Piano chords · Rock drive
I Won’t Back Down: easy piano accompaniment in letter notes
Written by Tom Petty & Jeff Lynne
- G major
- 4/4
- 115 BPM
- vi–V–I–vi loop
- 1989
- 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 Won’t Back Down without reading music. The left hand plays engine 8ths (root bass · 8ths) and the right hand peekaboo chords.
I Won’t Back Down accompaniment in letter notes
The Em – D – G – Em loop with engine 8ths in the left hand and peekaboo 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 Won’t Back Down
What are the letter notes for the I Won’t Back Down 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 Em – D – G – Em, so the letters repeat with the chords.
What chords are in I Won’t Back Down?
The loop is Em – D – G – Em (vi – V – I – vi) in G major, and the song ends on Em – D – G.
What key is I Won’t Back Down in?
G major, at about 115 beats a minute in 4/4.
What does the left hand play in I Won’t Back Down?
Engine 8ths: root bass · 8ths, a medium pattern. It follows the chords, so the same shape works for every bar.
Is I Won’t Back Down 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 2 arrangements of this song: the left and right hands are the patterns these scores repeat most.