Piano chords · Pop heartbeat
I Heard It Through The Grapevine: easy piano accompaniment in letter notes
By Marvin Gaye
- C major
- 4/4
- 120 BPM
- IV7–I7–IV7–I7 loop
- 1966
- 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 I Heard It Through The Grapevine without reading music. The left hand plays tick-tick-boom pulse (root bass · 8ths 1-2, 3-4) and the right hand gospel-clap chords.
I Heard It Through The Grapevine accompaniment in letter notes
The F7 – C7 – F7 – C7 loop with tick-tick-boom pulse in the left hand and gospel-clap chords 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 Heard It Through The Grapevine
What are the letter notes for the I Heard It Through The Grapevine 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 F7 – C7 – F7 – C7, so the letters repeat with the chords.
What chords are in I Heard It Through The Grapevine?
The loop is F7 – C7 – F7 – C7 (IV7 – I7 – IV7 – I7) in C major, and the song ends on F – G – C.
What key is I Heard It Through The Grapevine in?
C major, at about 120 beats a minute in 4/4.
What does the left hand play in I Heard It Through The Grapevine?
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 Heard It Through The Grapevine 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 5 arrangements of this song: the left and right hands are the patterns these scores repeat most.