10 Standard Left Hand Patterns for Piano Explained

6/6/2557 10 Standard Left Hand Patterns for Piano Explained

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10 Standard Left Hand Patterns for Piano Explained

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There is a fantastic video on youtube that Ken Larkin of www.pianobible.com put

together that breaks down 10 standard left hand patterns for piano. All of the

patterns are played in the key of C, progressing from the C chord, to the F chord,

to the G chord, back to the C chord. There is a bit of variance, but only the C, F,

and G chords are used (I, IV, and V chords). He plays the left-hand only pattern

first, then he incorporates a melody in the right hand together with the left hand

pattern. The melody stays the same through all ten patterns, adjusting for the

tempo of the left hand pattern. This is great, because it allows you to see just how

much the rhythm affects the music.

The sheet music for the 10 standard left hand patterns for piano is now available here.

However, this is a visual only video. So many people are blessed to learn by

visual only, but I am a technical learner, so for all of you other techies out there, I

watched the video over and over and wrote down the numerical pattern,

according to the chord. The chord number pattern that is established is the same

pattern that is used in all 3 of the chords throughout the rhythm pattern that is

being played.

For instance, the first left hand rhythm pattern that is show is the Basic Walking

Pattern #1. He plays the C chord like this: C, E, G, and A. He plays this four times

in a row. Then he switches to the F Chord, and so he plays F, A, C, D twice, then

switches back to the C chord, then he moves up to the G chord and plays G, B, D,

E. Therefore, the chords number pattern that is used is 1, 3, 5, and 6.

C Chord

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F Chord

G Chord

Here are the 10 Standard Left Hand Patterns Explained

I am not documenting how many times he played each chord. This documentation

only gives you the notes that were hit when he changed chords.

Basic Walking Pattern #1

1 3 5 6

C E G A

F A C D

G B D E

Basic Shuffle Pattern #1 (comma means play at the same time)

1,5 1,5 1,6 1,6

C,G C,G C,A C,A

F,C F,C F,D F,D

G,D G,D G,E G,E

Basic Shuffle Pattern #2

1,5 1,5 3b 3 1,5 1,5 1,6 1,5

C,G C,G Eb E C,G C,G C,A C,A

F,C F,C Ab A F,C F,C F,D F,C

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G,D G,D Bb B G,D G,D G,E G,E

Jerry Lee Lewis

1 1 3 1 5 1 6 1

C C E C G C A C

F F A F C F D F

G G B G D G E G

Fats Domino #1

1 8 3 5 3 5

C C E G E G

F F A C A F

G G B D B G

Fats Domino #2

1 3 5 5 3 5

C E G G E G

F A C C A C

G B D D B G

Bumble Boogie (Dont let the sharp throw you. The 4 of the F chord is Bb,

so the 4 sharped will be B.)

1 8 3 4 4# 5 4 5

C C E F F# G F G

F F A Bb B C Bb C

G G B C C# D C D

Basic Country Pattern (the negative means down an octave)

1 3,5 -5 3,5

C E,G G E,G

F A,C C A,C

G B,D D B,D

Country Swing Pattern

1 5 6 5

C G A G

F C D C

G D E D

Lucille

1 1 3 3 5 7b 7b 5

C C E E G Bb Bb G

F F A A C Eb Eb C

Every Praise is to Our God Chords and

Lyrics

10 Standard Left Hand Patterns for

Piano Explained

Chords for I Give Myself Away

Ten Standard Left Hand Patterns for

Piano Explained PDF File

The 12 Major Keys With Chords for Each

Scale

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Chords Eb by Clarence McClendon

What Does It Mean to Play in the Key of

C?

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Chords



G G B B D F F D

Hopefully, some of you found this helpful. I believe that in order to be truly

successful on the piano (or any musical instrument) that you must learn the

foundation of this musical language. If you need help transposing these rhythms

into another key besides C, you may be interested in the 12 Major Keys with

Chords Diagram.

