Super Simple Chords

Piano chords · Dreamy ballad

Everybody Knows: easy piano accompaniment in letter notes

By Leonard Cohen

  • Ab major
  • 4/4
  • 84 BPM
  • Medium
Tuning the piano…
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Style

Left hand Busy rockingRight hand Wait-a-beat 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 Everybody Knows without reading music. The left hand plays busy rocking (broken chord 1-5) and the right hand wait-a-beat chords.

Everybody Knows accompaniment in letter notes

The G – Ab – Cm – Cbm loop with busy rocking in the left hand and wait-a-beat chords in the right. Notes struck together are joined with a plus; C4 is middle C.

Bar 1
G
RB4+D5+G5 B4+D5+G5 B4+D5+G5
LG2 D3 G3 D3 G3 D3 G3 D3
Bar 2
Ab
RC5+Eb5+Ab5 C5+Eb5+Ab5 C5+Eb5+Ab5
LAb2 Eb3 Ab3 Eb3 Ab3 Eb3 Ab3 Eb3
Bar 3
Cm
REb4+G4+C5 Eb4+G4+C5 Eb4+G4+C5
LC3 G3 C4 G3 C4 G3 C4 G3
Bar 4
Cbm
REbb4+Gb4+Cb4 Gb4 Cb4 Ebb5 Gb5 Cb5 Ebb6 Gb6 Cb6
LCb2 Gb3 Cb3 Gb3 Cb3 Gb3 Cb3 Gb3
Bar 5
G
RB4+D5+G5 B4+D5+G5 B4+D5+G5
LG2 D3 G3 D3 G3 D3 G3 D3
Bar 6
Ab
RC5+Eb5+Ab5 C5+Eb5+Ab5 C5+Eb5+Ab5
LAb2 Eb3 Ab3 Eb3 Ab3 Eb3 Ab3 Eb3
Bar 7
Cm
REb4+G4+C5 Eb4+G4+C5 Eb4+G4+C5
LC3 G3 C4 G3 C4 G3 C4 G3
Bar 8
Cbm
REbb4+Gb4+Cb4 Ebb4+Gb4+Cb4 Ebb4+Gb4+Cb4
LCb2 Gb3 Cb3 Gb3 Cb3 Gb3 Cb3 Gb3

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 Everybody Knows

What are the letter notes for the Everybody Knows 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 – Ab – Cm – Cbm, so the letters repeat with the chords.

What chords are in Everybody Knows?

The loop is G – Ab – Cm – Cbm (VII – I – iii – biii) in Ab major, and the song ends on Db – Eb – Ab.

What key is Everybody Knows in?

Ab major, at about 84 beats a minute in 4/4.

What does the left hand play in Everybody Knows?

Busy rocking: broken chord 1-5, a medium pattern. It follows the chords, so the same shape works for every bar.

Is Everybody Knows 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.