Did you know dueling pianos is an entertainment style that has been around since the 1890s?
Nowadays, there is a huge resurgence of dueling piano bars where patrons get to request a wide collection of the best dueling piano songs.
This trend is popular in many huge cities around the world where dueling piano bars typically have two baby grand or grand pianos positioned opposite each other while two talented musicians stage a performance and accept song requests from the audience. Even Stevie Wonder and other famous pianists took part in these.
A lot of dueling piano songs come from country and rock music genres. The goals of performers here is to encourage the audience to participate and sing along and not competing among each other.
If you want to have fun attending a dueling piano bar party whether as a patron or performer, it’s great to know some of the best dueling songs for the best experience.
The list of best dueling piano songs is endless so we’ve used a better approach which is classifying the songs according to categories.
Songs to Sing-Along
The main objective for dueling piano players is to get the audience to participate and have fun. To achieve this, it is important to have songs where the audience can sing along. Even though an audience can sing along any dueling piano songs, we’ve compiled a list of songs we consider to be the best dueling piano sing-along songs.
- Sweet Caroline – Neil Diamond
- Brown Eyed Girl – This is a popular dueling piano song
- Hey Ya – Outkast
- Hey Jude- The Beatles
- Sweet Home Alabama – Lynyrd Skynyrd
- Margaritaville – Jimmy Buffet
- Roadhouse Blues – The Doors
- Old Time Rock and Roll – Bob Seger
- What’d I Say – Ray Charles
- Baby Got Back – Sir Mix-a-Lot
- Paradise by the Dashboard Light – Meatloaf
- Pour Some Sugar on Me – Def Leppard
- What I Got – Sublime
- King of the Road – Roger Miller
- Friends in Low Places – Garth Brooks
- Family Tradition – Hank Williams Jr.
- Shout – Otis Day Version from Animal House
- If That Ain’t Country – (why do you drink – to get drunk!)
- Ring of Fire – Johnny Cash
- Mustang Sally – Wilson Pickett
“Ride, Sally Ride” - Strokin’ – Clarence Carter
- Take it Easy – The Eagles
- I Will Survive – Gloria Gaynor
- Louie Louie – The Kingsmen Trio
- R.E.S.P.E.C.T. – Aretha Franklin
Dance Songs
Every dueling piano songs performer looks forward to have the audience get up and dance to the tunes. If you’re looking for interesting dueling piano songs to dance to, check out the following list.
- Brick House – The Commodores (Number one dance hit in the USA)
- Happy – Pharrell
- Twist and Shout – The Beatles
- Celebration – Kool and the Gang
- Proud Mary – Tina Turner
- We Are Family – Sister Sledge
- Locked Out Of Heaven – Bruno Mars
- Treasure – Bruno Mars
- Play That Funky Music White Boy – Wild Cherry
Performance Songs
These songs provide a perfect opportunity for performers to showcase what they got. These songs are requested by the audience to listen to them being performed by a talented musician. Performance songs are also popular at corporate events and can be used to determine the caliber of the performer. Some of the best performance dueling piano songs include:
- Georgia – Ray Charles
- Just the Way You Are – Billy Joel
- Let’s Stay Together – Al Green
- Let’s Get it On – Marvin Gaye
- Bennie and the Jets – Elton John
- Piano Man – Billy Joel (Top requested piano dueling song across the world)
- Tiny Dancer – Elton John
- Unchained Melody – The Righteous Brothers
- My Girl – The Temptations
- Rocket Man – Elton John
- Wonderful Tonight – Eric Clapton
- With a Little Help From My Friends – Joe Cocker
Favorite Piano Bar Songs
These are fan favorite best dueling piano songs that will most likely not miss on the request list. With any of these songs on the piano, you can be sure the entire crowd will go crazy!
- Rocket Man – Elton John
- Joy to the World – Three Dog Night
- Carry On, Wayward Son – Kansas
- Piano Man – Billy Joel
- Rock and Roll All Nite – KISS
Complex Dueling Piano Songs
These are well-loved songs that are a great test to challenge your performers. The songs have complex tunes and require a great amount of skill to play. The list here includes:
- Bohemian Rhapsody – Queen
- Sultans of Swing – Dire Straits
- The Devil Went Down to Georgia – Charlie Daniels Band
- One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer – George Thorogood
- For Those About to Rock (We Salute You) – AC/DC
Modern Dueling Piano Songs
These are popular contemporary pop tunes which the entire bar would want to hear them again and again.
- Firework – Katy Pery
- Crazy in Love – Beyonce feat. Jay Z
- Someone Like You – Adele
- Every Morning – Sugar Ray
- The Way – Fastball
- That’s What You Get – Paramore