Nathaniel School of Music

Chic's Good Times on Piano: The Disco Groove for Both Hands

To play Chic's Good Times on piano, put the bass guitar line in your left hand, counted in sixteenths around E and A from the E Dorian scale, and play rootless Em7 (B D G) and A (C# F# A) voicings with short licks in your right hand, without sustain pedal.

Video lesson by Jason Zac · Intermediate · 17 min

Can't see the video? Watch it on YouTube.

Key points

This lesson turns the iconic bass line of Chic's Good Times, from the album Risqué, into a two-instrument piano arrangement. Your left hand plays what the bass guitar plays, and your right hand plays the chords and licks the keyboard player uses on the record. It suits intermediate players who want to build hand independence, because playing a real bass line on the piano is one of the toughest coordination challenges there is.

Jason Zac teaches it in three layers: the bass line first, then the chords with the bass, then the piano licks.

Step 1: Count in sixteenth notes

The groove sits on a sixteenth-note time division. Count every beat as 1 e and a, 2 e and a, 3 e and a, 4 e and a. Chanting this out loud is the easiest way to place each note exactly where it belongs.

Step 2: The left-hand bass line

The line has a feel a little like Another One Bites the Dust, but with much more going on. Break it down slowly:

Near the end of the line there is an F# to G move. On bass guitar this is a slide, but a lone F# sounds odd on piano, so play it as a quick F# into G instead. Watch your fingering too: the line involves crossing a finger over the thumb, and there is a doubled E.

Step 3: The scale behind the song

The whole progression lives in E Dorian: E F# G A B C# D E. It is not E natural minor or E harmonic minor, both of which have a flat sixth. Dorian has a major sixth (C#) and a flat seventh (D). That major sixth is what gives you a major IV chord, A, which is why the bass anticipates that IV chord. Dorian is a favourite sound in soul, R&B and funk.

Step 4: The two right-hand chords

You only need two chords for the track:

Do not use the sustain pedal. The bass line needs to be punchy, staccato and choppy, so hold the chord down with your fingers instead.

Step 5: The piano licks

Over E minor, hit the chord with the bass on beat 1, but instead of holding it for the whole bar, add a short phrase: play D and G together and slide the D up to E, a scoop up through E Dorian. By the end, hold a full Em7 with B D E G, still without pedal.

Over A, the lick uses E and D played in octaves, on similar hit points around the end of beat 3 and into beat 4. Because you are playing octaves here, you may use the pedal briefly on these notes. Finish on the jazzy F# minor second-inversion chord (C# F# A) and hold it.

How to practise

  1. Learn the bass line alone, counting sixteenths aloud, until it grooves by itself.
  2. Add the two chord voicings over the bass.
  3. Isolate each lick slowly, then put both licks together with Em7 and A.

Building the left hand first means the right hand catches up to a solid foundation, rather than the other way round. The left hand is as important as the right; it simply has a different role.

Questions about this lesson

What key or scale is Good Times by Chic in?

The progression fits the E Dorian scale: E F# G A B C# D E. Its major sixth, C#, is what makes the IV chord, A, major.

What chords do I play in the right hand for Good Times?

Two chords are enough: a rootless Em7 voiced B D G, and an A chord voiced C# F# A, which can also be seen as F# minor in second inversion over A.

Should I use the sustain pedal?

No, because the bass line has to stay punchy and staccato. Hold the right-hand chords with your fingers, and use the pedal only briefly during the octave lick over A.

Why learn the bass line before the right hand?

A solid left-hand groove becomes the foundation, so the right hand catches up to it. This builds real hand independence instead of a weak, afterthought left hand.

Practise it

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