Piano chords · Dreamy ballad
Hey Joe: easy piano accompaniment in letter notes
By Boudleaux Bryant
- Eb major
- 2/2
- 160 BPM
- I7–IV–I7–IV loop
- 1953
- Easy
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 Hey Joe without reading music. The left hand plays drop-and-stay (broken chord 8-5-5) and the right hand hopscotch chords.
Hey Joe accompaniment in letter notes
The Eb7 – Ab – Eb7 – Ab loop with drop-and-stay in the left hand and hopscotch 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 Hey Joe
What are the letter notes for the Hey Joe 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 Eb7 – Ab – Eb7 – Ab, so the letters repeat with the chords.
What chords are in Hey Joe?
The loop is Eb7 – Ab – Eb7 – Ab (I7 – IV – I7 – IV) in Eb major, and the song ends on Eb – Bb7 – Eb.
What key is Hey Joe in?
Eb major, at about 160 beats a minute in 2/2.
What does the left hand play in Hey Joe?
Drop-and-stay: broken chord 8-5-5, an easy pattern. It follows the chords, so the same shape works for every bar.
Is Hey Joe 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 2 arrangements of this song: the left and right hands are the patterns these scores repeat most.