Piano chords · Lullaby boat
A Summer Place: easy piano accompaniment in letter notes
By Max Steiner
- Bb major
- 6/8
- 92 BPM
- 1960
- Medium
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 Summer Place without reading music. The left hand plays swelling 6/8 (open arpeggio 1-5-8-10-8-5 (6/8)) and the right hand rowing-boat chords.
The main tune of A Summer Place in letter notes
The real notes from a score, both hands, bar by bar. R is the right hand, L the left; C4 is middle C.
A Summer Place accompaniment in letter notes
The Cm7 – F7 – Bb – F – Cm7 – F7 – Bb – Gm loop with swelling 6/8 in the left hand and rowing-boat 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.
Questions about A Summer Place
What are the letter notes for the A Summer Place 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 Cm7 – F7 – Bb – F – Cm7 – F7 – Bb – Gm, so the letters repeat with the chords.
What chords are in A Summer Place?
The loop is Cm7 – F7 – Bb – F – Cm7 – F7 – Bb – Gm (ii7 – V7 – I – V – ii7 – V7 – I – vi) in Bb major, and the song ends on Cm – Eb – Bb.
What key is A Summer Place in?
Bb major, at about 92 beats a minute in 6/8.
What does the left hand play in A Summer Place?
Swelling 6/8: open arpeggio 1-5-8-10-8-5 (6/8), a medium pattern. It follows the chords, so the same shape works for every bar.
Is A Summer Place easy to play on piano?
It is a medium one: learn the 8 chords as blocks first, then add the left hand, then the right, slowly.
Can I hear the real melody of A Summer Place?
Yes: "The part you know" plays the main tune of the song from a score, with both hands.
Made from 3 arrangements of this song: the left and right hands are the patterns these scores repeat most.