Piano chords · Dreamy ballad
Just The Way You Are: easy piano accompaniment in letter notes
By Billy Joel
- Bb major
- 4/4
- 98 BPM
- 1977
- 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 Just The Way You Are without reading music. The left hand plays rolling waves (open arpeggio 1-5-10-5) and the right hand tiptoe chords.
The main tune of Just The Way You Are 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.
Just The Way You Are accompaniment in letter notes
The Ebmaj7 – Ebm7 – Ab7 – Bbmaj7 – Fm7 – Bb7 loop with rolling waves in the left hand and tiptoe 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 Just The Way You Are
What are the letter notes for the Just The Way You Are 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 Ebmaj7 – Ebm7 – Ab7 – Bbmaj7 – Fm7 – Bb7, so the letters repeat with the chords.
What chords are in Just The Way You Are?
The loop is Ebmaj7 – Ebm7 – Ab7 – Bbmaj7 – Fm7 – Bb7 (IVmaj7 – iv7 – bVII7 – Imaj7 – v7 – I7) in Bb major, and the song ends on Eb – F – Bb.
What key is Just The Way You Are in?
Bb major, at about 98 beats a minute in 4/4.
What does the left hand play in Just The Way You Are?
Rolling waves: open arpeggio 1-5-10-5, a medium pattern. It follows the chords, so the same shape works for every bar.
Is Just The Way You Are easy to play on piano?
It is a medium one: learn the 6 chords as blocks first, then add the left hand, then the right, slowly.
Can I hear the real melody of Just The Way You Are?
Yes: "The part you know" plays the main tune of the song from a score, with both hands.
Made from 10 arrangements of this song: the left and right hands are the patterns these scores repeat most.