Mad World: the verse

Lesson 6 · about 15 minutes · song 3, part 1: one key in the left hand, five in the right

This lesson follows the EASY piano tutorial by PHianonize, the version you picked. It's in D minor and uses only white keys. The left hand plays one key per bar, and the verse melody uses five keys, one per finger.Notes read straight from the video frames with tools/falling-notes.mjs, and checked against your screenshot of bar 1. The left-hand notes D, F, C, G are the same progression Hooktheory gives for Gary Jules' recording (i–III–VII–IV), moved to D minor, so the easy version keeps the real harmony.

Today's win: play the verse with both hands, three clean runs in a row. Then play along with the video.

0 · Set up

Octave 0, Transpose 0. Then you sound exactly like the video. Moonlight stays at Octave −1.
Open the video next to this page, and set its speed to 0.75× (⚙ → Playback speed) for now.

1 · Where the hands go

Right hand: thumb on the D just above the second C. Then one finger per key: D E F G A = 1 2 3 4 5. Your hand doesn't move during the verse.
Left hand: in the lowest octave. Pinky on the very first key, C. Then D = finger 4, F = 2, G = thumb.

Tinted: left hand C D F G, right hand D E F G A.

2 · Left hand: one key per bar

The verse is four bars, and the left hand plays one key per bar: D, F, C, G. Press it on count 1 and hold it all bar (1, 2, 3, 4). Those four keys are the song's four chords, reduced to their roots.

3 · Right hand: the melody

Count each bar "1 & 2 & 3 & 4 &". Each box is half a beat. A coloured box is where a note starts, and a note lasts until the next one.

count	1	&	2	&	3	&	4	&
bar 1 · LH D	·		D	D	F	F	D	D
bar 2 · LH F	A	A	─	A	─	F	─	─
bar 3 · LH C	G	G	─	G	─	E	─	─
bar 4 · LH G	G	G	─	G	─	F	E	D

Bar 1 waits: the melody starts on count 2, in pairs: D D, F F, D D.
Bars 2–4 share one rhythm: short, long, long, longest. Say "A, A–, A–, F–––". The 2nd, 3rd and 4th notes start on an "&", between the counts. That off-beat push is what makes the tune sound sad and lilting.
Bar 4 ends by walking down F E D, and the D carries over into the next verse.

The drills show the same thing as sheet music (how to read it: lesson 7, "Reading the score"). Press ▶ Hear it to get the rhythm: with Click: on it counts in one bar of clicks, then clicks on every beat. Use Slower to learn it at a calmer tempo. The drill checks the notes. The click is your judge of time.

4 · Both hands

The left hand lands on count 1 of every bar. In bars 2–4 the right hand lands on count 1 with it: two keys at once, written as two notes on top of each other, one per staff. In bar 1 the left hand plays alone, and the right hand waits for count 2.

5 · The verse twice, then with the video

In the video the verse comes round three times in a row (from 0:22 to 1:00). Play it twice here without stopping. The D at the end of bar 4 leads straight back into bar 1.

Then play along with the video from 0:22 at 0.75×. Your left hand comes in on the low D at the same moment the video's blue D lands. When that feels steady, try 1×.

6 · Check yourself

7 · The next three days

Tomorrow: verse cold (no hints), then the video from 0:22 at 0.75×.
Day after: Moonlight bars 1–5 from lesson 5 (Octave −1!), then the verse at 1×.
Day 3: the verse with the video at full speed, all three times through. Then on to lesson 7: the intro (0:10–0:22), which reaches two keys below your thumb.

Primary source: the tutorial video PHianonize, "Mad World – EASY Piano Tutorial". Watch 0:22–1:00 once with your hands in your lap, and only follow the blue (left-hand) blocks: D, F, C, G, one per bar. Then watch again and follow the red ones.

Is the off-beat rhythm in bars 2–4 hard to feel, or does the left hand rush? Ask me. I can build a rhythm trainer for this tune like the one in lesson 5.

Previous: Lesson 5 (Moonlight bar 5) · Reference: Keyboard map · Glossary · Next: Lesson 7 (Mad World, the intro)