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I Don’t Want To Be: easy piano accompaniment in letter notes

Written by Gavin Degraw

Tuning the piano…
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Left hand Tick-tick-boom pulseRight hand Ticking clockChords 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 I Don’t Want To Be without reading music. The left hand plays tick-tick-boom pulse (root bass · 8ths 1-2, 3-4) and the right hand ticking clock.

I Don’t Want To Be accompaniment in letter notes

The Ab – Eb – Bb – Cm loop with tick-tick-boom pulse in the left hand and ticking clock in the right. Notes struck together are joined with a plus; C4 is middle C.

Bar 1
Ab
RAb4 Ab4 Ab4 Ab4 Ab4 Ab4 Ab4 Ab4 Ab4 Ab4 Ab4 Ab4 Ab4 Ab4 Ab4 Ab4
LAb2 Ab2 Ab3 Ab2 Ab2 Ab3
Bar 2
Eb
REb4 Eb4 Eb4 Eb4 Eb4 Eb4 Eb4 Eb4 Eb4 Eb4 Eb4 Eb4 Eb4 Eb4 Eb4 Eb4
LEb2 Eb2 Eb3 Eb2 Eb2 Eb3
Bar 3
Bb
RBb3 Bb3 Bb3 Bb3 Bb3 Bb3 Bb3 Bb3 Bb3 Bb3 Bb3 Bb3 Bb3 Bb3 Bb3 Bb3
LBb2 Bb2 Bb3 Bb2 Bb2 Bb3
Bar 4
Cm
RC4 C4 C4 C4 C4 C4 C4 C4 D4 Eb4 F4 G4 Ab4 Bb4 C5 D5
LC3 C3 C4 C3 C3 C4
Bar 5
Ab
RAb4 Ab4 Ab4 Ab4 Ab4 Ab4 Ab4 Ab4 Ab4 Ab4 Ab4 Ab4 Ab4 Ab4 Ab4 Ab4
LAb2 Ab2 Ab3 Ab2 Ab2 Ab3
Bar 6
Eb
REb4 Eb4 Eb4 Eb4 Eb4 Eb4 Eb4 Eb4 Eb4 Eb4 Eb4 Eb4 Eb4 Eb4 Eb4 Eb4
LEb2 Eb2 Eb3 Eb2 Eb2 Eb3
Bar 7
Bb
RBb3 Bb3 Bb3 Bb3 Bb3 Bb3 Bb3 Bb3 Bb3 Bb3 Bb3 Bb3 Bb3 Bb3 Bb3 Bb3
LBb2 Bb2 Bb3 Bb2 Bb2 Bb3
Bar 8
Cm
RC4 C4 C4 C4 C4 C4 C4 C4 C4 C4 C4 C4 C4 C4 C4 C4
LC3 C3 C4 C3 C3 C4

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 I Don’t Want To Be

What are the letter notes for the I Don’t Want To Be 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 Ab – Eb – Bb – Cm, so the letters repeat with the chords.

What chords are in I Don’t Want To Be?

The loop is Ab – Eb – Bb – Cm (IV – I – V – vi) in Eb major, and the song ends on Ab – Bb – Eb.

What key is I Don’t Want To Be in?

Eb major, at about 76 beats a minute in 4/4.

What does the left hand play in I Don’t Want To Be?

Tick-tick-boom pulse: root bass · 8ths 1-2, 3-4, a medium pattern. It follows the chords, so the same shape works for every bar.

Is I Don’t Want To Be 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.