Super Simple Chords

Piano chords · Lullaby boat

Hi-Diddle-Dee-Dee (An Actor's Life For Me): easy piano accompaniment in letter notes

By Leigh Harline

Tuning the piano…
Learn it
Learn it
Style

Left hand Swelling 6/8Right hand Hammock chordsChords 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 Hi-Diddle-Dee-Dee (An Actor's Life For Me) without reading music. The left hand plays swelling 6/8 (open arpeggio 1-5-8-10-8-5 (6/8)) and the right hand hammock chords.

Hi-Diddle-Dee-Dee (An Actor's Life For Me) accompaniment in letter notes

The Bb – F7 – Bb – F7 loop with swelling 6/8 in the left hand and hammock chords in the right. Notes struck together are joined with a plus; C4 is middle C.

Bar 1
Bb
RF4+Bb4+D5 F4+Bb4+D5 F4+Bb4+D5 F4+Bb4+D5
LBb2 F3 Bb3 D4 Bb3 F3
Bar 2
F7
RC5+F5+A5 C5+F5+A5 C5+F5+A5 C5+F5+A5
LF2 C3 F3 A3 F3 C3
Bar 3
Bb
RF4+Bb4+D5 F4+Bb4+D5 F4+Bb4+D5 F4+Bb4+D5
LBb2 F3 Bb3 D4 Bb3 F3
Bar 4
F7
RC5+F5+A5 C5+F5+A5 F4 A4 C5 Eb5 F5 A5
LF2 C3 F3 A3 F3 C3
Bar 5
Bb
RF4+Bb4+D5 F4+Bb4+D5 F4+Bb4+D5 F4+Bb4+D5
LBb2 F3 Bb3 D4 Bb3 F3
Bar 6
F7
RC5+F5+A5 C5+F5+A5 C5+F5+A5 C5+F5+A5
LF2 C3 F3 A3 F3 C3
Bar 7
Bb
RF4+Bb4+D5 F4+Bb4+D5 F4+Bb4+D5 F4+Bb4+D5
LBb2 F3 Bb3 D4 Bb3 F3
Bar 8
F7
RC5+F5+A5 C5+F5+A5 C5+F5+A5 C5+F5+A5
LF2 C3 F3 A3 F3 C3

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 Hi-Diddle-Dee-Dee (An Actor's Life For Me)

What are the letter notes for the Hi-Diddle-Dee-Dee (An Actor's Life For Me) 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 Bb – F7 – Bb – F7, so the letters repeat with the chords.

What chords are in Hi-Diddle-Dee-Dee (An Actor's Life For Me)?

The loop is Bb – F7 – Bb – F7 (I – V7 – I – V7) in Bb major, and the song ends on Bb – F7 – Bb.

What key is Hi-Diddle-Dee-Dee (An Actor's Life For Me) in?

Bb major, at about 123 beats a minute in 6/8.

What does the left hand play in Hi-Diddle-Dee-Dee (An Actor's Life For Me)?

Swelling 6/8: open arpeggio 1-5-8-10-8-5 (6/8), a medium pattern. It follows the chords, so the same shape works for every bar.

Is Hi-Diddle-Dee-Dee (An Actor's Life For Me) 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 2 arrangements of this song: the left and right hands are the patterns these scores repeat most.