# American Pie – Don McLean: piano chords

American Pie by Don McLean uses 4 chords in A major; difficulty on the piano: easy.

## Chords in the song

[F#m](https://pianokitty.com/c/Fsharpm), [A](https://pianokitty.com/c/Amaj), [E](https://pianokitty.com/c/Emaj), [D](https://pianokitty.com/c/Dmaj)

## Chord sheet

- Intro 1: F#m A E
- Verse 1: F#m A E F#m A E
- Chorus 1: F#m A E F#m A E
- Verse 2: F#m A E F#m A E
- Chorus 2: F#m A E F#m A E
- Instrumental 1: F#m A E F#m A E
- Chorus 3: F#m A E F#m A E
- Verse 3: F#m A E F#m A E
- Outro 1: F#m A E D A E

## Questions

### Which chords does American Pie by Don McLean use?

Different chords: 4. They are all in the list under “Chords in the song”.

### What key is American Pie by Don McLean in?

The chords fit A major. This is estimated from the chords, so the recording may be in another key.

### How hard is American Pie to play on the piano?

Difficulty: easy. The rating counts the different chords (4), 7th and extended chords, and chords with another bass note.

[Practice this song](https://pianokitty.com/app?subject=songs&spec=%3Cintro_1%3E+F%23m+A+E+%3Cverse_1%3E+F%23m+A+E+F%23m+A+E+%3Cchorus_1%3E+F%23m+A+E+F%23m+A+E+%3Cverse_2%3E+F%23m+A+E+F%23m+A+E+%3Cchorus_2%3E+F%23m+A+E+F%23m+A+E+%3Cinstrumental_1%3E+F%23m+A+E+F%23m+A+E+%3Cchorus_3%3E+F%23m+A+E+F%23m+A+E+%3Cverse_3%3E+F%23m+A+E+F%23m+A+E+%3Coutro_1%3E+F%23m+A+E+D+A+E&seq=inOrder&title=Don+McLean+-+American+Pie)

[Piano chords for popular songs](https://pianokitty.com/songs/browse)

Chord data: [Chordonomicon](https://huggingface.co/datasets/ailsntua/Chordonomicon), [CC BY-NC 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/). Chords are transcriptions and can differ from the recording.

https://pianokitty.com/songs/don-mclean/american-pie