Piano chords · Blues & boogie
How Long, How Long Blues: easy piano accompaniment in letter notes
Written by Leroy Carr
- C major
- 4/4
- 80 BPM
- 1929
- 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 How Long, How Long Blues without reading music. The left hand plays rock’n’roll rocker (rock’n’roll 5–6 shuffle), and the right hand sings the tune.
How Long, How Long Blues accompaniment in letter notes
The C – C7 – Cdim – Dm loop with rock’n’roll rocker in the left hand. 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 How Long, How Long Blues
What are the letter notes for the How Long, How Long Blues 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 C – C7 – Cdim – Dm, so the letters repeat with the chords.
What chords are in How Long, How Long Blues?
The loop is C – C7 – Cdim – Dm (I – I7 – io – ii) in C major, and the song ends on C – G – C.
What key is How Long, How Long Blues in?
C major, at about 80 beats a minute in 4/4.
What does the left hand play in How Long, How Long Blues?
Rock’n’roll rocker: rock’n’roll 5–6 shuffle, a medium pattern. It follows the chords, so the same shape works for every bar.
Is How Long, How Long Blues 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.