Piano chords · Pop heartbeat
An Occasional Man: easy piano accompaniment in letter notes
Written by Hugh Martin & Ralph Blane
- F major
- 4/4
- 100 BPM
- 1955
- Medium
Play the full song with sheet music
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 An Occasional Man without reading music. The left hand plays walking roots (root bass · quarters) and the right hand running-late chords.
An Occasional Man accompaniment in letter notes
The C7 – Fm – Gm – F loop with walking roots in the left hand and running-late 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.
Play next
Questions about An Occasional Man
What are the letter notes for the An Occasional Man 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 C7 – Fm – Gm – F, so the letters repeat with the chords.
What chords are in An Occasional Man?
The loop is C7 – Fm – Gm – F (V7 – i – ii – I) in F major, and the song ends on Bb – C – F.
What key is An Occasional Man in?
F major, at about 100 beats a minute in 4/4.
What does the left hand play in An Occasional Man?
Walking roots: root bass · quarters, an easy pattern. It follows the chords, so the same shape works for every bar.
Is An Occasional Man 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.