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Freeway: easy piano accompaniment in letter notes

By Vince Guaraldi

  • Eb major
  • 5/4
  • 100 BPM
  • 1963
  • Easy
Tuning the piano…
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Style

Left hand Upside-down pulseRight hand Pausing 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 Freeway without reading music. The left hand plays upside-down pulse (root bass · offbeats (&s)) and the right hand pausing chords.

Freeway accompaniment in letter notes

The Eb – Eb7 – Abm – Ab loop with upside-down pulse in the left hand and pausing chords in the right. Notes struck together are joined with a plus; C4 is middle C.

Bar 1
Eb
RG4+Bb4+Eb5 G4+Bb4+Eb5 G4+Bb4+Eb5
LEb2 Eb2 Eb2 Eb2
Bar 2
Eb7
RG4+Bb4+Eb5 G4+Bb4+Eb5 G4+Bb4+Eb5
LEb2 Eb2 Eb2 Eb2
Bar 3
Abm
RCb4+Eb5+Ab5 Cb4+Eb5+Ab5 Cb4+Eb5+Ab5
LAb2 Ab2 Ab2 Ab2
Bar 4
Ab
RC5+Eb5+Ab5 C5+Eb5+Ab5 D4 Eb4 F4 G4 Ab4 Bb4 C5 D5
LAb2 Ab2 Ab2 Ab2
Bar 5
Eb
RG4+Bb4+Eb5 G4+Bb4+Eb5 G4+Bb4+Eb5
LEb2 Eb2 Eb2 Eb2
Bar 6
Eb7
RG4+Bb4+Eb5 G4+Bb4+Eb5 G4+Bb4+Eb5
LEb2 Eb2 Eb2 Eb2
Bar 7
Abm
RCb4+Eb5+Ab5 Cb4+Eb5+Ab5 Cb4+Eb5+Ab5
LAb2 Ab2 Ab2 Ab2
Bar 8
Ab
RC5+Eb5+Ab5 C5+Eb5+Ab5 C5+Eb5+Ab5
LAb2 Ab2 Ab2 Ab2

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 Freeway

What are the letter notes for the Freeway 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 Eb – Eb7 – Abm – Ab, so the letters repeat with the chords.

What chords are in Freeway?

The loop is Eb – Eb7 – Abm – Ab (I – I7 – iv – IV) in Eb major, and the song ends on Eb – Db – Eb.

What key is Freeway in?

Eb major, at about 100 beats a minute in 5/4.

What does the left hand play in Freeway?

Upside-down pulse: root bass · offbeats (&s), an easy pattern. It follows the chords, so the same shape works for every bar.

Is Freeway easy to play on piano?

Yes. Both hands play easy patterns over 4 chords. Learn the chords first, then add one hand at a time.

Made from one arrangement of this song: the left and right hands are the patterns these scores repeat most.