Super Simple Chords

Piano chords · Pop heartbeat

All My Life: easy piano accompaniment in letter notes

By Billy Joel

  • Bb major
  • 4/4
  • 160 BPM
  • Medium
Tuning the piano…
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Style

Left hand Groovy rootsRight 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 All My Life without reading music. The left hand plays groovy roots (root bass · syncopated 8ths) and the right hand ticking clock.

The repeating figure of All My Life 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.

Bar 1
Gm
RBb4 Bb4 Bb4 Bb4 Bb4 Bb4
LG2+D3 G2+D3 G2+D3 G2+D3 G2+D3 G2+D3
Bar 2
Gm
RBb4 Bb4 Bb4 Bb4
LG2+D3 G2+D3 G2+D3 G2+D3 G2+D3 G2+D3
Bar 3
Gm
RBb4 Bb4 Bb4 Bb4 G4 G4 G4
LG2+D3 G2+D3 G2+D3 G2+D3 G2+D3 G2+D3
Bar 4
Gm
RG4 G4 G4 G4 F4
LG2+D3 G2+D3 G2+D3 G2+D3 G2+D3 G2+D3

All My Life accompaniment in letter notes

The Gm – Am – Gm – Bbm loop with groovy roots in the left hand and ticking clock in the right. Notes struck together are joined with a plus; C4 is middle C.

Bar 1
Gm
RD5 D5 D5 D5 D5 D5
LG2 G2 G2 G2 G2 G2
Bar 2
Am
RE4 E4 E4 E4 E4 E4
LA2 A2 A2 A2 A2 A2
Bar 3
Gm
RD5 D5 D5 D5 D5 D5
LG2 G2 G2 G2 G2 G2
Bar 4
Bbm
RF4 F4 F4 C4 D4 Eb4 F4 G4 A4 Bb4 C5
LBb2 Bb2 Bb2 Bb2 Bb2 Bb2
Bar 5
Gm
RD5 D5 D5 D5 D5 D5
LG2 G2 G2 G2 G2 G2
Bar 6
Am
RE4 E4 E4 E4 E4 E4
LA2 A2 A2 A2 A2 A2
Bar 7
Gm
RD5 D5 D5 D5 D5 D5
LG2 G2 G2 G2 G2 G2
Bar 8
Bbm
RF4 F4 F4 F4 F4 F4
LBb2 Bb2 Bb2 Bb2 Bb2 Bb2

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 All My Life

What are the letter notes for the All My Life 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 Gm – Am – Gm – Bbm, so the letters repeat with the chords.

What chords are in All My Life?

The loop is Gm – Am – Gm – Bbm (vi – vii – vi – i) in Bb major, and the song ends on Eb – F – Bb.

What key is All My Life in?

Bb major, at about 160 beats a minute in 4/4.

What does the left hand play in All My Life?

Groovy roots: root bass · syncopated 8ths, a medium pattern. It follows the chords, so the same shape works for every bar.

Is All My Life 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.

Can I hear the real melody of All My Life?

Yes: "The part you know" plays the repeating figure of the song from a score, with both hands.

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