Uptown Girl is the classic Doo Wop-inspired song by the one and only Billy Joel. In this piano tutorial, I teach you how to play the chords, the authentic-sounding accompaniment strategy and ALL of the amazing details. You are going to LOVE this one!
Lyrics and Chords printable for Uptown Girl
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Uptown Girl is the hit song from Billy Joel’s 1983 album An Innocent Man. Heavily influenced by Doo Wop music, the iconic music video featured Joel dancing with his supermodel wife Christie Brinkley.
Even though there is a LOT going on with this song sonically (Background vocals! Horns!), it is a relatively simple song consisting of three different parts. In this tutorial I will break it down for you and you will be playing along with the record in no time!
In this Uptown Girl piano tutorial, we follow the usual four step protocol for learning to sing and play songs, but the song is so EPIC that we will be adding a few extra steps. This tutorial will be challenging, but it is 100% worth it!
In this tutorial, we follow the usual four step protocol for learning to sing and play songs.
Step #1: Learn the chords
Step #2: Learn the groove
Step #3: Learn the hook
Step #4: Put it all together.
Step #1: Learn the chords to Uptown Girl
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Chording Strategy for Uptown Girl
Uptown Girl Section 1 Chord Inversions
Uptown Girl Section 2 Chord Inversions
For the rest of the written tutorial, check out The Versatile Musician!
Put it all together
Remember that you can (and should!) customize this to fit your skill level. If the chord inversions are too challenging for you, then play them all root position. If you want to level it up, try altering the groove or adding some solo fills.
Try to avoid getting stuck in the little details! The goal is for you to learn to sing and play more songs - not drown in a pool of perfectionism. Have fun - it’s only music!
Want to learn great piano arrangements to a ton of songs?
In this course, you'll have access to dozens of song tutorials in different styles and accompaniments, from jazz to pop to holiday songs.
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Learning a wide range of songs is the best way to become a truly versatile musician. In Let's Learn Songs, you will have access to songs from a myriad of styles, from jazz to pop, from rock to holiday classics.
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