Super Simple Chords

Piano chords · Slow dance ’50s

Murder By Numbers: easy piano accompaniment in letter notes

Written by Sting & Andy Summers

  • E minor
  • 12/8
  • 138 BPM
  • 1983
  • Medium
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Style

Left hand Jukebox leapsRight hand Slow-dance chordsChords the loop the song repeats most

Play the full song with sheet music

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 Murder By Numbers without reading music. The left hand plays jukebox leaps (stride (12/8)) and the right hand slow-dance chords.

Murder By Numbers accompaniment in letter notes

The Em – Fsus4 – B7 – Bb loop with jukebox leaps in the left hand and slow-dance chords in the right. Notes struck together are joined with a plus; C4 is middle C.

Bar 1
Em
RE4+G4+B4 E4+G4+B4 E4+G4+B4 E4+G4+B4
LE2 E3+G3 E2 E3+G3
Bar 2
Fsus4
RF4+Bb4+C5 F4+Bb4+C5 F4+Bb4+C5 F4+Bb4+C5
LF2 F3+Bb3 F2 F3+Bb3
Bar 3
B7
RB3+D#4+F#4 B3+D#4+F#4 B3+D#4+F#4 B3+D#4+F#4
LB2 B3+D#4 B2 B3+D#4
Bar 4
Bb
RBb3+D4+F4 Bb3+D4+F4 F4 Bb4 D5 F5 Bb5 D6 F6 Bb6 D7
LBb2 Bb3+D4 Bb2 Bb3+D4
Bar 5
Em
RE4+G4+B4 E4+G4+B4 E4+G4+B4 E4+G4+B4
LE2 E3+G3 E2 E3+G3
Bar 6
Fsus4
RF4+Bb4+C5 F4+Bb4+C5 F4+Bb4+C5 F4+Bb4+C5
LF2 F3+Bb3 F2 F3+Bb3
Bar 7
B7
RB3+D#4+F#4 B3+D#4+F#4 B3+D#4+F#4 B3+D#4+F#4
LB2 B3+D#4 B2 B3+D#4
Bar 8
Bb
RBb3+D4+F4 Bb3+D4+F4 Bb3+D4+F4 Bb3+D4+F4
LBb2 Bb3+D4 Bb2 Bb3+D4

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 Murder By Numbers

What are the letter notes for the Murder By Numbers 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 – Fsus4 – B7 – Bb, so the letters repeat with the chords.

What chords are in Murder By Numbers?

The loop is Em – Fsus4 – B7 – Bb (i – bIIsus – V7 – #IV) in E minor, and the song ends on C – D – Em.

What key is Murder By Numbers in?

E minor, at about 138 beats a minute in 12/8.

What does the left hand play in Murder By Numbers?

Jukebox leaps: stride (12/8), a medium pattern. It follows the chords, so the same shape works for every bar.

Is Murder By Numbers 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.