Piano chords · Old-time stride
Elmer’s Tune: easy piano accompaniment in letter notes
Artist unknown
- C major
- 2/2
- 100 BPM
- 1941
- 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 Elmer’s Tune without reading music. The left hand plays stride jumps (stride) and the right hand groovy chords.
Elmer’s Tune accompaniment in letter notes
The G7 – F – C – Dm loop with stride jumps in the left hand and groovy 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.
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Questions about Elmer’s Tune
What are the letter notes for the Elmer’s Tune 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 G7 – F – C – Dm, so the letters repeat with the chords.
What chords are in Elmer’s Tune?
The loop is G7 – F – C – Dm (V7 – IV – I – ii) in C major, and the song ends on D7 – G7 – C.
What key is Elmer’s Tune in?
C major, at about 100 beats a minute in 2/2.
What does the left hand play in Elmer’s Tune?
Stride jumps: stride, an easy pattern. It follows the chords, so the same shape works for every bar.
Is Elmer’s Tune 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 2 arrangements of this song: the left and right hands are the patterns these scores repeat most.