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Happy & Sad: easy piano accompaniment in letter notes

By Kacey Musgraves

Tuning the piano…
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Left hand Late-hop footstepsRight hand Deep-breath 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 Happy & Sad without reading music. The left hand plays late-hop footsteps (root bass · 1 · 2 · 3 · 3& · 4) and the right hand deep-breath chords.

Happy & Sad accompaniment in letter notes

The Bb – Eb – Bb – Eb loop with late-hop footsteps in the left hand and deep-breath chords in the right. Notes struck together are joined with a plus; C4 is middle C.

Bar 1
Bb
RD4+F4+Bb4 D4+F4+Bb4 D4+F4+Bb4 D4+F4+Bb4 D4+F4+Bb4 D4+F4+Bb4 D4+F4+Bb4
LBb2 Bb3 Bb2 Bb2 Bb3
Bar 2
Eb
RG4+Bb4+Eb5 G4+Bb4+Eb5 G4+Bb4+Eb5 G4+Bb4+Eb5 G4+Bb4+Eb5 G4+Bb4+Eb5 G4+Bb4+Eb5
LEb2 Eb3 Eb2 Eb2 Eb3
Bar 3
Bb
RD4+F4+Bb4 D4+F4+Bb4 D4+F4+Bb4 D4+F4+Bb4 D4+F4+Bb4 D4+F4+Bb4 D4+F4+Bb4
LBb2 Bb3 Bb2 Bb2 Bb3
Bar 4
Eb
RG4+Bb4+Eb5 G4+Bb4+Eb5 G4+Bb4+Eb5 Eb4 F4 G4 A4 Bb4 C5 D5 Eb5
LEb2 Eb3 Eb2 Eb2 Eb3
Bar 5
Bb
RD4+F4+Bb4 D4+F4+Bb4 D4+F4+Bb4 D4+F4+Bb4 D4+F4+Bb4 D4+F4+Bb4 D4+F4+Bb4
LBb2 Bb3 Bb2 Bb2 Bb3
Bar 6
Eb
RG4+Bb4+Eb5 G4+Bb4+Eb5 G4+Bb4+Eb5 G4+Bb4+Eb5 G4+Bb4+Eb5 G4+Bb4+Eb5 G4+Bb4+Eb5
LEb2 Eb3 Eb2 Eb2 Eb3
Bar 7
Bb
RD4+F4+Bb4 D4+F4+Bb4 D4+F4+Bb4 D4+F4+Bb4 D4+F4+Bb4 D4+F4+Bb4 D4+F4+Bb4
LBb2 Bb3 Bb2 Bb2 Bb3
Bar 8
Eb
RG4+Bb4+Eb5 G4+Bb4+Eb5 G4+Bb4+Eb5 G4+Bb4+Eb5 G4+Bb4+Eb5 G4+Bb4+Eb5 G4+Bb4+Eb5
LEb2 Eb3 Eb2 Eb2 Eb3

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 Happy & Sad

What are the letter notes for the Happy & Sad 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 Bb – Eb – Bb – Eb, so the letters repeat with the chords.

What chords are in Happy & Sad?

The loop is Bb – Eb – Bb – Eb (I – IV – I – IV) in Bb major, and the song ends on Bb – Eb – Bb.

What key is Happy & Sad in?

Bb major, at about 92 beats a minute in 4/4.

What does the left hand play in Happy & Sad?

Late-hop footsteps: root bass · 1 · 2 · 3 · 3& · 4, an easy pattern. It follows the chords, so the same shape works for every bar.

Is Happy & Sad 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.