(upbeat music)
- Hello everybody and welcome to Hd Piano.
My name is Dan. In this
lesson, we'll learn
how to play "Can't Help Falling in Love"
by the King, Elvis Presley.
We'll break down the
intro verse and chorus
in this video. The rest is at hdpiano.com.
But here's that much.
(piano music)
Alright, so this intro
verse and chorus video
covers most of the lesson.
However, we'll still have a bridge as well
as a whole song run
through and those parts
are at hdpiano.com.
Before I break down this much, a question,
"What is your favorite Elvis song?"
He has a number of classic hits.
Comment below with your favorite.
And uh here we go.
(piano music)
So what I'm first gonna do is identify
each chord shape. Okay there is only a few
of them and then I'm gonna break down the
accompaniment style within
which we're working.
So this d-major chord is
first. a,d in the left hand.
a, d, f# in the right.
(piano music)
Now we have an a-major triad, so these top
two notes come down to c# and e
This thumb stays planted
on A. That's an A triad.
a, c#, e
So we have d
to a
and then a different D-chord.
This is what we would call an inversion.
So its the same notes.
f#, a
d
Remember our first chord. f#, a, d
They're just re-arranged.
So the third chord is a, uh,
second inversion d-chord.
So we have d,
a,
second version d,
Then back up, back up
to our original d-chord.
Then our final
chord on this intro section is
a root position d-chord. d, f, #A
So we're playing a lot of inversions on d.
(piano music)
Those are just three
notes we're rearranging.
This bottom note goes to the top.
The rest stays the same.
This bottom note goes to the top.
The rest stays the same.
So those are inversions.
Get used to that idea.
Uh we're using that quite
frequently in this uh specific piece.
Okay, so our intro to recap is
d
a
a lower d inversion
and then two more d's inverted
And then here is where our verse starts.
(singing . . . Wise Man)
Alright, that's where we're at.
This chord should look familiar.
This is where the verse
starts on that same d-chord.
Next is an f# minor chord in the verse.
f# on the left, c#, f#, a on the right
Followed by a b-minor triad root position
Root position means the
bottom note of the chord is
the chord identifier.
This is b right. So it's b-minor.
B is the bottom note. This is a b-minor.
But sense the bottom note
is a b we would call this
an inversion of b-minor.
Okay.
Following chord after
b-minor, just drops the left
hand down to a. That
gives us b-minor over a.
So first four chords of the verse
d
f# minor
b-minor, root position triad
left hand drops to a
Then a g-chord, g in the left
b,d,g in the right
followed by a d over f#
f# on the left
a,d,f#on the right
And then an a over e, e in the left,
a, c#, e on the right
the left hand jumps up to a
right hand stays the same.
So the first eight chords of the verse.
d
f# minor
b-minor
left hand goes down to a
Then a g-chord
d over f#
an a over e
then left hand up to a
Alright we're half-way through the verse.
The next half of the verse starts on
this g-chord g in the left.
d, g, b up here
This is middle c by the way.
I know I'm mentioning a little late.
But this is middle c.
So we're working right around it.
This g-chord shifts up two.
This a-7 chord, a in the left,
e, g, c# on the right.
And we keep ascending up to b-minor.
B on the left, f#, b, d in the right
(piano music)
The right hand chord now is on an e-minor.
which is g, b, e
over g in the left-hand
Then the left hand drops to e.
So let's look at the
second half of our verse.
First four measures
To recap, we have this g-chord
shifted up
to a-7
Keep shifting up to b-minor.
Now we have e-minor over g
Now e-minor
and here is the last four of our verse
This d-chord over a
So this d-chord looks familiar.
It's a, d, f#
But it's rooted, rooted in
an a-chord in the left hand.
And the right-hand changes
to an a-major chord.
And then we finish.
The same way we finished
our first four measures.
Which is, this d-chord inverted twice.
Except when we invert, the left hand is
gonna change to a
then a lower a
Alright, so this seems
like a lot of information
and really I guess if you're looking at it
note by note it is.
