Piano chords · Pop heartbeat
Ballad Of Billy The Kid: easy piano accompaniment in letter notes
Written by Billy Joel
- G major
- 4/4
- 80 BPM
- 1972
- 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 Ballad Of Billy The Kid without reading music. The left hand plays galloping heartbeat (root bass · 1 · 1a · 2 · 3 · 3a · 4) and the right hand swing push.
Ballad Of Billy The Kid accompaniment in letter notes
The G – Em – F – C loop with galloping heartbeat in the left hand and swing push 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 Billy Joel
The same left hand: Galloping heartbeat
Questions about Ballad Of Billy The Kid
What are the letter notes for the Ballad Of Billy The Kid 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 G – Em – F – C, so the letters repeat with the chords.
What chords are in Ballad Of Billy The Kid?
The loop is G – Em – F – C (I – vi – bVII – IV) in G major, and the song ends on C – D – G.
What key is Ballad Of Billy The Kid in?
G major, at about 80 beats a minute in 4/4.
What does the left hand play in Ballad Of Billy The Kid?
Galloping heartbeat: root bass · 1 · 1a · 2 · 3 · 3a · 4, a medium pattern. It follows the chords, so the same shape works for every bar.
Is Ballad Of Billy The Kid 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.