This post will help you learn the bass line and chords of the I Love Coffee, I Love Tea piano medley. You’ll be able to play it with the upper duet part!
This is part of a series! Not only will you learn the various parts of I Love Coffee I love Tea, but you’ll learn how to teach them to a family member. Then, play the duet together or with the ‘Play-along’ videos included in the series.
Step 1: Learn the chords, G-flat, A-flat, D-flat
These keyboard graphics offer a close-up of the RH chords that we’ll talk about in the following YouTube video!
All three chords use the same RH fingers: 1, 3, 5 (thumb, middle and pinky). You may want to warm up with them first!
G-flat
A-flat
D-flat
To learn the lower duet part by rote, watch the following video!
Step 2: Learn the ending pattern
The lower duet part finishes with the iconic ‘I Love Coffee, I Love Tea’ ending pattern. It’s the same as the ending pattern of the upper duet tunes. If you’ve already learned it, you can skip this step. But if you’re covering this blog post first, here it is!
Important! There’s one adaptation for the lower duet part. You’ll play the following keys with BOTH hands, one octave apart.
If you’ve been in piano lessons for a while, you may want to try this fingering with both hands: Finger 3s (middle fingers) on black keys, finger 1s (thumbs) on white keys.
FREE Printable Sheet!
If you’d like to print reference music for the duet medley, go to my printables! This free sheet notates all of the patterns including the pentatonic pattern, ‘Knuckles’, the lower duet chords and of course, I Love Coffee, I Love Tea!
Ready for more?
Learning to play the duet
I Love Coffee I Love Tea and Knuckles piano play-along — Learn the tunes [Part I]
I Love Coffee I Love Tea and Knuckles piano play-along — Duet videos [Part III] No duet partner at home? Play along with these YouTube videos!
Fun intro to keyboard harmony
I Love Coffee, I Love Tea and ‘Knuckles’ Intro to Circle of Fifths [Part IV]
Are you a piano teacher? To unlock this fun multi-part blog tutorial series, start here: Piano play-along duet: I Love Coffee I Love Tea and Knuckles [Teacher intro]
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Video of the Week
Boogie Woogie Man is a high-energy set of boogie variations with deep roots in the blues! It has options for Elementary Level 1, Late Elementary Level 2 and Early Intermediate Level 3. The boogie pattern is like I Love Coffee, I Love Tea in that it’s based on a white-black key pattern that can be taught by rote! This piece can be played three different ways! The Theme and Variation 1 are for Level 1. For Level 2 add Variation 2, and adventurous Level 3 kids can play the whole set! From the print and eBook Rock That Train, Elementary to Late Elementary. Or, check out the Boogie Woogie Man eSheet (all three versions included for one price)!
