Super Simple Chords

Piano chords · Blues & boogie

Bang the Drum All Day: easy piano accompaniment in letter notes

Written by Todd Rundgren

  • D major
  • 4/4
  • 120 BPM
  • 1983
  • Medium
Tuning the piano…
Learn it
Learn it
Style

Left hand Boogie walkerRight hand Offbeat skankChords the loop the song repeats most

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 Bang the Drum All Day without reading music. The left hand plays boogie walker (boogie-woogie line) and the right hand offbeat skank.

Bang the Drum All Day accompaniment in letter notes

The G – C – D – C loop with boogie walker in the left hand and offbeat skank in the right. Notes struck together are joined with a plus; C4 is middle C.

Bar 1
G
RB4+D5+F5+G5 B4+D5+F5+G5 B4+D5+F5+G5 B4+D5+F5+G5
LG2 D3 F3 D3 E3 D3 B2 D3
Bar 2
C
RE4+G4+Bb4+C5 E4+G4+Bb4+C5 E4+G4+Bb4+C5 E4+G4+Bb4+C5
LC3 G3 Bb3 G3 A3 G3 E3 G3
Bar 3
D
RF#4+A4+C5+D5 F#4+A4+C5+D5 F#4+A4+C5+D5 F#4+A4+C5+D5
LD2 A2 C3 A2 B2 A2 F#2 A2
Bar 4
C
RE4+G4+Bb4+C5 E4+G4+Bb4+C5 Eb5 E5 G5 A5 G5 E5 Eb5 C5
LC3 G3 Bb3 G3 A3 G3 E3 G3
Bar 5
G
RB4+D5+F5+G5 B4+D5+F5+G5 B4+D5+F5+G5 B4+D5+F5+G5
LG2 D3 F3 D3 E3 D3 B2 D3
Bar 6
C
RE4+G4+Bb4+C5 E4+G4+Bb4+C5 E4+G4+Bb4+C5 E4+G4+Bb4+C5
LC3 G3 Bb3 G3 A3 G3 E3 G3
Bar 7
D
RF#4+A4+C5+D5 F#4+A4+C5+D5 F#4+A4+C5+D5 F#4+A4+C5+D5
LD2 A2 C3 A2 B2 A2 F#2 A2
Bar 8
C
RE4+G4+Bb4+C5 E4+G4+Bb4+C5 E4+G4+Bb4+C5 E4+G4+Bb4+C5
LC3 G3 Bb3 G3 A3 G3 E3 G3

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 Bang the Drum All Day

What are the letter notes for the Bang the Drum All Day 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 – C – D – C, so the letters repeat with the chords.

What chords are in Bang the Drum All Day?

The loop is G – C – D – C (IV – bVII – I – bVII) in D major, and the song ends on G – A – D.

What key is Bang the Drum All Day in?

D major, at about 120 beats a minute in 4/4.

What does the left hand play in Bang the Drum All Day?

Boogie walker: boogie-woogie line, a medium pattern. It follows the chords, so the same shape works for every bar.

Is Bang the Drum All Day 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.