"Piano Man" by Billy Joel Ukulele Tabs on UkuTabs

Artist	Billy Joel
Album	Piano Man
Genre(s)	classic rock • piano • pop • rock • singer-songwriter
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Chords in this song

chords or tablatures

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Intro:
    C G F C
    F C D7 G  
    C G F C  
    F G C   G


     C      G          F    C
It's nine o'clock on a Saturday
    F       C              D7 G
The regular crowd shuffles in
           C       G       F       C
There's an old man sitting next to me
       F           G         C   G
Making love to his tonic and gin


          C            G         F   C
He says, "Son, can you play me a memory
    F          C           D7  G
I'm not really sure how it goes
         C            G           F          C
But it's sad and it's sweet and I knew it complete
       F      G             C
When I wore a younger man's clothes."


Am              D7
la la la, di da da
Am           D7    G  F C G7
La la, di di da da dum


C         G                F     C
Sing us a song, you're the piano man
F         C      D7   G
Sing us a song tonight
            C          G          F   C
Well, we're all in the mood for a melody
    F                 G         C     G
And you've got us all feeling alright


    C           G        F         C
Now John at the bar is a friend of mine
   F          C          D7  G
He gets me my drinks for free
         C            G              F             C
And he's quick with a joke and he'll light up your smoke
            F               G           C   G
But there's some place that he'd rather be


          C         G             F       C
He says, "Bill, I believe this is killing me."
       F          C            D7  G
As the smile ran away from his face
          C           G          F     C
"Well I'm sure that I could be a movie star
   F           G           C
If I could get out of this place"


Am              D7
la la la, di da da
Am           D7    G  F C G7
La la, di di da da dum


    C         G           F   C
Now Paul is a real estate novelist
    F         C          D7  G
Who never had time for a wife
         C            G           F            C
And he's talking with Davy, who's still in the Navy
    F             G      C   G
And probably will be for life


        C           G          F   C
And the waitress is practicing politics
       F           C           D7    G
As the businessman slowly gets stoned
             C         G               F     C
Yes, they're sharing a drink they call loneliness
         F           G         C    G
But it's better than drinking alone


C         G                F     C
Sing us a song, you're the piano man
F         C      D7   G
Sing us a song tonight
            C          G          F   C
Well, we're all in the mood for a melody
    F                 G         C     G
And you've got us all feeling alright


       C           G           F    C
It's a pretty good crowd for a Saturday
        F       C          D7    G
And the manager gives me a smile
          C               G               F         C
'Cause he knows that it's me they've been coming to see
   F            G           C   G
To forget about life for a while


        C         G             F    C
And the piano, it sounds like a carnival
        F          C             D7  G
And the microphone smells like a beer
         C          G           F           C
And they sit at the bar and put bread in my jar
          F             G         C     G
And say, "Man, what are you doing here?"


Am              D7
la la la, di da da
Am           D7    G  F C G7
La la, di di da da dum


C         G                F     C
Sing us a song, you're the piano man
F         C      D7   G
Sing us a song tonight
            C          G          F   C
Well, we're all in the mood for a melody
    F                 G         C     
And you've got us all feeling alright

This arrangement for the song is the author's own work and represents their interpretation of the song. You may only use this for private study, scholarship, or research. UkuWorld and its derivatives do not own any songs, lyrics or arrangements posted and/or printed.

27 Comments

ukulele love
March 28, 2018 at 07:13 · Reply
“son, can you play me a memory? I’m not really sure how it goes, but it’s sad and it’s sweet and I knew it complete when I wore a younger man’s clothes” beautiful song. My mom absolutely loves it.
Rachel
January 3, 2018 at 00:17 · Reply
The pattern is down down up down up
Mia
December 11, 2017 at 06:47 · Reply
Chloe, how do you finger pick strumming songs? DO you just pluck all the strings at once or is there a pattern?
Daniel
November 9, 2017 at 05:19 · Reply
For the strumming pattern i use DOWN down up down up DOWN down up down up. With the capitalized letters being accented and doing this in a 6/8 timing as is the actual song, but in all practicality find a pattern that works best for you but also works with 6/8 timing.
Chloe
July 20, 2017 at 22:15 · Reply
Instead of strumming the song I pick it. Its harder and a little slower but it sounds nice.
Violet
July 3, 2017 at 00:00 · Reply
What is the strumming pattern
Uke
March 2, 2017 at 22:42 · Reply
What’s the strumming pattern
hey*
January 12, 2017 at 14:09 · Reply
Instead on dm7 just play d is sounds Alot better
- Ukaleyley
  January 29, 2017 at 01:28 · Reply
  That’s what I did it sounds way better
hello my name is Loca
January 2, 2017 at 21:47 · Reply
Hey, the chords are perfect but how is the strum of the song? hahaha I’m starting..
- ukelamelame
  February 24, 2017 at 03:57 · Reply
  start with dudud and continue with udud
The Kid
March 7, 2016 at 04:04 · Reply
@queen_bee you literally just lay down a finger and keep your index finger on c to transition to d7
Nik
February 15, 2016 at 00:16 · Reply
Great chords. just love it. Thanks so much
mihf
July 27, 2015 at 17:42 · Reply
I LOVE THIS SONG
it was really easy to play i thought it would be hard
mihf
July 27, 2015 at 17:41 · Reply
i love how easy this song is can you belive it
i thought it would be really hard
Jason Santos
February 28, 2015 at 15:08 · Reply
Sing the final chorus two times.
ClockworkQuarks
February 27, 2015 at 23:53 · Reply
What have other people been doing for the outro? I’m doing C G F FEmGC and it sounds right to my ear, any other ideas?
queen_bee
March 13, 2014 at 00:45 · Reply
Perfect tab! I had difficulty switching quickly from C to D7, so for that chord progression I just played Dm and it sounded fine :)
- Terry L.
  February 19, 2017 at 22:20 · Reply
  I use my thumb for chords like that. For example, D, D7, E(alt), and so on. That would probably help a lot.
- TeaCup
  July 19, 2017 at 10:40 · Reply
  It is much easier to barre the D7 chord, that way you can just keep one finger on the C and add another finger to barre the second frets. :)
ooopsnevermind
September 28, 2013 at 07:59 · Reply
instead of C in the G F C G7 progression, I like Em or Em7.
- Xav.Fracture
  September 9, 2017 at 04:49 · Reply
  Em7 so soooo good. Thank you so much
Gene
August 3, 2013 at 20:33 · Reply
Sing us a song, ukulele man,
- lalizzziela
  April 1, 2018 at 04:18 · Reply
  five years later and your comment made me crack up lol
Aidan98
July 28, 2013 at 22:45 · Reply
Absolute perfect tab, for an absolutely perfect song :) Cheers
aly8ssa
March 29, 2013 at 01:46 · Reply
I love this song, and this tab is perfect! Thanks
- Cate
  December 31, 2016 at 20:54 · Reply
  I LOVE THIS SONG! my dad was playing this song to me on the piano when i was little and now i love it! (great to play on the ukulele)