Super Simple Chords

Piano chords · Blues & boogie

Mona Lisa: easy piano accompaniment in letter notes

By Nat King Cole

Tuning the piano…
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Style

Left hand Boogie walkerRight hand Late-knock 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 Mona Lisa without reading music. The left hand plays boogie walker (boogie-woogie line) and the right hand late-knock chords.

Mona Lisa accompaniment in letter notes

The Bb – C7 – F7 – Bb loop with boogie walker in the left hand and late-knock chords in the right. Notes struck together are joined with a plus; C4 is middle C.

Bar 1
Bb
RD4+F4+Ab4+Bb4 D4+F4+Ab4+Bb4 D4+F4+Ab4+Bb4
LBb2 F3 Ab3 F3 G3 F3 D3 F3
Bar 2
C7
RE4+G4+Bb4+C5 E4+G4+Bb4+C5 E4+G4+Bb4+C5
LC3 G3 Bb3 G3 A3 G3 E3 G3
Bar 3
F7
RA4+C5+Eb5+F5 A4+C5+Eb5+F5 A4+C5+Eb5+F5
LF2 C3 Eb3 C3 D3 C3 A2 C3
Bar 4
Bb
RD4+F4+Ab4+Bb4 Db5 D5 F5 G5 F5 D5 Db5 Bb4
LBb2 F3 Ab3 F3 G3 F3 D3 F3
Bar 5
Bb
RD4+F4+Ab4+Bb4 D4+F4+Ab4+Bb4 D4+F4+Ab4+Bb4
LBb2 F3 Ab3 F3 G3 F3 D3 F3
Bar 6
C7
RE4+G4+Bb4+C5 E4+G4+Bb4+C5 E4+G4+Bb4+C5
LC3 G3 Bb3 G3 A3 G3 E3 G3
Bar 7
F7
RA4+C5+Eb5+F5 A4+C5+Eb5+F5 A4+C5+Eb5+F5
LF2 C3 Eb3 C3 D3 C3 A2 C3
Bar 8
Bb
RD4+F4+Ab4+Bb4 D4+F4+Ab4+Bb4 D4+F4+Ab4+Bb4
LBb2 F3 Ab3 F3 G3 F3 D3 F3

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 Mona Lisa

What are the letter notes for the Mona Lisa 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 Bb – C7 – F7 – Bb, so the letters repeat with the chords.

What chords are in Mona Lisa?

The loop is Bb – C7 – F7 – Bb (I – II7 – V7 – I) in Bb major, and the song ends on Eb – F – Bb.

What key is Mona Lisa in?

Bb major, at about 70 beats a minute in 4/4.

What does the left hand play in Mona Lisa?

Boogie walker: boogie-woogie line, a medium pattern. It follows the chords, so the same shape works for every bar.

Is Mona Lisa 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 4 arrangements of this song: the left and right hands are the patterns these scores repeat most.