Super Simple Chords

Piano chords · Rock drive

I'll Be Around: easy piano accompaniment in letter notes

By Michael W. Smith

Tuning the piano…
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Style

Left hand Engine 8thsRight hand Steady chordsChords 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 I'll Be Around without reading music. The left hand plays engine 8ths (root bass · 8ths) and the right hand steady chords.

I'll Be Around accompaniment in letter notes

The E – B – E – B loop with engine 8ths in the left hand and steady chords in the right. Notes struck together are joined with a plus; C4 is middle C.

Bar 1
E
RG#4+B4+E5 G#4+B4+E5 G#4+B4+E5 G#4+B4+E5
LE2 E2 E2 E2 E2 E2 E2 E2
Bar 2
B
RD#4+F#4+B4 D#4+F#4+B4 D#4+F#4+B4 D#4+F#4+B4
LB2 B2 B2 B2 B2 B2 B2 B2
Bar 3
E
RG#4+B4+E5 G#4+B4+E5 G#4+B4+E5 G#4+B4+E5
LE2 E2 E2 E2 E2 E2 E2 E2
Bar 4
B
RD#4+F#4+B4 D#4+F#4+B4 B6 F#6 D#6 B5 G#5 G5 F#5 E#5
LB2 B2 B2 B2 B2 B2 B2 B2
Bar 5
E
RG#4+B4+E5 G#4+B4+E5 G#4+B4+E5 G#4+B4+E5
LE2 E2 E2 E2 E2 E2 E2 E2
Bar 6
B
RD#4+F#4+B4 D#4+F#4+B4 D#4+F#4+B4 D#4+F#4+B4
LB2 B2 B2 B2 B2 B2 B2 B2
Bar 7
E
RG#4+B4+E5 G#4+B4+E5 G#4+B4+E5 G#4+B4+E5
LE2 E2 E2 E2 E2 E2 E2 E2
Bar 8
B
RD#4+F#4+B4 D#4+F#4+B4 D#4+F#4+B4 D#4+F#4+B4
LB2 B2 B2 B2 B2 B2 B2 B2

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'll Be Around

What are the letter notes for the I'll Be Around 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 E – B – E – B, so the letters repeat with the chords.

What chords are in I'll Be Around?

The loop is E – B – E – B (I – V – I – V) in E major, and the song ends on E – B – E.

What key is I'll Be Around in?

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

What does the left hand play in I'll Be Around?

Engine 8ths: root bass · 8ths, a medium pattern. It follows the chords, so the same shape works for every bar.

Is I'll Be Around 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.