Five easy piano songs you can accompany with both hands early on are Let It Be, Lean on Me, Imagine, Someone Like You and Clocks. These simplified arrangements use repeating chords, with right-hand chord shapes over single left-hand bass notes. Clocks breaks the right-hand shapes into a repeating riff. Below, each song gets a short beginner arrangement in 4/4 time, the notes of every chord it uses, and beat counts for each change.
The songs are ordered so that each one brings a single new obstacle and a physical shortcut that gets you past it. Let It Be teaches you to keep chord changes within a small keyboard area. Lean on Me makes that position move. Imagine adds a four-note chord and your first black key. Someone Like You starts out full of black keys, and Clocks asks for an uneven rhythm.
Sit centered on Middle C.
The practice rule is the same for every song, so here it is once. Learn the right-hand chords alone until the changes feel automatic, then the left-hand bass notes alone, then combine them slowly with a metronome at around 60 beats per minute. Short sessions of about 15 minutes, done most days, suit this work because each one can fix the single change that keeps tripping you up. Hum or sing the tune while you play. Every arrangement here is accompaniment, not a melody to read.
In This Article
- 1. Let It Be by The Beatles
- 2. Lean on Me by Bill Withers
- 3. Imagine by John Lennon
- 4. Someone Like You by Adele
- 5. Clocks by Coldplay
- Key Takeaways
- Frequently Asked Questions
- Start With One Familiar Progression
1. Let It Be by The Beatles
Let It Be, the title track of the 1970 Beatles album, sits in C major. This beginner arrangement uses C, G, Am and F. Its obstacle is the one that stops most first attempts at an easy piano song. Play each chord from its bottom note up (C = C–E–G, G = G–B–D, Am = A–C–E, F = F–A–C) and your right hand jumps across the keyboard at every change.
Inversions fix the jumping. An inversion keeps a chord's three notes but stacks them in a different order, so your hand stays near Middle C:
| Chord | Notes | Right-hand voicing | Fingers (1 = thumb) | Left-hand bass |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| C | C–E–G | C–E–G | 1–3–5 | C |
| G | G–B–D | B–D–G | 1–2–5 | G |
| Am | A–C–E | C–E–A | 1–2–5 | A |
| F | F–A–C | C–F–A | 1–3–5 | F |
Your thumb plays C in three of the four shapes. To change from C to G, move it down to B, replace the middle finger on E with the index finger on D, and keep the little finger on G. The left hand plays each bass note with the fifth finger in the octave below Middle C.
In the charts below, the number in brackets is the beat count, so C (4) means hold C for four beats. A vertical line separates bars.
Verse: C (2) G (2) | Am (2) F (2) | C (2) G (2) | F (2) C (2)
Chorus: Am (2) G (2) | F (2) C (2) | C (2) G (2) | F (2) C (2)
For the final bar shown in each chart, play F with an F bass for beats 1–2, then C with a C bass for beats 3–4. Keep this simplified ending while you learn the chord shapes.
2. Lean on Me by Bill Withers
Lean on Me, released in 1972, is also in C major, and it adds just two chords to the four from Let It Be: Dm = D–F–A and Em = E–G–B. Played in root position with fingers 1–3–5, each is the C shape moved up one or two white keys. Once the C position is familiar, that makes this an easy song to play on the piano.
The new obstacle is movement. The song's best-known piano idea is a stepwise climb, with every finger moving up one white key at a time through C, Dm, Em and F, then back down. This arrangement keeps the climb and sets plain held chords around it:
Line A: C (4) | F (4) | C (4) | Em (2) G (2)
Line B: C (4) | F (4) | C (4) | G (2) C (2)
The climb: C (1) Dm (1) Em (1) F (1) | F (1) Em (1) Dm (1) C (1)
Your left hand climbs with the right. Follow the eight right-hand chords with bass notes C–D–E–F | F–E–D–C, one per beat. Keep the right-hand 1–3–5 shape as your hand and forearm travel together; do not try to make the move by bending the wrist alone.
That parallel motion makes the climb tempting to rush. If it does, halve the speed and give each chord two beats until all eight moves sound even, then return to one beat each.
3. Imagine by John Lennon
Imagine, from John Lennon's 1971 album of the same name, is in C major and introduces Cmaj7, spelled C–E–G–B. To avoid a four-note right-hand stretch, split this chord between your hands. Your left hand plays C, and your right hand plays E–G–B with fingers 1–3–5. That right-hand shape is the Em triad you already learned for Lean on Me, and over a C bass it sounds as Cmaj7.
Verse: C (3) Cmaj7 (1) | F (4), repeated
Pre-chorus: F (2) Am (2) | Dm (2) F (2) | G (4) | G (4)
Chorus: F (2) G (2) | C (2) E (2) | F (2) G (2) | C (2) E (2)
The chorus brings in E = E–G♯–B, the first black key in this list. Many charts write E7 here, but plain E works for a beginner, and the G♯ under your third finger is what gives the line its lift. If E keeps breaking the beat, play two beats of C in its place until the rest of the chorus is secure, then add the black key back.
The record's left hand moves more and its right hand fills between chords. Held chords still carry the harmony and the slow, even pulse the song depends on. In easy piano music at this tempo, a steady pulse does more for the song than extra notes.
4. Someone Like You by Adele
Someone Like You comes from Adele's 2011 album 21, and its obstacle is the key. The piano plays in A major, with A, C♯m, F♯m and D in the verse and E taking the place of C♯m in the chorus. Together those chords use three different black keys, a lot to manage in your first month.
