Super Simple Chords

Piano chords · Bossa beach

If I Had My Way: easy piano accompaniment in letter notes

By Linda Eder

  • Ab major
  • 4/4
  • 100 BPM
  • 2002
  • Easy
Tuning the piano…
Learn it
Style

Left hand Lazy seesawThe right hand sings the tuneChords the loop the song repeats most

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 If I Had My Way without reading music. The left hand plays lazy seesaw (root–fifth 1-5-5), and the right hand sings the tune.

If I Had My Way accompaniment in letter notes

The Ab – Gm – C7 – Fm loop with lazy seesaw in the left hand. Notes struck together are joined with a plus; C4 is middle C.

Bar 1
Ab
RAb4+C5+Eb5
LAb2 Eb3 Eb3
Bar 2
Gm
RG4+Bb4+D5
LG2 D3 D3
Bar 3
C7
RC4+E4+G4
LC3 G3 G3
Bar 4
Fm
RF4+Ab4+C5 F6 Eb6 Db6 C6 Bb5 Ab5 G5 F5
LF2 C3 C3
Bar 5
Ab
RAb4+C5+Eb5
LAb2 Eb3 Eb3
Bar 6
Gm
RG4+Bb4+D5
LG2 D3 D3
Bar 7
C7
RC4+E4+G4
LC3 G3 G3
Bar 8
Fm
RF4+Ab4+C5
LF2 C3 C3

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.

Play next

Questions about If I Had My Way

What are the letter notes for the If I Had My Way 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 – Gm – C7 – Fm, so the letters repeat with the chords.

What chords are in If I Had My Way?

The loop is Ab – Gm – C7 – Fm (I – vii – III7 – vi) in Ab major, and the song ends on Db – Eb – Ab.

What key is If I Had My Way in?

Ab major, at about 100 beats a minute in 4/4.

What does the left hand play in If I Had My Way?

Lazy seesaw: root–fifth 1-5-5, an easy pattern. It follows the chords, so the same shape works for every bar.

Is If I Had My Way easy to play on piano?

Yes. Both hands play easy patterns over 4 chords. Learn the chords first, then add one hand at a time.

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