1. Adele's Someone Like You & Other 4-Chord Songs

(NOTE: This lesson is ideal for students who have completed Play & Sing. For a hilarious introduction to the subject of the tutorial, and a much longer list of songs to practice, see this.)

LESSON PREVIEW

Here's a question for you. What do all these songs have in common?

Someone Like You, No One, She Will Be Loved, You're Beautiful, With or Without You, Can You Feel the Love Tonight, Forever Young, Let it Be, Under the Bridge, No Woman No Cry, Land Down Under, So Lonely, Happy Ending, Fall at Your Feet, When I Come Around.

Well, the answer is this: they all share a particular sequence of chords -- a chord progression, as we call it. If we're playing in the key of C, all these songs use these chords, in this order: C, G, A minor, F.

Now some of the songs stick entirely, or almost entirely, to 1-5-6-4, all the way through the song. Others use the progression just for the verse or chorus.

But the point is--if you can play this chord sequence, you're well on your way to being able to play all those songs (and many others).

In this lesson and the next, you're gonna learn to play this progression using a variety of rhythmic piano styles, and we'll match up each song in our list with the style or styles that bring out the best in it.

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