Piano chords · Lullaby boat
It’s Not Where You Start: easy piano accompaniment in letter notes
Written by Cy Coleman
- C major
- 6/8
- 99 BPM
- 1973
- Medium
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 It’s Not Where You Start without reading music. The left hand plays swelling 6/8 (open arpeggio 1-5-8-10-8-5 (6/8)) and the right hand pendulum swing.
It’s Not Where You Start accompaniment in letter notes
The Em – C – Em – C loop with swelling 6/8 in the left hand and pendulum swing 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.
Play next
Questions about It’s Not Where You Start
What are the letter notes for the It’s Not Where You Start 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 – C – Em – C, so the letters repeat with the chords.
What chords are in It’s Not Where You Start?
The loop is Em – C – Em – C (iii – I – iii – I) in C major, and the song ends on C – F – C.
What key is It’s Not Where You Start in?
C major, at about 99 beats a minute in 6/8.
What does the left hand play in It’s Not Where You Start?
Swelling 6/8: open arpeggio 1-5-8-10-8-5 (6/8), a medium pattern. It follows the chords, so the same shape works for every bar.
Is It’s Not Where You Start 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.