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I Shot The Sheriff: easy piano accompaniment in letter notes

By Bob Marley

  • G minor
  • 2/2
  • 160 BPM
  • 1974
  • Medium
Tuning the piano…
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Style

Left hand Tick-tick-boom pulseRight hand Hand-clap chordsChords from the chord symbols in the score

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 Shot The Sheriff without reading music. The left hand plays tick-tick-boom pulse (root bass · 8ths 1-2, 3-4) and the right hand hand-clap chords.

The bass riff of I Shot The Sheriff 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.

Bar 1
Gm
RG4+Bb4+D5 G4+A4+C5 G4+Bb4 G4+Bb4+D5
LG2 G2 G3 G3 G3 G2
Bar 2
Gm
RF4+A4+C5 D4+G4+Bb4
LG2 Bb2 C3
Bar 3
Cm7
RBb3+Eb4+G4 Bb3+Bb4 Bb3+Bb4
LC2 C2 C3 C3 C3 C2
Bar 4
Cm7
RD4+D5 D4+D5 Eb4+Eb5 Eb4+Eb5
LC3

I Shot The Sheriff accompaniment in letter notes

The Gm – Gm – Cm7 – Cm7 loop with tick-tick-boom pulse in the left hand and hand-clap chords in the right. Notes struck together are joined with a plus; C4 is middle C.

Bar 1
Gm
RBb4+D5+G5 Bb4+D5+G5 Bb4+D5+G5
LG2 G2 G3 G2 G2 G3
Bar 2
Gm
RBb4+D5+G5 Bb4+D5+G5 Bb4+D5+G5
LG2 G2 G3 G2 G2 G3
Bar 3
Cm7
REb4+G4+C5 Eb4+G4+C5 Eb4+G4+C5
LC3 C3 C4 C3 C3 C4
Bar 4
Cm7
REb4+G4+C5 Eb4+G4+C5 C4 D4 Eb4 F4 G4 A4 Bb4 C5
LC3 C3 C4 C3 C3 C4
Bar 5
Gm
RBb4+D5+G5 Bb4+D5+G5 Bb4+D5+G5
LG2 G2 G3 G2 G2 G3
Bar 6
Gm
RBb4+D5+G5 Bb4+D5+G5 Bb4+D5+G5
LG2 G2 G3 G2 G2 G3
Bar 7
Cm7
REb4+G4+C5 Eb4+G4+C5 Eb4+G4+C5
LC3 C3 C4 C3 C3 C4
Bar 8
Cm7
REb4+G4+C5 Eb4+G4+C5 Eb4+G4+C5
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 Shot The Sheriff

What are the letter notes for the I Shot The Sheriff 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 – Gm – Cm7 – Cm7, so the letters repeat with the chords.

What chords are in I Shot The Sheriff?

The loop is Gm – Gm – Cm7 – Cm7 (i – iv7 – i – iv7) in G minor, and the song ends on Eb – F – Gm.

What key is I Shot The Sheriff in?

G minor, at about 160 beats a minute in 2/2.

What does the left hand play in I Shot The Sheriff?

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 Shot The Sheriff 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.

Can I hear the real melody of I Shot The Sheriff?

Yes: "The part you know" plays the bass riff of the song from a score, with both hands.

Made from 3 arrangements of this song: the left and right hands are the patterns these scores repeat most.