Super Simple Chords

Piano chords · Rock drive

Back In The Saddle: easy piano accompaniment in letter notes

Written by Steven Tyler & Joe Perry

Tuning the piano…
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Style

Left hand Engine 8thsRight hand Gospel-clap chordsChords 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 Back In The Saddle without reading music. The left hand plays engine 8ths (root bass · 8ths) and the right hand gospel-clap chords.

Back In The Saddle accompaniment in letter notes

The Ab – Db – Ab – Db loop with engine 8ths in the left hand and gospel-clap chords in the right. Notes struck together are joined with a plus; C4 is middle C.

Bar 1
Ab
RC5+G5+Ab5 C5+G5+Ab5 Db5+Gb5+Ab5 C5+Gb5+Ab5
LAb2 Ab2 Ab2 Ab2 Ab2 Ab2 Ab2 Ab2
Bar 2
Db
RF4+C5+Db5 F4+C5+Db5 Gb4+Cb4+Db5 F4+Cb4+Db5
LDb3 Db3 Db3 Db3 Db3 Db3 Db3 Db3
Bar 3
Ab
RC5+G5+Ab5 C5+G5+Ab5 Db5+Gb5+Ab5 C5+Gb5+Ab5
LAb2 Ab2 Ab2 Ab2 Ab2 Ab2 Ab2 Ab2
Bar 4
Db
RF4+C5+Db5 Ab6 F6 Db6 Ab5 G5 Gb5 F5 Fb5
LDb3 Db3 Db3 Db3 Db3 Db3 Db3 Db3
Bar 5
Ab
RC5+G5+Ab5 C5+G5+Ab5 Db5+Gb5+Ab5 C5+Gb5+Ab5
LAb2 Ab2 Ab2 Ab2 Ab2 Ab2 Ab2 Ab2
Bar 6
Db
RF4+C5+Db5 F4+C5+Db5 Gb4+Cb4+Db5 F4+Cb4+Db5
LDb3 Db3 Db3 Db3 Db3 Db3 Db3 Db3
Bar 7
Ab
RC5+G5+Ab5 C5+G5+Ab5 Db5+Gb5+Ab5 C5+Gb5+Ab5
LAb2 Ab2 Ab2 Ab2 Ab2 Ab2 Ab2 Ab2
Bar 8
Db
RF4+C5+Db5 F4+C5+Db5 Gb4+Cb4+Db5 F4+Cb4+Db5
LDb3 Db3 Db3 Db3 Db3 Db3 Db3 Db3

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 Back In The Saddle

What are the letter notes for the Back In The Saddle 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 Ab – Db – Ab – Db, so the letters repeat with the chords.

What chords are in Back In The Saddle?

The loop is Ab – Db – Ab – Db (I – IV – I – IV) in Ab major, and the song ends on Db – Eb – Ab.

What key is Back In The Saddle in?

Ab major, at about 100 beats a minute in 4/4.

What does the left hand play in Back In The Saddle?

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

Is Back In The Saddle 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.