Top 5 COOLEST Tunes & Riffs on the Piano and How to Play Them
I hope you'll agree with me when I say that piano is a cool instrument? There are also a lot of cool tunes out there, but some are more "cooler" than others.
In the video tutorial below I'm going to show you my top five coolest tunes and riffs to play on the piano. But I'm not just going to play you them, I'm also going to teach you them so that you can play them yourself.
I've tried to choose a nice mix of genre's and styles, and have also chosen a few easier tunes that will be suitable for beginners on piano.
1) Tubular Bells - Mike Oldfield and The Exorcist movie
This one is perfect for beginners as it only uses single notes in your right hand. It's one of those tunes that everybody recognises. Play this little riff and wow your friends.
2) Still D.R.E - Dr. Dre ft. Snoop Dogg
This has to be one of the coolest piano riffs, and it's quite simple, using chords in the right hand and sigle notes in the left so an easy one for beginners. Another one that no matter the age it's always recognisable.
3) Take Five - Dave Brubeck
This one is cool in a leaning up against a bar in a smokey saloon sippin a smooth whisky kinda way. This one has been around for 60 years, and whenever I hear this piano riff, even though it's simple, it sounds so cool. I think it must be the 5 beats per bar. In the video I have just taken the first piano riff, so again easy for beginners.
4) Lose Yourself - Eminem
The piano intro to Eminem's song could be one of the most famous piano parts in a rap song ever, up there with Still DRE for sure. This one has moving parts in both hands, so slightly more advanced, but with the chord shape pattern method I use in the tutorial I think it will be okay for newbies on piano, and anyone should be able to pick it up pretty fast.
5) Hedwigs Theme - John Williams/Harry Potter Movie
I had to include this one. HEY! Harry Potter is COOL! I included it because it's one of those songs that if you play it people, people like it, no matter who they are. It must be the mixture between haunting melody and the dissonant minor chords. In the piano tutorial, I teach you the version with the full chords, so probably for intermediate players, and also show you a simple version for those of you that may struggle but want to learn the main tune.
To learn all of these tunes and riffs watch the video below:
What do you think?
If you don't have time to watch the whole video, there are timestamps in the video description over there on Youtube if you wanted to skip through the lesson parts and just see the songs.
I would LOVE it if you told me what you think of them in the comments section on Youtube. Or even better, comment your own top 5 coolest piano tunes. Who knows, I might even do a video of your list! So please do. 😃
Anyway I hope you liked learning my own top five.
Keep practising.
Arthur Bird
Founder - Birds Piano Academy