But it's just several chords and several
different formations of the same chords.
Um, but what's most important
is that we get the
order right so let me go
through it more time.
If you need to jot this down, it might be
a little hard to memorize at first.
Uh, so it might help
to just jot down which
chords are happening.
Let's go through all the
chords in the intro and verse.
D
a
d
d over a
and then the verse
d
f-sharp minor
b-minor
b-minor over a
g
d over f-sharp
a over e
a
g
a-7
b-minor
e-minor over g
to e-minor
d over a
a
and then d
and d over a
Alright, so that's it.
That's, those are all
the chords to the intro verse and chorus.
I'm kinda calling, calling
this an all-in-one section.
Uh, there's no really distinct chorus
refrain section that we're used to.
But I think the part where
he, where he sings, um
I can't help falling in love with you
(piano music)
That, to me is a chorus.
So I'm kinda combining this.
This is really an all-in-one deal.
So let's look at the accompaniment.
How are we playing these chords?
You know it's really simple actually.
The right hand is arpeggiating, meaning is
breaking these chords up note by note and
it's arpeggiating bottom to top.
And then back down.
And that's the trend for
pretty much the entire song.
Bottom, middle, top, middle, bottom so
ascending, reaching the
top and then descending.
Okay, there are couple
exceptions; of course, but for
the most part 95% of the
accompaniment is just that pattern.
Alright, and of course, um
it's not quite that simple.
The left hand plays first
on every chord so it's
left hand and then breaks.
(piano music)
It's almost as if the left
hand were a part of the chord.
(piano music)
So there's one of our first,
um altered alternate options
there at the end of the intro.
We're just arpeggiating that chord.
Descending so its...
Down
down
okay there's one of the little variations
alright, but for the most part
bottom to top, back down
So let's look at the intro.
(piano music)
There's your intro.
Use that little segment there if you
need to run the intro a million times.
Get it done. Here's the verse.
(piano music)
Pattern is exactly the same.
(piano music continues)
Pattern is still the same.
There we have two notes in the left hand.
And here's the one little variation
Right here
down, down, down, down, down, down, down
Alright so that run through,
that little blueprint
right there at uh kinda of
a slower speed than normal.
It's gonna be great. It's
gonna be very helpful
if you need to reference.
If you're like, "I still
don't know what he's playing,
you know when the, when
the lyrics come in.
When the words come in,
go back reference that.
Okay that was a clear run
through nice and clean, slow.
Um, but I'd like to play this with you.
So let's do this.
Let's actually try at recorded tempo.
This is one of those
songs that it might take
a few reps for you just to
memorize the chord structure.
Cause it's just a, it's
kind of a, a mess of chords,
but they're simple.
You just have to put
them in the right order
and remember them.
Here's the, uh, recorded tempo.
(sounds of snapping fingers)
1...2...follow with me and, uh
(piano music)
Here's the verse.
Alright. If you struggled with that,
I'm gonna play a little bit slower now.
If you're okay with that,
you're ready to move
on at this point honestly.
Um, but you're more than welcome to stick
around because here we go again.
A little slower for those of us that
couldn't quite get that.
3 and uh 4 and uh
(piano music)
Wise men say,
only fools rush in
but I
can't
help
falling in love with you
Alright, so we've done
a bunch of work on this
intro, verse and chorus section.
Um, all that's left is
really just a couple
measures. Um, the bridge
section is significantly
easier than all this combined.
So I'll you'll join me over at hdpiano.com
for the rest of this lesson.
We're learning, "Can't
help falling in love",
by the King, Elvis Presley.
My name is Dan. Here at hdpiano.
I'm glad you've made it this far.
I'm proud of you and while
I have you on the line,
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This has been fun so far.
We're learning Elvis's,
"Can't Help Falling in Love."
I'm Dan.
Hdpiano.com, that's the home
of the hybrid piano lesson.
I'll see you for the next section.
