sounds pretty dissonant, but you're gonna [G] blast right through it and
it'll sound fine with the third chord being A [A] minor.
[Am]
And then [Db] A minor with G in the bass, adding your fourth finger to the third [G] fret of the
sixth string, to [Am] the G.
As that [E] descent continues, we [F] need to get to an F chord.
Need [Fm] the full bar, usually.
And then the descent's gonna continue [E] again.
F with E in the bass, [F] or a C [E] chord with E in the bass would work great here, [D] followed
by a D7, or a D minor 7.
There are a lot of different options you can use, [Ab] depending on the exact sound you're looking for.
Now, if you would like [F] me to do a whole lesson on Piano Man, which I would love to do, all
the lessons that I put together are up at Totally Guitars.
So if you come over to totallyguitars.com, we have a place where you can recommend a
lesson and or vote on a lesson that's already been recommended by some of [N] the community there.
And the community is one of the coolest things over there.
So there are all kinds of groups, discussion groups about things, arguments going on about,
you know, the [F] best guitar player in the world or the best race car driver in the world.
And then there's a forum, of course, where people can upload questions or post questions and answers.
That's one of the other really exciting things that are happening over there at Totally Guitars.
But the big [N] thing as far as the lessons go is the more votes particular songs get, the
more likely we are to put together a complete lesson [Ab]
on the [F] song.
But even if Piano Man is not the song you're looking for, there are hundreds of songs there
that are very detailed and very elaborate.
Some are very simple.
Some are campfire songs.
But if you'd like to see Piano Man, be sure to check out totallyguitars [E].com.
[A] [B]
[A]
[E] [Em]
[A] [Em]
[A]
[D]
[E] [N]
[F]
[D] [G]
[C] [G] [Am]
[C] [F] [G]
[C]
[G]
[G] A lot of songs go just like that or something [Db] like that, but [F] that one in that arrangement
is most like Piano Man, of course, Billy Joel, kind of his first big hit early 70s.
This [Db] song makes a great [G] strumming guitar song, [F] something I throw kind of in the campfire range.
All you gotta do is strum through the chords.
[C] Starts with a C chord and just hitting bass [F] note, hitting the fifth string in the bass
[E] and keeping going for the next two [B] beats.
It's in three, four times, so you're hitting the bass note on beat one [Ab] and then strumming
something like down, up, down, up for beats [C] two and three.
One, two, and three, and, or one, two, three, and [G] one, two, [Am] three, and one.
Now, of course, it goes a little quicker than that.
[Eb] And there are a lot of songs that sound like this.
Of course, Mr.
[G] Bojangles by Jerry Jeff Walker, America by Paul Simon, [F] almost the same song,
except in Piano Man, he uses a secondary [D] dominant at one point.
There's a D7 that comes in as part of the [N] chord progression.
So what you typically hear in these songs [C] is the descending bass line in the key of
C, starting with a C [G] chord, then going to [B] C with B in the bass, [G] done just [Ebm] by moving
your second [F] finger to the second fret of [B] the fifth string.
[D]
Now, that chord by itself sounds pretty dissonant, but you're gonna [G] blast right through it and
it'll sound fine with the third chord being A [A] minor.
[Am]
And then [Db] A minor with G in the bass, adding your fourth finger to the third [G] fret of the
sixth string, to [Am] the G.
As that [E] descent continues, we [F] need to get to an F chord.
Need [Fm] the full bar, usually.
And then the descent's gonna continue [E] again.
F with E in the bass, [F] or a C [E] chord with E in the bass would work great here, [D] followed
by a D7, or a D minor 7.
There are a lot of different options you can use, [Ab] depending on the exact sound you're looking for.
Now, if you would like [F] me to do a whole lesson on Piano Man, which I would love to do, all
the lessons that I put together are up at Totally Guitars.
So if you come over to totallyguitars.com, we have a place where you can recommend a
lesson and or vote on a lesson that's already been recommended by some of [N] the community there.
