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Have an urge to start learning to play some popular rock songs? The good thing here is that most of the popular rock songs are fairly simple to learn, even for beginners.
Quick to the point, here are top 5 picks for beginners:
- Don’t Stop Believin
- Let It Be
- Hey Jude
- Clocks
- Piano Man
As you will notice, these are all iconic songs, yet they’re super easy to learn.
My personal opinion is that pianists should branch out and learn the classic rock piano songs if they have an interest in them. Even if you’re learning classical music, it’s still beneficial to keep things fun and mix things up. Below are some easy classic rock songs that are broken down so that beginners can learn them.
If you are a pianist, I highly recommend checking out my article on digital pianos. Here are my favorite digital pianos for beginners.
Let’s take a look at some easy rock pieces below.
Easy Piano Rock Songs
Don’t Stop Believin – Sheet Music
Perhaps one of the most popular songs for sporting events and even weddings due to its sing-ability. This is a classic song that is incredibly simple to learn.
Don’t Stop Believin Chord Progression For Piano
Ah yes, the classic one, five, six, four progression. What is this exactly? The easiest way to break this down is to simply count. Let’s use this song for example. It is in the key of E Major. That means that E major would be the one chord. So if you simply count you will get the chords from there.
EM, BM, C#m, AM is the progression. If you are confused about why certain chords are major and minor, visit this page where I break down the treble clef, bass clef, and key signatures.
Let It Be – Sheet Music
This was one of the first songs that I learned to play on the piano because it is simple, yet beautiful. Paul Mccartney said that this song came to him in a dream and that he thought it was already a song.
Let It Be Chord Progression For Piano
CM, GM, Am, FM progression for the verses. If you watch the tutorial video they will show you the passing notes as well. The chords also change at the end of certain phrases.
For the chorus we have Am, GM, FM, CM, followed by CM, GM, FM, CM.
Hey Jude – Sheet Music
Another Beatles song, I know. I felt like I had to put this on here as it is one of their biggest hits and it is very simple to learn.
Are you new to the piano and looking to learn to play the piano by ear? I recently wrote an article on the importance of ear training and it has some great information for pianists looking to use their ears more.
Paul Mccartney is known for having a phenomenal ear as he writes and plays by ear. To this day, he can’t read music and to be honest, he’s not alone in that.
Hey Jude Chord Progression For Piano
FM, CM, CM7, FM, BFlatM, FM, CM, FM. The chords are in order and if you listen to the song you will hear when they switch from the video above.
Clocks – Sheet Music
I believe this is one of the coolest riffs to play on the piano and it also very simple for the most part. Truly a beautiful chord progression and part all in all.
Clocks Chord Progression For Piano
EFlatM, BFlatm, Fm is the majority of the song. The whole part is basically just arpeggios off of the chords that are descending. This is definitely a song worth learning and having in your arsenal as it is a very fun rock song to play on the piano.
Piano Man – Sheet Music
Perhaps Billy Joel’s least favorite song, yet most popular. This is truly a classic that will still be played for the next 50 years. The good thing is, it is a simple song to play. Here is a simple version of the song that you will be able to learn fairly easily!
Piano Man Chord Progression For Piano
CM, GM, FM, CM, FM, CM, DM7, GM. This is basically going for the entirety of the song.
For the interlude, it goes to Am, DM7, Am, DM7, GM, FM, CM, GM7.
Conclusion
These are five songs that are all fairly easy to learn. The links I have chosen are also easy versions of the songs as well.
Are you new to the piano? What songs have you had success learning and which have given you trouble early on? Let me know in the comment section below!