Piano chords · Dreamy ballad
City Lights: easy piano accompaniment in letter notes
Written by John Kander
- G major
- 2/2
- 116 BPM
- 1978
- Medium
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 City Lights without reading music. The left hand plays rolling waves (open arpeggio 1-5-10-5) and the right hand ticking clock.
City Lights accompaniment in letter notes
The C – Cm – G – Em loop with rolling waves in the left hand and ticking clock 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.
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Questions about City Lights
What are the letter notes for the City Lights 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 C – Cm – G – Em, so the letters repeat with the chords.
What chords are in City Lights?
The loop is C – Cm – G – Em (IV – iv – I – vi) in G major, and the song ends on C – D – G.
What key is City Lights in?
G major, at about 116 beats a minute in 2/2.
What does the left hand play in City Lights?
Rolling waves: open arpeggio 1-5-10-5, a medium pattern. It follows the chords, so the same shape works for every bar.
Is City Lights 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.