Please let me know if I made a mistake any of my documentation.

Before I learned to play piano, the keys made no sense to me. Having ABC Keyboard

Stickers really do come in handy!

Filed Under: Music, Theory Tagged With: learn piano, piano rhythms

Comments

1. John W. Pierce says

September 15, 2012 at 5:25 am

Thank you *very* much for doing this. As another techie learner (and absolute beginner

at the piano), I was sitting there wondering how long it was going to take me to work out

the patterns and write them down. You can imagine my relief when I saw your note. Im

constantly amazed at the number of people who want to play an instrument without

learning the most basic music theory, or even learning to read music. Ive started on

piano (at age 67) because Ive gone back to playing the guitar after a 30 year lapse and

wanted more theory to help improve my playing. The piano is much easier than the

guitar for that purpose.

Reply


September 16, 2012 at 9:31 pm

Basic Shuffle Pattern #2: I believe the last beat of each measure is 1,6 & 1,6 so IV

ends with F,D & F,D.

Fats Domino #1: I believe the last beat of each measure is 3 & 5 so IV ends with A &

C.

Reply

maryormartha says

September 16, 2012 at 10:07 pm

Thanks!

Reply


October 8, 2012 at 5:20 am

I made sheet music of the melody and all ten bass lines; let me know if youd care for a

copy. I created it with MuseScore, so I can send it as pdf, png, MusicXML or any of a

number of other formats. If you have time to play with it, MuseScore is pretty decent for

writing sheet music. The learning curve is steep, but its free and works well enough

once youre used to its view of the music universe.

Reply



maryormartha says

October 8, 2012 at 9:08 am

PDF would be great! mama_melly_martin at yahoo dot com. Thanks so much!

Reply

A. Bastian says

November 13, 2012 at 10:54 pm

Please send me a copy of the sheet music of the melody and bass lines.

Reply

MuicFanatic says


I am in my mid 60s and learning piano too. I have passed my first exam and will be

doing another one next year. Would you be so kind as to send me a pdf copy of the

music for the bass lines and the melody by email please? It would help me a great

deal. Please reply by email as to whether this is possible. Thank you. MusicFanatic.

Reply

MusicFanatic says


Hello, I deleted an email from wordpress.com thinking it was span. Is it possible

to re-send please?

MuicFanatic

Reply

A. Bastian says

December 3, 2012 at 4:09 am

I am learning music at this late stage and would be ever so grateful if you could

kindly send me the sheet music for the melody and the bass lines in MuseScore.

Thank you. Music Lover.

Reply

John Ford says

January 2, 2013 at 10:26 am

I Have just viewed your posting re the 10 standard left hand piano patterns and would

be most gratefull if you could email a pdf copy to me.

My email address is [email protected]

In anticipation, many thanks.

John

Reply

John Ford says

May 1, 2013 at 9:51 am

Hi John, I would sincerely appreciate a pdf copy of the melody and the bass lines.

You can send it to my email address.

I am also a piano dabbler at the age of 75, having years ago started out playing

trumpet. The piano is not too loud for the neighbours, the trumpet would be a killer



and anyway Im not up to it any longer.

I am many miles away from you in Kwa Zulu Natal, South Africa but really would like

you to send the pdf copy.

Kind regards,

John Ford

Reply

Richard says

May 30, 2013 at 5:30 am

Greetings from Poland. Could you send me a pdf copy of the sheet music for the

melody please. I would be very grateful.

Regards

Richard

Reply

Gin Pierce says


I would love to have the music you have made in PDF nor left hand patterns and right

hand melody! Thank you so much.

Reply

4. Bonnie Baker says

July 17, 2013 at 12:53 pm

Love this!!! Thank you!!!

Reply

5. Gin Pierce says


I would love to have the music you have made in PDF nor left hand patterns and right

hand melody! Thank you so much.

Reply

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