ChordGrind

Piano Accompaniment Patterns

Knowing the chords is half of accompanying; the other half is the rhythm your hands play them in. Each pattern here is a 4-bar drill: a left-hand bass figure and a right-hand comping rhythm over a common progression — a J-pop ballad with pushes, a 16-beat drive, disco octaves, funk stabs, the bossa nova comp, a jazz Charleston and a walking bass. Hear it on the piano, play along with one hand muted, rate each pass, and take it through all 12 keys.

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C majorIVmaj7–V–iii7–vi7 (royal road)80 BPM

J-Pop Ballad — Broken Bass & Pushes

Root–5th–octave–5th eighths under off-beat chords, with a sixteenth push into the next chord.

Fmaj7 (IVmaj7) → G (V) → Em7 (iii7) → Am7 (vi7)

Press Start (or Space): a bar of clicks, then play the 4 bars with both hands.

80 BPM

Passes rated

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Clean

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Settings

KeyAfter a clean pass

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Turn one hand off and play that hand yourself while the piano plays the other, then both. Rate each pass honestly: a clean pass moves you to the next key, a shaky one keeps you here. Suggested tempo for this pattern: 64–100 BPM.

All 13 accompaniment patterns

Accompaniment patterns by style
Pattern	Style	Progression	How it goes
J-Pop Ballad — Broken Bass & PushesStraight · 64–100 BPM	Pop & J-Pop	IVmaj7–V–iii7–vi7 (royal road)	Root–5th–octave–5th eighths under off-beat chords, with a sixteenth push into the next chord.
J-Pop 16-Beat DriveStraight · 90–150 BPM	Pop & J-Pop	vi–IV–V–I	A driving sixteenth-note bass figure that steps by a half step into each chord, with right-hand stabs on the off-beats of 2, 3 and 4.
Pop 16th SyncopationStraight · 70–116 BPM	Pop & J-Pop	I–vi–IV–V	Dotted-eighth and tied-sixteenth chords over a held root that pushes on the last sixteenth of beat 3.
Pop ShuffleSwing · 80–140 BPM	Pop & J-Pop	I–vi–IV–V	Swung eighths: the left hand rocks root–5th, the right hand plays on the beat with a swung "and" of 3.
Triplet Ballad (12/8 Feel)Swing · 52–84 BPM	Pop & J-Pop	IV–V–iii–vi	A slow triplet feel: a held chord answered by its top note and a swung re-strike, the bass rising root–5th–octave.
Pop Off-Beat EighthsStraight · 80–132 BPM	Pop & J-Pop	I–V–vi–IV	Quarter-note bass on the beat, right-hand chords on every "and" — the simplest way to make the hands independent.
Disco Octave BassStraight · 90–124 BPM	Funk & Disco	vi7–ii7–V7–Imaj7	Bouncing dotted-eighth octaves in the left hand, sliding a half step into each chord; short right-hand stabs land on sixteenth off-beats.
Funk 16th StabsStraight · 80–112 BPM	Funk & Disco	ii9–V13 vamp (Dorian)	Clavinet-style sixteenth stabs against a sparse bass that picks up into each new chord.
Funk Dominant VampStraight · 84–116 BPM	Funk & Disco	I13–IV13 vamp	Thirteenth-chord stabs around a bass that anticipates beat 2 — the bluesy I–IV funk groove.
Bossa Nova BasicStraight · 100–150 BPM	Bossa Nova	ii7–V7–Imaj7	The two-bar bossa comping figure (3-3-2, then 2-3-3) over the root–low-5th dotted-quarter bass.
Bossa Nova with AnticipationsStraight · 100–150 BPM	Bossa Nova	iii7–VI7–ii7–V7	A busier bossa comp that ties over beat 2 and anticipates the next chord on the last eighth.
Jazz Two-Feel with CharlestonSwing · 90–180 BPM	Jazz	ii9–V13–Imaj9–VI13	Half-note root and low 5th in the bass, rootless voicings on the Charleston rhythm: 1 and the "and" of 2.
Walking Bass with CompingSwing · 90–180 BPM	Jazz	ii9–V13–Imaj9–VI13	Root–5th–3rd–approach walking bass while the right hand comps a rootless voicing on the "and" of 2.