Piano chords · Blues & boogie
A Sleepin' Bee: easy piano accompaniment in letter notes
By Bill Evans
- Ab major
- 2/2
- 160 BPM
- 1954
- Easy
The accompaniment with every note named, bar by bar: the bar sheet shows each note as a bar on the staff with its letter inside, so you can accompany A Sleepin' Bee without reading music. The left hand plays velvet jazz (lh shell voicings (1-7 / 1-3)) and the right hand steady chords.
A Sleepin' Bee accompaniment in letter notes
The Ab – Cb – Fb – A loop with velvet jazz in the left hand and steady chords in the right. Notes struck together are joined with a plus; C4 is middle C.
How to read the bar sheet
The player above shows the treble staff (right hand) over the bass staff (left hand). Every note is a bar as long as it sounds, at its place on the staff, with its name inside, and the music scrolls past a line that marks now. The chord names run along the top.
Start with the left hand alone at a slow speed, then the right, then both. When the letters feel easy, try the sheet music.
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Questions about A Sleepin' Bee
What are the letter notes for the A Sleepin' Bee piano accompaniment?
Bar by bar, both hands: the bar sheet on this page names every note of the accompaniment (C4 is middle C) and plays along. The loop is Ab – Cb – Fb – A, so the letters repeat with the chords.
What chords are in A Sleepin' Bee?
The loop is Ab – Cb – Fb – A (I – bIII – bVI – bII) in Ab major, and the song ends on Db – Eb – Ab.
What key is A Sleepin' Bee in?
Ab major, at about 160 beats a minute in 2/2.
What does the left hand play in A Sleepin' Bee?
Velvet jazz: lh shell voicings (1-7 / 1-3), an easy pattern. It follows the chords, so the same shape works for every bar.
Is A Sleepin' Bee easy to play on piano?
Yes. Both hands play easy patterns over 4 chords. Learn the chords first, then add one hand at a time.
Made from 4 arrangements of this song: the left and right hands are the patterns these scores repeat most.