Piano Lesson: Learn To Play Amazing Grace

Amazing Grace for piano is a popular song on the internet. In this piano lesson we will learn to play this song with melody and chords without the use of sheet music. We will start by finding the note C.

The note C on your piano is found on many places on the piano keyboard. C is always to the left of two black keys on the keyboard. Let's find the middle C on the piano.

The middle C is often called C4 as it is in the fourth octave of an ordinary upright piano or grand piano. It is sometimes called the keyhole C as it is at the same horizontal position as the keyhole on some pianos.

In this piano lesson we will call it C4 and the C to the left of this note we will call C3 and so on. We will now continue this piano lesson by learning the song Amazing Grace. Let's take a look at the lyrics to the first verse:

Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound
That saved a wretch like me
I once was lost, but now am found
Was blind, but now I see

We will play this song in the key of F-major. You don't need to know exactly what this mean but it still is in F-major anyway.

We will start with the first line:

Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound

Here is the notes to play to this line:

C4 F4 A4 F4 A4 G4 F4 D4 C4

In this piano lesson we will use a type of piano tab that doesn't indicate the length of the individual notes. You will probably figure out this by yourself as you know the melody!

I feel confident that you are able to do this!

Let's continue with the next line:

That saved a wretch like me

C4 F4 A4 F4 A4 G4 A4 C5

We will now take a break in this piano lesson and amuse ourselves with three piano chords that you can play with your left hand as you play the melody with your right hand.

The first piano chord is called F-major or just F and it is played with these notes in this song:

F: C3 F3 A3

The next chord is Bb-major. It is played with these notes:

Bb: D3 F3 Bb3

What is the note Bb3?

Well, the ordinary note B3 is immediately to the left of the note C4. Bb3 is the black key immediately to the left of the note B3. Okey?

The third and last chord we will use in this piano lesson is the chord C7. It is played in the following way:

C7: C3 E3 Bb3

If you want to use these chords in the song I recommend that you learn them by heart first. Now we will continue with the piano lesson.

I once was lost, but now am found

A4 C5 A4 F4 A4 G4 F4 D4 C4

We finish this part of the piano lesson by playing the last line of lyrics.

Was blind, but now I see

C4 F4 A4 F4 A4 G4 F4

Our piano lesson on Amazing Grace is completed as far as the piano melody is concerned but if you want to use your left hand to play the chords as you play the right hand melody you'll find the bonus text here:

I will notate the melody as I did before but at certain places among the notes I will place the piano chords you already have learned after a slash.

When you see a note with a slash and a piano chord after it you are supposed to play the note and the chord at the same time.

Here is the Amazing Grace melody with piano chords:

C4 F4/F A4 F4 A4 G4 F4/Bb D4 C4/F

C4 F4/F A4 F4 A4 G4 A4 C5/C7

A4 C5/F A4 F4 A4 G4 F4/Bb D4 C4/F

C4 F4/F A4 F4 A4/C7 G4 F4/F

That's it! I recommend learning the Amazing Grace melody with or without chords by heart. You will then have access to it whenever you will find a piano or keyboard to play.

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About the Author

Peter Edvinsson is a musician, composer and music teacher. Visit his site Capotasto Music and download your free piano sheet music and learn to play piano resources at http://www.capotastomusic.com