Piano chords · Pop heartbeat
Baby Can I Hold You: easy piano accompaniment in letter notes
Written by Tracy Chapman
- D major
- 4/4
- 100 BPM
- I–ii–IV–I loop
- 1988
- Easy
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 Baby Can I Hold You without reading music. The left hand plays pop heartbeat (root bass · charleston push (1 · 2& · 3)) and the right hand skipping-stone chords.
Baby Can I Hold You accompaniment in letter notes
The D – Em – G – D loop with pop heartbeat in the left hand and skipping-stone 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
More by Tracy Chapman
Questions about Baby Can I Hold You
What are the letter notes for the Baby Can I Hold You 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 D – Em – G – D, so the letters repeat with the chords.
What chords are in Baby Can I Hold You?
The loop is D – Em – G – D (I – ii – IV – I) in D major, and the song ends on Em – G – D.
What key is Baby Can I Hold You in?
D major, at about 100 beats a minute in 4/4.
What does the left hand play in Baby Can I Hold You?
Pop heartbeat: root bass · charleston push (1 · 2& · 3), an easy pattern. It follows the chords, so the same shape works for every bar.
Is Baby Can I Hold You 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 one arrangement of this song: the left and right hands are the patterns these scores repeat most.