Super Simple Chords

Piano chords · Pop heartbeat

Keep Your Head Up: easy piano accompaniment in letter notes

Written by Andy Grammer

  • C major
  • 4/4
  • 92 BPM
  • 2011
  • Medium
Tuning the piano…
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Style

Left hand Galloping heartbeatRight 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 Keep Your Head Up without reading music. The left hand plays galloping heartbeat (root bass · 1 · 1a · 2 · 3 · 3a · 4) and the right hand steady chords.

Keep Your Head Up accompaniment in letter notes

The Dm – C – Am – G loop with galloping heartbeat in the left hand and steady chords in the right. Notes struck together are joined with a plus; C4 is middle C.

Bar 1
Dm
RF4+A4+D5 F4+A4+D5 F4+A4+D5 F4+A4+D5
LD2 D2 D2 D2 D2 D2
Bar 2
C
RE4+G4+C5 E4+G4+C5 E4+G4+C5 E4+G4+C5
LC3 C3 C3 C3 C3 C3
Bar 3
Am
RC4+E4+A4 C4+E4+A4 C4+E4+A4 C4+E4+A4
LA2 A2 A2 A2 A2 A2
Bar 4
G
RB4+D5+G5 B4+D5+G5 E4 F4 G4 A4 B4 C5 D5 E5
LG2 G2 G2 G2 G2 G2
Bar 5
Dm
RF4+A4+D5 F4+A4+D5 F4+A4+D5 F4+A4+D5
LD2 D2 D2 D2 D2 D2
Bar 6
C
RE4+G4+C5 E4+G4+C5 E4+G4+C5 E4+G4+C5
LC3 C3 C3 C3 C3 C3
Bar 7
Am
RC4+E4+A4 C4+E4+A4 C4+E4+A4 C4+E4+A4
LA2 A2 A2 A2 A2 A2
Bar 8
G
RB4+D5+G5 B4+D5+G5 B4+D5+G5 B4+D5+G5
LG2 G2 G2 G2 G2 G2

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 Keep Your Head Up

What are the letter notes for the Keep Your Head Up 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 Dm – C – Am – G, so the letters repeat with the chords.

What chords are in Keep Your Head Up?

The loop is Dm – C – Am – G (ii – I – vi – V) in C major, and the song ends on F – G – C.

What key is Keep Your Head Up in?

C major, at about 92 beats a minute in 4/4.

What does the left hand play in Keep Your Head Up?

Galloping heartbeat: root bass · 1 · 1a · 2 · 3 · 3a · 4, a medium pattern. It follows the chords, so the same shape works for every bar.

Is Keep Your Head Up 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.