Piano Diana Blog: How To Play Speed Of Sound

English: Chris Martin at a concert in England. Español: Chris Martin en un concierto en Inglaterra. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I did an older post on Coldplay awhile back and was thinking about a song, Speed Of Sound that some of my piano students enjoy playing. The words and music are by Guy Berryman, Jon Buckland, Will Champion and Chris Martin in 2005. Are you familiar with this one? It's full of power chords!

Here's how I play the song, moderately with 4/4 time signature. If you like playing sheet music, here's Coldplay - X and Y

Speed Of Sound Chord Chart

A5 Em D A5 Em D

    A5                 Em
How long before I get in, 
                             D
before it starts, before I begin? 
    A5                 Em
How long before you decide, 
                              D
before I know what it feels like? 
      A5                 Em
Where to, where do I go? 
                                       D
If you never try then you'll never know 
    A5                    Em
How long do I have to climb 
                                       D
up on this side of this mountain of mine? 

A5 Em D A5 Em D

     A5                   Em
Look up, I look up at night, 
                                      D
Planets are moving at the speed of light. 
     A5                Em
Climb up, up in the trees 
                                              D
Every chance that you get is a chance you seize 
    A5                Em
How long am I can stand 
                             D
with my head stuck under the sand?
     A5                    Em
I'll start before I can stop 
                                      D
but before I see things the right way up 

G(add9)           A(add9)         Bm7
   all that noise, and all that sound 
G(add9)      A(add9)       Bm7
  all those places  I got found 

CHORUS:

 G                      Bm
And birds go flying at the speed of sound 
   D                 G
to show ya how it all began 
G                          Bm
birds come flyin' from the underground 
             F#m                         G
If you could see it then you'd understand 

A5 Em D A5 Em D

  A5                       Em
Ideas that you'll never find
                                  D 
All the inventors could never design
    A5                       Em 
the buildings that you put up 
                          D
Like Japan and China all lit up 
    A5                       Em
A sign that I couldn't read 
                             D
or a light that I couldn't see 
    A5                         Em
Some things you have to believe 
                                   D
but others are puzzles, puzzlin' me 

G(add9)           A(add9)          Bm7
   all that noise, and all that sound 
G(add9)     A(add9)        Bm7
  all those places I got found 

CHORUS

G        F#m                 G

Ah, when see it then you'll understand.

 D5 Gsus2 D

G(add9)               A(add9)      Bm7
 All those signs, I knew what they meant 
                E7
Some things you can't invent 
G(add9)           A(add9)     Bm7
 Some get made,  and some get sent
E7
ooh 

CHORUS

G            F#m               Gmaj9  G6/9  Gmaj9         
Ah, when you see it then you'll understand.

Understanding Chords in Song

Here's the breakdown of the chords in this particular song. The chart uses different inversions as you can see and you're playing L.H./R.H. chords throughout. You can pick up the single to listen to here, Speed of Sound (Originally Performed By Coldplay) - Single

A5 = AE/A and A/EAC# and A/EAE

Em = EB/G and E/EGD

D = DA/F# and D/DF#A and D/ADF#

G(add9) = G/BDA

A(add9) = A/AC#F# and A/AC#G and A/EBE

Bm7 = B/F#AD and B/ADF#

G = G/DGB

Bm = B/F#BF#

F#m = F#/F#AC#

D5 = D/ADA

Gsus2 = G/DA

E7 = E/EG#D and E/BDG#

Gmaj9 = G/ADF#

G6/9 = G/ADE

So, what are you working on?

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