Piano chords · Pop heartbeat
Heart Shaped Box: easy piano accompaniment in letter notes
By Nirvana
- E minor
- 4/4
- 126 BPM
- 1993
- Medium
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 Heart Shaped Box without reading music. The left hand plays pop heartbeat (root bass · charleston push (1 · 2& · 3)) and the right hand pumping chords.
The main tune of Heart Shaped Box in letter notes
The real notes from a score, both hands, bar by bar. R is the right hand, L the left; C4 is middle C.
Heart Shaped Box accompaniment in letter notes
The Em – Am7 – A – A7 – C – B7 – B loop with pop heartbeat in the left hand and pumping 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.
Play next
Questions about Heart Shaped Box
What are the letter notes for the Heart Shaped Box 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 Em – Am7 – A – A7 – C – B7 – B, so the letters repeat with the chords.
What chords are in Heart Shaped Box?
The loop is Em – Am7 – A – A7 – C – B7 – B (i – iv7 – IV – IV7 – VI – V7 – V) in E minor, and the song ends on C – D – Em.
What key is Heart Shaped Box in?
E minor, at about 126 beats a minute in 4/4.
What does the left hand play in Heart Shaped Box?
Pop heartbeat: root bass · charleston push (1 · 2& · 3), an easy pattern. It follows the chords, so the same shape works for every bar.
Is Heart Shaped Box easy to play on piano?
It is a medium one: learn the 7 chords as blocks first, then add the left hand, then the right, slowly.
Can I hear the real melody of Heart Shaped Box?
Yes: "The part you know" plays the main tune of the song from a score, with both hands.
Made from 2 arrangements of this song: the left and right hands are the patterns these scores repeat most.