And the community is one of the coolest things over there.
So there are all kinds of groups, discussion groups about things, arguments going on about,
you know, the [F] best guitar player in the world or the best race car driver in the world.
And then there's a forum, of course, where people can upload questions or post questions and answers.
That's one of the other really exciting things that are happening over there at Totally Guitars.
But the big [N] thing as far as the lessons go is the more votes particular songs get, the
more likely we are to put together a complete lesson [Ab]
on the [F] song.
But even if Piano Man is not the song you're looking for, there are hundreds of songs there
that are very detailed and very elaborate.
Some are very simple.
Some are campfire songs.
But if you'd like to see Piano Man, be sure to check out totallyguitars [E].com.
[A] [B]
[A]
[E] [Em]
[A] [Em]
[A]
[D]
[E] [N]
Key:
F
G
E
C
Am
F
G
E
_ _ _ _ _ [Am] _
_ _ _ [F] _ _ _
_ _ [D] _ _ [G] _ _
[C] _ _ [G] _ _ [Am] _ _
[C] _ _ [F] _ _ [G] _ _
[C] _ _ _ _ _ _
[G] _ _ _ _ _ _
_ [G] A lot of songs go just like that or something [Db] like that, but [F] that one in that arrangement
is most like Piano Man, of course, Billy Joel, kind of his first big hit early 70s.
This [Db] song makes a great [G] strumming guitar song, [F] something I throw kind of in the campfire range.
All you gotta do is strum through the chords.
[C] Starts with a C chord and just hitting bass [F] note, hitting the fifth string in the bass
[E] and keeping going for the next two [B] beats.
It's in three, four times, so you're hitting the bass note on beat one [Ab] and then strumming
something like down, up, down, up for beats [C] two and three.
One, two, and three, and, or one, two, three, and [G] one, two, [Am] three, and one.
Now, of course, it goes a little quicker than that.
[Eb] And there are a lot of songs that sound like this.
Of course, Mr.
[G] Bojangles by Jerry Jeff Walker, America by Paul Simon, [F] almost the same song,
except in Piano Man, he uses a secondary [D] dominant at one point.
There's a D7 that comes in as part of the [N] chord progression.
So what you typically hear in these songs [C] is the descending bass line in the key of
C, starting with a C [G] chord, then going to [B] C with B in the bass, [G] done just [Ebm] by moving
your second [F] finger to the second fret of [B] the fifth string.
[D] _ _
Now, that chord by itself sounds pretty dissonant, but you're gonna [G] blast right through it and
it'll sound fine with the third chord being A [A] minor.
[Am] _ _ _
And then [Db] A minor with G in the bass, adding your fourth finger to the third [G] fret of the
sixth string, to [Am] the G. _
_ _ As that [E] descent continues, we [F] need to get to an F chord. _
_ _ _ Need [Fm] the full bar, usually.
And then the descent's gonna continue [E] again.
F with E in the bass, [F] or a C [E] chord with E in the bass would work great here, [D] followed
by a D7, or a D minor 7.
There are a lot of different options you can use, [Ab] depending on the exact sound you're looking for.
Now, if you would like [F] me to do a whole lesson on Piano Man, which I would love to do, all
the lessons that I put together are up at Totally Guitars.
So if you come over to totallyguitars.com, we have a place where you can recommend a
lesson and or vote on a lesson that's already been recommended by some of [N] the community there.
And the community is one of the coolest things over there.
So there are all kinds of groups, discussion groups about things, arguments going on about,
you know, the [F] best guitar player in the world or the best race car driver in the world.
_ And then there's a forum, of course, where people can upload questions or post questions and answers.
That's one of the other really exciting things that are happening over there at Totally Guitars.
But the big [N] thing as far as the lessons go is the more votes _ particular songs get, the
more likely we are to put together a complete lesson [Ab]
on the [F] song.
