Piano chords · Film & wonder
If I Only Had The Words (To Tell You): easy piano accompaniment in letter notes
By Billy Joel
- A major
- 4/4
- 72 BPM
- I–IV–I–ii loop
- 1973
- 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 If I Only Had The Words (To Tell You) without reading music. The left hand plays rising tide (open arpeggio 1-5-8-10-12) and the right hand steady chords.
If I Only Had The Words (To Tell You) accompaniment in letter notes
The A – D – A – Bm loop with rising tide in the left hand and steady 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 The Words (To Tell You)
What are the letter notes for the If I Only Had The Words (To Tell You) 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 A – D – A – Bm, so the letters repeat with the chords.
What chords are in If I Only Had The Words (To Tell You)?
The loop is A – D – A – Bm (I – IV – I – ii) in A major, and the song ends on D – E – A.
What key is If I Only Had The Words (To Tell You) in?
A major, at about 72 beats a minute in 4/4.
What does the left hand play in If I Only Had The Words (To Tell You)?
Rising tide: open arpeggio 1-5-8-10-12, a medium pattern. It follows the chords, so the same shape works for every bar.
Is If I Only Had The Words (To Tell You) 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.