10 Songs To Celebrate Galentine’s Day With Your Gal Pals

You probably have plenty of love songs up your sleeve for Valentine’s Day coming up. But, what about Galentine’s Day, the day we celebrate our besties, BFF’s, gal pals.

Here are 10 songs to play on the piano those celebrate those special friendships. For each song, we found a simpler, intermediate arrangement, as well as a more advanced arrangement.

1. “Lean On Me” by Bill Withers

Arrangement 1: This arrangement reads pretty easy in the key of C. The left hand is mostly a single bass line and the right hand carries the melody line with an occasional harmony and only a handful of chords.

Arrangement 2: Here is a really fun gospel waltz arrangement of “Lean On Me”. It’s in a swing style and full of jazzed up rhythms and harmonies. Fuller chords and more complex rhythms make this arrangement a little more difficult, especially if you aren’t used to playing jazz.

2. “You’ve Got A Friend In Me” by Randy Newman

Arrangement 1: “You’ve Got A Friend In Me” isn’t a simple song to begin with, but you can count on Dan Coates’ arrangements to be accessible for less experienced pianists. This arrangement focuses on the melody in the right hand with single bass notes or 2-note harmonies in the left hand. The rhythms might look intimidating, but if you are familiar with this song, focus on playing them how it sounds and don’t overthink the rhythm.

Arrangement 2: If you’re looking for something a little closer to the original, try this arrangement by Eric Correll. The left hand stays pretty active and covers a pretty broad range of notes throughout this arrangement. It will play a lot of octaves, chords and running eighth notes. The right hand has a lot of syncopated chords with chromatic harmonies.

3. “Thank You For Being A Friend” from The Golden Girls

Arrangement 1: Jennifer Eklund’s arrangements are great for those still mastering the piano. She’s a teacher and writes music with learners in mind. This arrangement plays a little more lyrically than the original. The left hand mostly stays in an arpeggiated octave pattern throughout the whole song. The right hand covers the melody and it’s often accompanied by a chord to fill out the harmony.

Arrangement 2: This arrangement will have the driving, repeated eighth note chords that you would expect from the original version of this song. The right hand keeps those chords running while also covering the melody. The left hand often has short walking bass motives in octaves.

4. “Friends In Low Places” by Garth Brooks

Arrangement 1: This simple version of “Friends In Low Places” has mostly arpeggiated chords or single bass notes in the left hand while the right hand carries the melody. You’ll find more chords and driving eighth notes once the chorus rolls around.

Arrangement 2: This arrangement is from Phillip Keveren’s collection, Country Songs With A Classical Flair. It is a really playful and clever arrangement stylized with unique rhythm embellishments and articulations. It would be a fun arrangement to explore if you’re looking for a spinoff of the original.

5. “You’ve Got A Friend” by Carole King

Arrangement 1: Here’s a simple version of “You’ve Got A Friend” with mostly melody notes and a few harmonies in the right hand. The left hand is mostly single bass notes with a handful of harmonies. It’s in the key of C and reads pretty easily.

Arrangement 2: This is a really beautiful, lyrical arrangement by The Chillest. It features a lot of rolled chords, grace notes and flowing left hand patterns.

6. “With A Little Help From My Friends” by The Beatles

Arrangement 1: This is a pretty simple version of “With A Little Help From My Friends”. It’s in the key of F and the left hand is either rocking between 2 notes or playing chord shells. The right hand almost always plays a single melody line.

Arrangement 2: Here’s a fun jazzed up version of “With A Little Help From My Friends”. It is full of big jazz chords and harmonies that spice up the original version a bit.

7. “Friend Like Me” by Alan Menken

Arrangement 1: “Friend Like Me” is a pretty big song, so don’t be intimidated by this 10-page arrangement. This arrangement does a good job of preserving the right hand melody and keeping the left hand pretty simple. If you’re not up for learning all 10 pages, you can always cut to your favorite parts.

Arrangement 2: Here’s a fun and lively arrangement that is pretty true to the original recording. Large chords, running octaves, and a quick tempo make this 7-page arrangement a pretty big commitment.

8. “That’s What Friends Are For” by Burt Bacharach and Carole Bayer Sager

Arrangement 1: This arrangement is just 3 pages and in the key of F. It includes fingering suggestions throughout the music, which helps you stay on track.

Arrangement 2: Here’s a lovely pianistic arrangement of “That’s What Friends Are For”. It has running sixteenth notes throughout the whole song, so be ready for a lot of counting and technical work.

9. “I’ll Be There For You” by The Rembrandts

Arrangement 1: This is a simple arrangement that focuses on a melody line and bass line with just a few other harmonies. It’s 3 pages and in the key of G, so not to overwhelming for a less experienced pianist.

Arrangement 2: Here’s a snazzy arrangement of “I’ll Be There For You” by Francesco Parrino. It definitely requires some advanced techniques with left hand leaps, quick runs and big chords.

10. “We’re Going To Be Friends” by Jack Johnson

Arrangement: This piano-vocal-guitar arrangement of “We’re Going To Be Friends” works for a variety of levels. Beginning pianists can focus on the melody line and try adding in a few chords from the guitar symbols. More advanced pianists can read the full piano part with the option of filling out more chords from the guitar part as well.

Enjoy celebrating the special friendships in your life with these 10 songs!

This post was written by Megan, piano teacher and author of Pianissimo: A Very Piano Blog. Visit her website for more piano related blogs for teachers, parents, students, and all things piano.

Published on February 7, 2022