But even if Piano Man is not the song you're looking for, there are hundreds of songs there
that are very detailed and very elaborate.
Some are very simple.
Some are campfire songs.
But if you'd like to see Piano Man, be sure to check out totallyguitars [E].com. _ _ _
_ [A] _ _ _ [B] _ _
_ _ [A] _ _ _ _
_ _ [E] _ _ [Em] _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _
[A] _ _ _ _ _ [Em] _
_ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ [A] _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ [D] _
_ _ [E] _ _ [N] _ _
_ _ _ [F] _ _ _
_ _ [D] _ _ [G] _ _
[C] _ _ [G] _ _ [Am] _ _
[C] _ _ [F] _ _ [G] _ _
[C] _ _ _ _ _ _
[G] _ _ _ _ _ _
_ [G] A lot of songs go just like that or something [Db] like that, but [F] that one in that arrangement
is most like Piano Man, of course, Billy Joel, kind of his first big hit early 70s.
This [Db] song makes a great [G] strumming guitar song, [F] something I throw kind of in the campfire range.
All you gotta do is strum through the chords.
[C] Starts with a C chord and just hitting bass [F] note, hitting the fifth string in the bass
[E] and keeping going for the next two [B] beats.
It's in three, four times, so you're hitting the bass note on beat one [Ab] and then strumming
something like down, up, down, up for beats [C] two and three.
One, two, and three, and, or one, two, three, and [G] one, two, [Am] three, and one.
Now, of course, it goes a little quicker than that.
[Eb] And there are a lot of songs that sound like this.
Of course, Mr.
[G] Bojangles by Jerry Jeff Walker, America by Paul Simon, [F] almost the same song,
except in Piano Man, he uses a secondary [D] dominant at one point.
There's a D7 that comes in as part of the [N] chord progression.
So what you typically hear in these songs [C] is the descending bass line in the key of
C, starting with a C [G] chord, then going to [B] C with B in the bass, [G] done just [Ebm] by moving
your second [F] finger to the second fret of [B] the fifth string.
[D] _ _
Now, that chord by itself sounds pretty dissonant, but you're gonna [G] blast right through it and
it'll sound fine with the third chord being A [A] minor.
[Am] _ _ _
And then [Db] A minor with G in the bass, adding your fourth finger to the third [G] fret of the
sixth string, to [Am] the G. _
_ _ As that [E] descent continues, we [F] need to get to an F chord. _
_ _ _ Need [Fm] the full bar, usually.
And then the descent's gonna continue [E] again.
F with E in the bass, [F] or a C [E] chord with E in the bass would work great here, [D] followed
by a D7, or a D minor 7.
There are a lot of different options you can use, [Ab] depending on the exact sound you're looking for.
Now, if you would like [F] me to do a whole lesson on Piano Man, which I would love to do, all
the lessons that I put together are up at Totally Guitars.
So if you come over to totallyguitars.com, we have a place where you can recommend a
lesson and or vote on a lesson that's already been recommended by some of [N] the community there.
And the community is one of the coolest things over there.
So there are all kinds of groups, discussion groups about things, arguments going on about,
you know, the [F] best guitar player in the world or the best race car driver in the world.
_ And then there's a forum, of course, where people can upload questions or post questions and answers.
That's one of the other really exciting things that are happening over there at Totally Guitars.
But the big [N] thing as far as the lessons go is the more votes _ particular songs get, the
more likely we are to put together a complete lesson [Ab]
on the [F] song.
But even if Piano Man is not the song you're looking for, there are hundreds of songs there
that are very detailed and very elaborate.
Some are very simple.
Some are campfire songs.
But if you'd like to see Piano Man, be sure to check out totallyguitars [E].com. _ _ _
_ [A] _ _ _ [B] _ _
_ _ [A] _ _ _ _
_ _ [E] _ _ [Em] _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _
[A] _ _ _ _ _ [Em] _
_ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ [A] _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ [D] _
_ _ [E] _ _ [N] _ _