Piano chords · Pop heartbeat
Hard Times: easy piano accompaniment in letter notes
By Ray Charles
- Eb major
- 4/4
- 80 BPM
- Easy
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 Hard Times without reading music. The left hand plays pausing footsteps (root bass · 1 · 2 · 3) and the right hand freeze-tag chords.
Hard Times accompaniment in letter notes
The Cb7 – Bb7 – Ab – Eb loop with pausing footsteps in the left hand and freeze-tag 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 Hard Times
What are the letter notes for the Hard Times 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 Cb7 – Bb7 – Ab – Eb, so the letters repeat with the chords.
What chords are in Hard Times?
The loop is Cb7 – Bb7 – Ab – Eb (bVI7 – V7 – IV – I) in Eb major, and the song ends on Eb – Ab7 – Eb.
What key is Hard Times in?
Eb major, at about 80 beats a minute in 4/4.
What does the left hand play in Hard Times?
Pausing footsteps: root bass · 1 · 2 · 3, an easy pattern. It follows the chords, so the same shape works for every bar.
Is Hard Times 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.