Super Simple Chords

Piano chords · Dreamy ballad

Harbor Lights: easy piano accompaniment in letter notes

By Willie Nelson

Tuning the piano…
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Style

Left hand Rolling wavesRight hand Heartbeat 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 Harbor Lights without reading music. The left hand plays rolling waves (open arpeggio 1-5-10-5) and the right hand heartbeat chords.

Harbor Lights accompaniment in letter notes

The Bb7 – Fm – Bb7 – Eb loop with rolling waves in the left hand and heartbeat chords in the right. Notes struck together are joined with a plus; C4 is middle C.

Bar 1
Bb7
RF4+Bb4+D5 F4+Bb4+D5 F4+Bb4+D5
LBb2 F3 D4 F3
Bar 2
Fm
RC5+F5+Ab5 C5+F5+Ab5 C5+F5+Ab5
LF2 C3 Ab3 C3
Bar 3
Bb7
RF4+Bb4+D5 F4+Bb4+D5 F4+Bb4+D5
LBb2 F3 D4 F3
Bar 4
Eb
RBb4+Eb5+G5 Bb4+Eb5+G5 G4 Bb4 Eb5 G5 Bb5 Eb6 G6 Bb6
LEb2 Bb2 G3 Bb2
Bar 5
Bb7
RF4+Bb4+D5 F4+Bb4+D5 F4+Bb4+D5
LBb2 F3 D4 F3
Bar 6
Fm
RC5+F5+Ab5 C5+F5+Ab5 C5+F5+Ab5
LF2 C3 Ab3 C3
Bar 7
Bb7
RF4+Bb4+D5 F4+Bb4+D5 F4+Bb4+D5
LBb2 F3 D4 F3
Bar 8
Eb
RBb4+Eb5+G5 Bb4+Eb5+G5 Bb4+Eb5+G5
LEb2 Bb2 G3 Bb2

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 Harbor Lights

What are the letter notes for the Harbor 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 Bb7 – Fm – Bb7 – Eb, so the letters repeat with the chords.

What chords are in Harbor Lights?

The loop is Bb7 – Fm – Bb7 – Eb (V7 – ii – V7 – I) in Eb major, and the song ends on Eb – Abm – Eb.

What key is Harbor Lights in?

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

What does the left hand play in Harbor 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 Harbor 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.