Piano chords · Old-time stride
I Got Rhythm: easy piano accompaniment in letter notes
- F major
- 2/4
- 100 BPM
- 1930
- Tricky
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 Got Rhythm without reading music. The left hand plays kangaroo leaps (stride (2/4)) and the right hand hopscotch bells.
The main tune of I Got Rhythm in letter notes
The real notes from a score, both hands, bar by bar. R is the right hand, L the left; C4 is middle C.
I Got Rhythm accompaniment in letter notes
The Gm – Am – C7 – F loop with kangaroo leaps in the left hand and hopscotch bells 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 I Got Rhythm
What are the letter notes for the I Got Rhythm 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 Gm – Am – C7 – F, so the letters repeat with the chords.
What chords are in I Got Rhythm?
The loop is Gm – Am – C7 – F (ii – iii – V7 – I) in F major, and the song ends on Bb – C – F.
What key is I Got Rhythm in?
F major, at about 100 beats a minute in 2/4.
What does the left hand play in I Got Rhythm?
Kangaroo leaps: stride (2/4), a tricky pattern. It follows the chords, so the same shape works for every bar.
Is I Got Rhythm easy to play on piano?
It is a tricky one: learn the 4 chords as blocks first, then add the left hand, then the right, slowly.
Can I hear the real melody of I Got Rhythm?
Yes: "The part you know" plays the main tune of the song from a score, with both hands.
Made from 6 arrangements of this song: the left and right hands are the patterns these scores repeat most.