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Someone Like You

Adele: broken chords in A major

The piano in Someone Like You rolls out four chords in steady eighth notes: A – E/G♯ – F♯ minor – D. The bass steps down: A, G♯, F♯, D.

It’s the arpeggios of lesson 16, transposed to A major with its black keys.

The song: Adele, 2011 · A major · ≈ 67 BPM

Tips

• Keep your hand resting over the chord’s three notes: only your fingers move.
• The bass changes once per measure, stepping down.

Broken chords

Eight eighth notes per measure (low-middle-high-middle, twice). The computer plays the bass.

Both hands

Add the bass stepping down in whole notes: A (1), G♯ (2), F♯ (3), D (5).