Piano chords · Old-time stride
If I Only Had A Brain: easy piano accompaniment in letter notes
By Harold Arlen
- F major
- 2/2
- 100 BPM
- 1938
- Easy
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 If I Only Had A Brain without reading music. The left hand plays stride jumps (stride) and the right hand pausing chords.
The main tune of If I Only Had A Brain 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.
If I Only Had A Brain accompaniment in letter notes
The Dm7 – Gm7 – Gm7 – F – F – Dm7 loop with stride jumps in the left hand and pausing 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 If I Only Had A Brain
What are the letter notes for the If I Only Had A Brain 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 Dm7 – Gm7 – Gm7 – F – F – Dm7, so the letters repeat with the chords.
What chords are in If I Only Had A Brain?
The loop is Dm7 – Gm7 – Gm7 – F – F – Dm7 (vi7 – ii7 – I – vi7 – ii7 – I) in F major, and the song ends on Gm – C7 – F.
What key is If I Only Had A Brain in?
F major, at about 100 beats a minute in 2/2.
What does the left hand play in If I Only Had A Brain?
Stride jumps: stride, an easy pattern. It follows the chords, so the same shape works for every bar.
Is If I Only Had A Brain easy to play on piano?
Yes. Both hands play easy patterns over 6 chords. Learn the chords first, then add one hand at a time.
Can I hear the real melody of If I Only Had A Brain?
Yes: "The part you know" plays the main tune of the song from a score, with both hands.
Made from 4 arrangements of this song: the left and right hands are the patterns these scores repeat most.