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Hungry Heart Piano Tutorial

In this tutorial, I show you how to play Hungry Heart by Bruce Springsteen on piano.  This is such a beautiful song that one of my private students requested and I made up a very simple but lovely arrangement of it that I wanted to share with you.

History of Hungry Heart

Hungry Heart is one of a million amazing, heart wrenching songs by The Boss, Bruce Springsteen.  It was the lead single from his on his fifth album, 1980s The River.  Fun fact:  Bruce initially wrote this song on request of Joey Ramone, who wanted a Springsteen hit for his punk band The Ramones.  Springsteen’s manager told him he needed to keep this song for himself instead of giving it awayas he did with Blinded by the Light and Because the Night.

The title is drawn from a line in Tennyson’s poem Ulysses that reads “For always roaming with a hungry heart.”  SOOOO good!

Pop Piano Protocol

In this tutorial, I am going to take you through a simple, four step step pop piano arrangement protocol.

Step #1 is to learn the chords, so you can sing and simply play the chords.

Step #2 is to sort out the accompaniment strategy.

Step #3 is to learn the hook of the song, in this case the haunting piano pattern.

Step #4 is to put it all together into an arrangement.

Ready?  Let’s go!

Step #1 Learn the chords to Hungry Heart by Bruce Springsteen

Hook

Db  Bb-7  Eb-7  Ab7sus

Verse #1

Db                               Bb-7 

  Got a wife and kids in Baltimore, Jack

           Eb-7                       Ab7sus

I went out for a ride and I never went back

Db                                Bb-7

    Like a river that don’t know where it’s flowing

  Eb-7                                   Ab7sus

       I took a wrong turn and I just kept going

Chorus

Db                             Bb-7

      Everybody’s got a hungry heart

Eb-7                            Ab7sus

       Everybody’s got a hungry heart

Db                                                 Bb-7

      Lay down your money and you play your part

Eb-7                           Ab7sus

      Everybody’s got a h-h-hungry heart

Hook

Db  Bb-7   Eb-7  Ab7sus

Oh

Verse #2

Db                            Bb-7

      I met her in a Kingstown bar

Eb-7                                 Ab7sus

    We fell in love, I knew it had to end

Db                                             Bb-7

    We took what we had and we ripped it apart

Eb-7                                   Ab7sus

       Now here I am down in Kingstown again

Chorus

E  C#-7 F#-7  B7sus

E  C#-7 F#-7  A7sus

Verse #3

Db                               Bb-7

      Everybody needs a place to rest

Eb-7                                 Ab7sus

        Everybody wants to have a home

Db                                                Bb-7

     Don’t make no difference what nobody says

Eb-7                              Ab7sus

       Ain’t nobody like to be alone

Chorus

Chorus

Step #2:  Figure out your accompaniment strategy

Remember when we are playing piano accompaniments we are trying to replicate the sound of the whole band, not just the piano part.  My standard practice for this is for the right hand to play chords and the left hand to play the “bass line” by playing the roots of the chords or a bass line.

For this song, this is the rhythmic pattern that I chose for this song.  It sounds pretty close to what the E Street Band is playing, but it’s easy enough that you could realistically sing and play this at the same time. 

Step #3:  Figure out the hook

The defining feature of Hungry Heart is that heartwrenching piano part, which you HAVE to learn. 

It comes back again in the interlude after the second chorus in the key of E 

Step #4:  Put it all together

Take your time and make sure that you are keeping solid time.  Use the metronome or a drum machine app like the iReal Pro or Drum Genius.  When you are ready, turn on the original recording and sing and play along.  Pure bliss!

The Versatile Musician logo with website listed. Reads all inclusive membership to level up your skills. Photo of Brenda Earle Stokes owner and creator of Piano and Voice with Brenda.Enjoy this free resource?  Check out The Versatile Musician – an all inclusive membership complete with 400+ video lessons, over 500 pages of print content and live support.  

This is a great option for you if:  you are looking for a single place to access a wide range of lessons, from piano skills to improvisation, from musicianship to music theory.  Stop piecing together your musical education and start getting it done!

 

Category: Piano for Singers, Piano Lessons

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