Piano chords · Dreamy ballad
Mary, Did You Know?: easy piano accompaniment in letter notes
By Mark Lowry
- D minor
- 2/2
- 108 BPM
- 1991
- Easy
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 Mary, Did You Know? without reading music. The left hand plays jack-in-the-box (broken chord 3-10) and the right hand offbeat skank.
The intro of Mary, Did You Know? 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.
Mary, Did You Know? accompaniment in letter notes
The C – Gm7 – A7 – A – A7 loop with jack-in-the-box in the left hand and offbeat skank 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 Mary, Did You Know?
What are the letter notes for the Mary, Did You Know? 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 C – Gm7 – A7 – A – A7, so the letters repeat with the chords.
What chords are in Mary, Did You Know??
The loop is C – Gm7 – A7 – A – A7 (VII – iv7 – V7 – V – V7) in D minor, and the song ends on Bb – C – Dm.
What key is Mary, Did You Know? in?
D minor, at about 108 beats a minute in 2/2.
What does the left hand play in Mary, Did You Know??
Jack-in-the-box: broken chord 3-10, an easy pattern. It follows the chords, so the same shape works for every bar.
Is Mary, Did You Know? easy to play on piano?
Yes. Both hands play easy patterns over 5 chords. Learn the chords first, then add one hand at a time.
Can I hear the real melody of Mary, Did You Know??
Yes: "The part you know" plays the intro of the song from a score, with both hands.
Made from 4 arrangements of this song: the left and right hands are the patterns these scores repeat most.