Would you like to learn to play the notes of Never Gonna Give You Up on the piano? You’ve come to the right place!
British singer-songwriter Rick Astley first released Never Gonna Give You Up in 1987, on his debut album Whenever You Need Somebody.
Upon its release, the song was a resounding international success, reaching number one in the charts in many countries. It went on to make its mark on contemporary music culture, and even became the origin of a new Internet phenomenon in the early 2000s, known as Rickroll.
Today, many people want to learn this famous blues tune on the piano.
In this article, we’re going to teach you how to play the notes of Never Gonna Give You Up on the piano. First we’ll learn how to play the notes with the right hand, then with the left. Finally, you’ll be able to play the notes with both hands at the same time on your keyboard. Each section will be accompanied by a tutorial video to help you perfect your learning of the famous title.
By the end of this guide, the aim is for you to be able to play Never Gonna Give You Up perfectly on the piano.
Are you ready? Let’s get started!
Bonus : you can also learn to play this song at your own pace on our interactive piano learning app La Touche Musicale.
Free download: >> >> The guide to learn 10 easy piano pieces.
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By way of introduction, we’re going to quickly review the fundamentals of piano playing. If you’re already comfortable with the layout of the keys on the keyboard and the name of each note, don’t hesitate to skip straight to the next part. If not, we suggest you concentrate on the diagram that follows:
The name of the notes on a piano keyboard.
In this diagram, you’ll see all the keys on the keyboard and their correspondences with notes such as C, D and E.
Pay particular attention to the black keys; you’ll see that they are grouped in twos and threes, helping you to get some visual bearings on the keyboard.
To locate a specific note, use C as a constant reference. It’s always on the white key immediately to the left of a group of two black keys. Once you’ve identified the note C, it becomes much easier to locate other notes such as D, G and B.
It’s well worth practicing identifying these different notes on the keyboard. Once you’re comfortable with the task, the information in our guide to playing Never Gonna Give You Up on the piano will seem much less complicated.
Now that you’ve got the basics down, let’s move on to the essentials: the sounds produced by your right hand, which represent the melody of the song.
Let’s start by determining the first note to be played by your right hand. This is a three-note chord, to be played simultaneously: F, A and C.
The notes F, A and C are the first notes that need to be played to reproduce the melody of Never Gonna Give You Up on the piano with your right hand.
Have you located the notes F, A and C on your piano? Excellent!
You now have your starting point. This prepares you to tackle the melodic sequence of Never Gonna Give You Up with your right hand. Play the following keys in sequence:
F+A+C – G+B+D – G+B+D – A+C+E – G – F – E – F+A+C – G+B+D – G+B – G – A – C – F+A+C – G+B+D – G+B+D – A+C+E – G – F – E – F+A+C – G+B+D – G+B – C – A+C – A – C – C – D – B – A – G – A – A – B – C – A – G – G – G – D – A – A – B – C – A – C – D – B – A – G – A – A – B – C – A – G – D – D – D – E – D – C – D – E – C – D – D – D – E – D – G – A – B – C – A – é – E – D – G – A – C – A – E – E – D – G – A – C – A – D – D – C – B – A – G – A – C – A – C – D – B – A – G – G – D – C – G – A – C – A – E – E – D – G – A – C – A – G – B – C – B – A – G – A – C – A – C – D – B – A – G – G – D – C.
By repeating this sequence of notes several times, you’ll gradually build up your skill until you can play the entire melody of this Rick Astley song with your right hand on the keyboard.
It’s advisable to repeat this sequence of notes several times to hone your skills in this section of the piece.
Never Gonna Give You Up on the piano: the notes of the right hand.
To boost your progress, what could be better than a real-time instructional video that tells you exactly which keys to press with your right hand to faithfully reproduce the song’s melody? Take a look at our video guide and press the corresponding keys as the notes appear and reach the virtual keyboard.
Congratulations, you’ve successfully played the melody of this famous piece with your right hand!
Now let’s move on to the series of notes that your left hand will have to play.
Play the notes ofNever Gonna Give You Up with the right hand on an interactive app
La Touche Musicale app waits for you to play the right note with your right hand on your piano before moving on to the next one.
It’s generally accepted that the left hand on the piano is used to establish chords, providing the harmonic foundation, while the right hand manages the melody. The left hand enriches your piano performance by adding nuance and depth.
To identify the first note to play with your left hand, we’ll use a similar approach to the one we invoked for the right hand. The initial note you’re going to press with your left hand is an F :
The note F is the first note to be played on your keyboard to reproduce the accompaniment to Never Gonna Give You Up with your left hand.
