Piano chords · Pop heartbeat
I Smile: easy piano accompaniment in letter notes
Written by Kirk Franklin, Frederick Tackett & others
- Db major
- 4/4
- 72 BPM
- 2011
- Medium
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 Smile without reading music. The left hand plays knock-knock footsteps (root bass · 1 · 2 · 2& · 4) and the right hand pumping chords.
I Smile accompaniment in letter notes
The Ab – Gb – Fm – Ab loop with knock-knock footsteps in the left hand and pumping 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 Smile
What are the letter notes for the I Smile 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 – Gb – Fm – Ab, so the letters repeat with the chords.
What chords are in I Smile?
The loop is Ab – Gb – Fm – Ab (V – IV – iii – V) in Db major, and the song ends on Gb – Ab – Db.
What key is I Smile in?
Db major, at about 72 beats a minute in 4/4.
What does the left hand play in I Smile?
Knock-knock footsteps: root bass · 1 · 2 · 2& · 4, an easy pattern. It follows the chords, so the same shape works for every bar.
Is I Smile 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.