Moving everything up three half steps puts the song in C major, with chords you already know:
| Original (A major) | Beginner key (C major) | Notes in C |
|---|---|---|
| A | C | C–E–G |
| C♯m | Em | E–G–B |
| F♯m | Am | A–C–E |
| D | F | F–A–C |
| E | G | G–B–D |
Verse: C (4) | Em (4) | Am (4) | F (4), repeated
Chorus: C (4) | G (4) | Am (4) | F (4), repeated
On an acoustic piano, the C version sounds three half steps higher than the record. That is fine for practice, but it clashes if you play along with the recording or sing in Adele's key. Many digital keyboards solve this with a transpose button. Set it to −3, keep playing the C-major shapes, and the keyboard sounds them in A major, matched to the record.
The setting usually stays in place until you change it, so return it to 0 before you move on to another song. Otherwise your Let It Be will come out in A. The same button lets you learn other songs on piano in whatever key your hands find easiest and still hear them in the key you know.
Once the chords are steady, give the right hand some motion by playing each chord one note at a time (bottom, middle, top, middle) while the left hand holds the bass for the whole bar.
5. Clocks by Coldplay
Clocks, from Coldplay's 2002 album A Rush of Blood to the Head, is built on a repeating right-hand riff, and its obstacle is rhythm. In the original key, the chords are E♭ = E♭–G–B♭, B♭m = B♭–D♭–F, B♭m again, and Fm = F–A♭–C, one bar each, in a four-bar loop that runs through most of the song.
The riff plays each chord as eight eighth notes per bar, grouped 3 + 3 + 2: top note, middle note, bottom note, repeated, with the last group stopping after the top and middle. In the original key, the E♭ bar runs E♭–B♭–G, E♭–B♭–G, E♭–B♭.
Transposing down three half steps leaves only one black key:
Loop (C major/minor shapes): C (4) | Gm (4) | Gm (4) | Dm (4)
Here Gm = G–B♭–D and Dm = D–F–A, plus C as before. Those spellings name the chord notes; the riff uses the following keyboard voicings. With Middle C called C4, place your right hand on E4–G4–C5 for C, D4–G4–B♭4 for Gm, and D4–F4–A4 for Dm, listed from bottom to top. Use fingers 1–3–5 for each shape, then play 5–3–1, 5–3–1, 5–3:
| Count | 1 | & | 2 | & | 3 | & | 4 | & |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| C | C5 | G4 | E4 | C5 | G4 | E4 | C5 | G4 |
| Gm | B♭4 | G4 | D4 | B♭4 | G4 | D4 | B♭4 | G4 |
| Dm | A4 | F4 | D4 | A4 | F4 | D4 | A4 | F4 |
Play the Gm row twice in the four-bar loop.
The left hand plays one bass note per bar: C, G, G, D, below Middle C. Count "1 & 2 & 3 & 4 &" evenly, playing one right-hand note on each count. The 3 + 3 + 2 grouping describes the repeating finger pattern, not changes in note length. This is the hardest rhythm of the five, which is why it comes last; learn it slowly before increasing speed.
Key Takeaways
- Choose a simplified arrangement, not a song title alone: the same song can be easy or hard depending on its key and voicings.
- The Let It Be inversions keep your right hand near Middle C, with your thumb on C for three of its four chord shapes.
- Learn right-hand chords and left-hand bass notes separately before combining them at around 60 beats per minute.
- Transposing a major-key song into C major makes chords built entirely from its major scale use only white keys. Chords with notes outside that scale can still require black keys, as E does in Imagine; familiar shapes depend on what you have practised.
- Keep repeating patterns such as the Lean on Me climb or the Clocks riff steady before increasing speed.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I use the same beginner arrangement on a keyboard and an acoustic piano?
Yes, every arrangement here works on both. They stay within about two octaves around Middle C, so they fit on a 61-key keyboard as well as an 88-key piano. The main difference is touch: an acoustic piano and weighted digital keys need firmer fingers than light, unweighted keys. The transpose trick for Someone Like You only works on a digital instrument.
Why do two beginner arrangements of the same song use different chords?
Arrangers choose different keys and simplify in different places. One chart might keep Someone Like You in A major while another moves it to C, and one might reduce the Cmaj7 in Imagine to a plain C. Both can be correct versions of the same song. Pick the one whose chords you can already play.
Should I sing the melody or play it while learning chord accompaniment?
Sing or hum it at first. Your hands then have only one job, and you can still hear where each chord change falls in the tune. Once the accompaniment is automatic, you can pick out the melody with your right hand over left-hand bass notes, which is a separate skill worth learning on its own.
What should I simplify if a chord change keeps interrupting the beat?
Keep the beat and drop notes. Play only the left-hand bass note through the difficult change, or hold the previous chord one beat longer. You can also slow the metronome until the change lands on time, then add the full chord back once your hand finds the new shape without looking.
Do I need the sustain pedal for these arrangements?
No, all five work without it, and leaving it off makes uneven timing easier to hear. Imagine and Someone Like You do sound fuller with pedal. If you add it, lift and press again right as each new chord sounds, so the old chord doesn't blur into the new one.
Can I skip the introduction and begin with a familiar chorus?
Yes, and for Let It Be or Imagine the chorus is often the quicker route to music you recognize. For Clocks, the introduction gives you a repeating piano pattern that returns during the song. Learn whichever section you can already hear in your head, then fill in the rest.
Start With One Familiar Progression
For your first session, loop two bars of Let It Be: C for four beats, then G for four. Aim for four consecutive repetitions without pausing at the change. If you hesitate, practise only the right hand at a slower tempo, then try both hands again. Write down the tempo at which you complete all four repetitions; use that as your starting point next session.