Super Simple Chords

Piano chords · Old-time stride

Ain't It The Truth: easy piano accompaniment in letter notes

By Alan Menken

  • Ab major
  • 4/4
  • 132 BPM
  • 2016
  • Medium
Tuning the piano…
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Style

Left hand Boom-chickRight hand Ticking clockChords the loop the song repeats most

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 Ain't It The Truth without reading music. The left hand plays boom-chick (boom-chick) and the right hand ticking clock.

Ain't It The Truth accompaniment in letter notes

The Ab7 – Ebm – Ab7 – Ebm loop with boom-chick in the left hand and ticking clock in the right. Notes struck together are joined with a plus; C4 is middle C.

Bar 1
Ab7
RAb4 Ab4 Ab4 Ab4 Ab4 Ab4 Ab4 Ab4
LAb3 C4+Eb4 Eb3 C4+Eb4
Bar 2
Ebm
REb4 Eb4 Eb4 Eb4 Eb4 Eb4 Eb4 Eb4
LEb3 Gb3+Bb3 Bb2 Gb3+Bb3
Bar 3
Ab7
RAb4 Ab4 Ab4 Ab4 Ab4 Ab4 Ab4 Ab4
LAb3 C4+Eb4 Eb3 C4+Eb4
Bar 4
Ebm
REb4 Eb4 Eb4 Eb4 Bb6 Gb6 Eb6 Bb5 G5 Gb5 F5 Fb5
LEb3 Gb3+Bb3 Bb2 Gb3+Bb3
Bar 5
Ab7
RAb4 Ab4 Ab4 Ab4 Ab4 Ab4 Ab4 Ab4
LAb3 C4+Eb4 Eb3 C4+Eb4
Bar 6
Ebm
REb4 Eb4 Eb4 Eb4 Eb4 Eb4 Eb4 Eb4
LEb3 Gb3+Bb3 Bb2 Gb3+Bb3
Bar 7
Ab7
RAb4 Ab4 Ab4 Ab4 Ab4 Ab4 Ab4 Ab4
LAb3 C4+Eb4 Eb3 C4+Eb4
Bar 8
Ebm
REb4 Eb4 Eb4 Eb4 Eb4 Eb4 Eb4 Eb4
LEb3 Gb3+Bb3 Bb2 Gb3+Bb3

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 Ain't It The Truth

What are the letter notes for the Ain't It The Truth 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 Ab7 – Ebm – Ab7 – Ebm, so the letters repeat with the chords.

What chords are in Ain't It The Truth?

The loop is Ab7 – Ebm – Ab7 – Ebm (I7 – v – I7 – v) in Ab major, and the song ends on Db – Eb – Ab.

What key is Ain't It The Truth in?

Ab major, at about 132 beats a minute in 4/4.

What does the left hand play in Ain't It The Truth?

Boom-chick: boom-chick, an easy pattern. It follows the chords, so the same shape works for every bar.

Is Ain't It The Truth easy to play on piano?

It is a medium one: learn the 4 chords as blocks first, then add the left hand, then the right, slowly.

Made from one arrangement of this song: the left and right hands are the patterns these scores repeat most.