How I Am (from Little Women: The Musical): easy piano accompaniment in letter notes

D major
12/8
98 BPM
I–V–I–V loop
2005
Medium

Tuning the piano…

Learn it

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 How I Am (from Little Women: The Musical) without reading music. The left hand plays slow-dance heartbeat (root bass · 1 · 2 · 3 · 4 (12/8)) and the right hand doo-wop chords.

How I Am (from Little Women: The Musical) accompaniment in letter notes

The D – A – D – A loop with slow-dance heartbeat in the left hand and doo-wop chords in the right. Notes struck together are joined with a plus; C4 is middle C.

Bar 1
DRD5+F#5 D5+F#5 D5+F#5 D5+F#5 D5+F#5 D5+F#5 D5+F#5 D5+F#5 D5+F#5 D4+F#4 D4+F#4 D4+F#4
LD2 D2 D2 D2

Bar 2
ARA4+C#5 A4+C#5 A4+C#5 A4+C#5 A4+C#5 A4+C#5 A4+C#5 A4+C#5 A4+C#5 A3+C#4 A3+C#4 A3+C#4
LA2 A2 A2 A2

Bar 3
DRD5+F#5 D5+F#5 D5+F#5 D5+F#5 D5+F#5 D5+F#5 D5+F#5 D5+F#5 D5+F#5 D4+F#4 D4+F#4 D4+F#4
LD2 D2 D2 D2

Bar 4
ARA4+C#5 A4+C#5 A4+C#5 A4+C#5 A4+C#5 A4+C#5 E4 A4 C#5 E5 A5 C#6 E6 A6 C#7
LA2 A2 A2 A2

Bar 5
DRD5+F#5 D5+F#5 D5+F#5 D5+F#5 D5+F#5 D5+F#5 D5+F#5 D5+F#5 D5+F#5 D4+F#4 D4+F#4 D4+F#4
LD2 D2 D2 D2

Bar 6
ARA4+C#5 A4+C#5 A4+C#5 A4+C#5 A4+C#5 A4+C#5 A4+C#5 A4+C#5 A4+C#5 A3+C#4 A3+C#4 A3+C#4
LA2 A2 A2 A2

Bar 7
DRD5+F#5 D5+F#5 D5+F#5 D5+F#5 D5+F#5 D5+F#5 D5+F#5 D5+F#5 D5+F#5 D4+F#4 D4+F#4 D4+F#4
LD2 D2 D2 D2

Bar 8
ARA4+C#5 A4+C#5 A4+C#5 A4+C#5 A4+C#5 A4+C#5 A4+C#5 A4+C#5 A4+C#5 A3+C#4 A3+C#4 A3+C#4
LA2 A2 A2 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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All 6 songs

The same I–V–I–V loop

About this progression

Questions about How I Am (from Little Women: The Musical)

What are the letter notes for the How I Am (from Little Women: The Musical) 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 D – A – D – A, so the letters repeat with the chords.

What chords are in How I Am (from Little Women: The Musical)?

The loop is D – A – D – A (I – V – I – V) in D major, and the song ends on G – A – D.

What key is How I Am (from Little Women: The Musical) in?

D major, at about 98 beats a minute in 12/8.

What does the left hand play in How I Am (from Little Women: The Musical)?

Slow-dance heartbeat: root bass · 1 · 2 · 3 · 4 (12/8), an easy pattern. It follows the chords, so the same shape works for every bar.

Is How I Am (from Little Women: The Musical) 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 one arrangement of this song: the left and right hands are the patterns these scores repeat most.