Stay – Great example of simple chord + pattern use

Hi All!

How’s everybody doing?

This week is a very short, very informative and highly educational lesson featuring Rihanna’s current mega-hit Stay.

Again Rihanna?! Yes, for those of you who mind: SORRY, but:

  • She’s immensely popular (so this probably means the bigger part of you DOES enjoy her songs and learning them).
  • This song demonstrates beautifully, the use of chords + patterns, throwing in the ‘switch to a different chord / voicing on the fourth beat only’ pattern. Video explains everything.
  • I like her.

 

Used Chords Stay

 

Intro verse Stay

 

Pre Chorus Stay

 

Chorus Stay

Last but (hopefully) not least, I wanted to share a cover version I made, of the beautiful song ‘Brother’.

I made a piano version for this song, just because I think this is truly a great song.
Thought I’d upload it here to show you an example of what you can do with using chords and patterns, turning a guitar part into a piano part and adding your own taste to it.

Let me know what you think!

If there’s anything you want to add / ask / say don’t forget to LEAVE A COMMENT below this post.

Have fun!

Cheers, Coen.

Questions? Remarks? Show me how you play this song! Please leave a comment below!

I’m also very curious which tutorial you’d like to see next!

All skills, tricks, tips, techniques and knowledge from this- and all other lessons @ this website are taken and can be learnt from my book / course ‘Hack the Piano‘ – The unconventional shortcut method to truly understand music and the piano.

About Coen

Founder of Piano Couture and creator of the Hack the Piano method. Coen is a musician, reader, writer, web-designer, eater and traveler. Find him at CoenModder.com

105 thoughts on “Stay – Great example of simple chord + pattern use”

  1. I am not able to see the chords (sheet) in this page. Is there any way I can get a copy of the chords as you have displayed on your video?
    I am a pre-beginner so it really helps to have a copy of that to memorize the positions.
    BTW, your videos are perfect for those like me, who are desperate to get better in music.

    Reply
  2. Hi! Thank you so much for this tutorial. It's amazing. I would like to ask--there's a small part near the end that's sort of like a coda where she sings "the reason I hold on/I need this hole gone/funny you're the broken one but i'm the only one who needed saving/when you never see the light it's hard to know which one of us is caving" and then it returns to to normal. Do you have chords for that part?

    Reply
    • Hi! Thanks for your comment, glad you liked the tutorial. Yeah I left that part out, sorry for that, but the chords are: F(4x) Am (4x) Dm (6x) Em (2x) Repeat the round, but now play Dm 8x and no Em. Then that 'funny I'm ...' = Dm (4x) F (4x) Am (8x) Repeat that but on 'caving' replace the Am for a G so: Dm (4x) F (4x) G (8x).
      Hope that helps! Cheers.

      Reply
      • thanks so much for doing this. it's so cool and very generous. i'm totally unskilled at piano, but it's really fun regardless. I was wondering though, what the Em chord you described above looks like. It's the only one you didn't have a visual for. Sorry to be a pain. Much appreciated.

        Reply
    • Hi! Thanks for your comment, glad you liked the tutorial. Yeah I left that part out, sorry for that, but the chords are: F(4x) Am (4x) Dm (6x) Em (2x) Repeat the round, but now play Dm 8x and no Em. Then that ‘funny I’m …’ = Dm (4x) F (4x) Am (8x) Repeat that but on ‘caving’ replace the Am for a G so: Dm (4x) F (4x) G (8x).
      Hope that helps! Cheers.

      Reply
  3. Hello Coen, on top of the chords is there a way to get the sheets? I am a beginner and it is still hard to get the proper sequence by looking at the video or the chords above, it goes too fast for me... I looking into getting hack the piano, is that included there ? Providing the midi files on top would be awesome , is that planned ?

    Reply
    • Hi Chris,
      Thanks for your comment!
      To answer your first question: I actually never use any 'traditional' sheets. In fact my whole method (this website with 'Hack the Piano' as being it's 'guidebook' and complete foundation for understanding everything) is built to teach others how to be able to do the same: play from the / by heart WITHOUT using or having to rely on traditional sheet music. Understanding chords and patterns and using those as your foundation to play, will enable you to do this and this is what 'Hack the Piano' is about.
      That leads me to the answer to your second question: in short: no. :).
      'Hack the Piano' is about teaching you to truly understand the construction of music, using chords and patterns, enabling you -as said- to play like this and without having to use sheet music.
      It is the 'handbook', 'guidebook' and 'foundation' to all of my other lessons.
      So it will not actually teach you any particular song, but at the same time teach you EVERY song. (of course we'll be using songs during the course -that you like and pick yourself- to exemplify and practice everything with).
      Lastly, I am in fact thinking about providing both midi files and sheets (Piano Couture sheets that is, no notes but the chord pics from the tutorial in the correct sequence. The fist 'try out' can be found for John Legends 'All of me') for individual songs. At this moment it's a loose plan with no concrete date yet, so stay tuned for that! 🙂
      I hope this helps and sparks your interest in Hack the Piano even more. Would be very pleased to get you on the team!
      Cheers, Coen.
      P.s. final tip: if you feel the video is too fast, just pause after every new bit. Try it out yourself and make sure you get it before moving on!

      Reply
  4. Hi you have an amazing talent! My name is rosaly and this has actually helped me to better my music, i play the piano and sing, and dance on occasion. It's cool to meet someone who shares the same passion.

    Reply

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