Super Simple Chords

Piano chords · Blues & boogie

He Was A Friend Of Mine: easy piano accompaniment in letter notes

By Willie Nelson

Tuning the piano…
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Style

Left hand Seesaw bassThe right hand sings the tuneChords the loop the song repeats most

Play the full song with sheet music

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 He Was A Friend Of Mine without reading music. The left hand plays seesaw bass (root–fifth 1-5-1-5), and the right hand sings the tune.

He Was A Friend Of Mine accompaniment in letter notes

The A7 – D – A7 – D loop with seesaw bass in the left hand. Notes struck together are joined with a plus; C4 is middle C.

Bar 1
A7
RA3+C#4+E4
LA2 E3 A2 E3
Bar 2
D
RD4+F#4+A4
LD2 A2 D2 A2
Bar 3
A7
RA3+C#4+E4
LA2 E3 A2 E3
Bar 4
D
RD4+F#4+A4 F5 F#5 A5 B5 A5 F#5 F5 D5
LD2 A2 D2 A2
Bar 5
A7
RA3+C#4+E4
LA2 E3 A2 E3
Bar 6
D
RD4+F#4+A4
LD2 A2 D2 A2
Bar 7
A7
RA3+C#4+E4
LA2 E3 A2 E3
Bar 8
D
RD4+F#4+A4
LD2 A2 D2 A2

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 He Was A Friend Of Mine

What are the letter notes for the He Was A Friend Of Mine 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 A7 – D – A7 – D, so the letters repeat with the chords.

What chords are in He Was A Friend Of Mine?

The loop is A7 – D – A7 – D (V7 – I – V7 – I) in D major, and the song ends on D – A7 – D.

What key is He Was A Friend Of Mine in?

D major, at about 112 beats a minute in 4/4.

What does the left hand play in He Was A Friend Of Mine?

Seesaw bass: root–fifth 1-5-1-5, an easy pattern. It follows the chords, so the same shape works for every bar.

Is He Was A Friend Of Mine 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.