Have you managed to find the right F in the right octave on your keyboard? That’s great!
As with the right hand, we’re now going to concentrate on the set of notes that your left hand will have to play. Press each of the notes listed below in the order indicated to successfully accompany never Gonna Give You Up with your left hand.
F – F – G – G – E – E – A – A – F – F – G – G – E – E – A – A – F – F – G – G – E – E – A – A – F – F – G – G – E – A – F – F – G – G – F# – F – F – G – G – F# – F – F – G – G – F# – F – F – G – G – F# – F – F – F – F – G – G – G – G – F – F – F – F – G – G – G – F – F – G – E – E – A – F – G – E – A – F – F – G – E – A – F – G – E – A.
It would be worth repeating this passage several times until you feel completely comfortable playing it. With sufficient practice, you’ll be able to play this sequence of notes smoothly and fluently.
Never Gonna Give You Up on the piano: the notes of the left hand.
Of course, we’ve also prepared a video tutorial that takes you step-by-step through the notes your left hand will need to play for this iconic piece. Be vigilant in spotting each note and press the appropriate keys when the time comes, to ensure a musical accompaniment faithful to the original:
Play the notes of Never Gonna Give You Up with the left hand on an interactive app
The La Touche Musicale app waits for you to play the correct note with your left hand on your piano before moving on to the next.
Congratulations! You are now able to master both the right hand (melody) and the left hand (accompaniment) of Never Gonna Give You Up on the keys of your piano.
The next step is to coordinate the actions of your two hands to produce a smooth, harmonious performance of the piece.
Ready to embrace this new musical adventure? Let’s go !
Mastering two-handed piano playing requires dexterity, synchronization and patience. Be indulgent with yourself; harmonizing your hand movements won’t be without its pitfalls at first.
Remember, it’s quite normal for learning a new piece on the piano to take time, often several weeks. But once this phase is over, you’ll be able to perform your favorite piece with complete fluidity. With diligent practice, you’ll know the piece inside out, making aids like sheet music almost unnecessary. To support you in this process, the interactive app La Touche Musicale can be an excellent guide.
A practical tip: break the composition down into passages of a few seconds, ideally between 5 and 10.
Start by emphasizing the melodic sequence your right hand should play for each fragment of the chosen piece. Repeat as many times as necessary before moving on to the left-hand sequence. When you feel comfortable with the respective sequences of each hand for a given fragment, try to synchronize them.
Continue this approach passage by passage. When you feel ready, try assembling these fragments to create a continuous performance. This step-by-step approach to learning the piano will enable you to appreciate each small success and make the challenge as a whole more attainable as you practice.
Never Gonna Give You Up on the piano: the notes of both hands.
Check out our comprehensive video tutorial that shows you how to master Rick Astley’s piano work using both hands.
Perseverance and constant practice are key, but be confident in your abilities. Pay attention to variations in rhythm and ensure impeccable coordination between your hands, as we pointed out earlier.
There will be times when you need to press several keys simultaneously to create chords, and other times when notes need to be played sequentially.
If you feel that the pace of the video is too fast for you, don’t hesitate to pause the video when the notes are displayed, allowing you to adjust the placement of your fingers on the keys to facilitate your learning process.
If frequent pausing of the video to readjust your fingers seems tedious, our interactive app La Touche Musicale is here to simplify the task. Thanks to its varied interactive options, including a “learning mode” that only advances the lesson when you’ve activated the right keys, the app eliminates this constraint. It also offers a visual representation of musical notes (such as C, D, E, etc.), as you’ll see in our videos. We recommend that you use this function as an additional tool to enrich this online guide.
With a wide variety of pieces covering different styles and skill levels, we believe our app has the potential to significantly enhance your piano learning experience. So, are you ready to embark on this musical adventure?
Play the notes of Never Gonna Give You Up with both hands on an interactive app
The La Touche Musicale app waits for you to play the right notes with both hands on your piano before moving on to the next.
Congratulations! You can now play Rick Astley’s Never Gonna Give You Up in its entirety on the piano.
If you’ve found this guide instructive, please note that we also offer other teaching resources covering a wide variety of famous songs from different musical styles:
Mission accomplished with the help of this tutorial: you can now play one of the greatest Blues songs of all time from start to finish on your keyboard, in harmony with both hands.
To add extra value to this material, we’ve included a link to download the sheet music for Never Gonna Give You Up in PDF format.
Now you’re free to play this piece wherever you like.
And don’t forget that for a learning experience that’s as enjoyable as it is educational, our La Touche Musicale app is at your disposal.
We look forward to guiding you through more piano lessons in the future!
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