• Meet Brenda
  • The Versatile Musician
  • Lessons
  • Guest Artist
  • Blog
  • Performances
  • Connect
  • Menu
  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content

Piano & Voice With Brenda

Piano and Voice Training that WORKS.

  • Meet Brenda
  • The Versatile Musician
  • Lessons
  • Guest Artist
  • Blog
  • Performances
  • Connect
  • Meet Brenda
  • The Versatile Musician
  • Lessons
  • Guest Artist
  • Blog
  • Performances
  • Connect

Watermelon Sugar Piano Tutorial

In this piano tutorial, I tackle Watermelon Sugar by Harry Styles.  This song originally came out in his second studio album Fine Line, which was released in 2019.

Need some  practice help? 

Sign up and get my 20 Minute Piano practice routine for singers FREE!

Watermelon Sugar by Justin Bieber

Watermelon sugar was released as a single in 2020 and won a Grammy for Best Pop Solo Performance.

Fun fact:  this song was inspired by a dystopian American novel called In Watermelon Sugar, written by Richard Brautigan.  The song has nothing to do with the actual story of the novel, but Harry thought it was make a cool hook for a song.

In this piano tutorial, I use my standard protocol for creating great pop piano arrangements.  If you want to learn more about this protocol, check out this post.

I find a copy of the lyrics or I just type them up from the recording.  I then figure out the chords on a chord website or I just learn them by ear.  If you want to learn to play by ear click here for a video I made where I outline how to learn to play by ear

3 Steps to Authentic Pop Piano Arrangements

I detail this entire process in this video. I have used this process to learn hundreds and hundreds of songs and my students absolutely love the simplicity of learning pop songs on piano this way.

Learn the Chords on Piano

Step #1 Learn the chords on piano. This can be as simple as playing them in root position, or if you are a more experienced pianist, you can find the inversions that sound the best to you and voice lead your way through. Watermelon Sugar only has four chords total, so it’s super easy to play!

Play the Groove

Step #2 is to figure out how to play the groove. You can use a simple pattern or more complicated, depending on your level. Remember that you’ll have to sing over this, so don’t make it too hard!

Identify the hook

Step #3 is to identify the hook, bass line or any other aspects that help to bring it to life.  Again, you can make this as simple or complicated as your piano chops will allow you.  The hook of hold on is the guitar line, which I show you in the tutorial.  Also the tricky bass line that kicks in in the chorus.

If you enjoyed this tutorial of Watermelon Sugar by Harry Styles, make sure to take a moment to subscribe to my YouTube channel to check out more great content!

Check out some more fun song tutorials:

How to play Hold On by Justin Bieber on piano

How to play Cruisin’ by Smokey Robinson on piano

Black background with a photo of Brenda Earle Stokes singing into a microphone sitting at a keyboard. Turquoise lettering reads "Let's Learn Songs"
Learn more!

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.

Expand your repertoire, work on your new skills and get more confident on the piano!

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.

 

Category: Piano Lessons, Tutorials

Previous Post: «Pink background with a photo of Brenda Earle Stokes playing piano. White lettering reads "What does a jazz pianist need to know?" What does a jazz pianist need to know?
Next Post: How to Play My Funny Valentine on Piano (intermediate) My funny valentine easy piano tutorial learn piano skills for singers»

© Piano & Voice with Brenda | Michigan Web Design by Ellanyze
Privacy Policy | Terms & Condition