Mar52026

Harry Styles – Paint By Numbers Chords on Piano & Ukulele

KeyKeyCapo

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[Intro]
D D/C# Bm A/C#

[Verse 1]
F#m        G       D        A
Oh, what a gift it is to be noticed
         F#m        G       D  A
But it's nothin’ to do with me
E                               
 You've got to wonder if there's 
   G
a reason to believe

[Chorus]
       D D/C# Bm      A/C#   
It’s a life---time of learnin' 
     G
to paint by numbers
    E                    D
And watchin' the colours run

[Instrument]
D/C# Bm A/C#
G E G E

[Verse 2]
D                 D/C#
 It's a little bit complicated
    Bm                 
When they put an image 
        A/C#
in your head, 
and now you're stuck with it
D                 D/C#
 You're the luckiest, oh, the irony
Bm          A/C#           D      
Holdin' the weight of the American 
 D/C#           Bm              A/C#
children whose hearts you break
F#m      G    D           A
Was it a tragedy when you told her
F#m           G      D     A
"I'm not even thirty-three"?
E                            
 A little self-compassion and
   G
 a life within your means

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[Bridge]
       D D/C# Bm      A/C#  
It’s a life---time of pickin’ 
       G
from one or the other
 E              D D/C#
Kids with water guns,  
 Bm A/C#       G   E
   watch them run

[Chorus]
       D D/C# Bm      A/C#    
It’s a life---time of learnin'
    G
 to paint by numbers
    E                    D
And watchin' the colours run

[Outro]
D/C# Bm A/C#
G F E

How to play Paint By Numbers: key, chords and progression

These are Paint By Numbers chords by Harry Styles for Piano and Ukulele.

Paint By Numbers by Harry Styles keeps coming home to D major (two sharps: F♯, C♯). You need 9 chords: D, D/C#, Bm, A/C#, F#m, G, A, E and F.

The backbone of the song is D – D/C# – Bm – A/C# (I – I – vi – V in D major). In solfa, that is doh – doh – lah – soh. Practise these 4 changes until they feel natural and you can play most of it.

Good to know: Bm, F#m and F are played as barre or movable shapes on guitar. Practise the change into them slowly; on piano and ukulele the same chords are easier.