Super Simple Chords

Piano chords · Dreamy ballad

O Little Town Of Bethlehem: easy piano accompaniment in letter notes

By Steven Curtis Chapman

Tuning the piano…
Learn it
Learn it
Style

Left hand Three-step climbRight hand Marching 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 O Little Town Of Bethlehem without reading music. The left hand plays three-step climb (broken chord 1-5-8) and the right hand marching chords.

O Little Town Of Bethlehem accompaniment in letter notes

The E – B – A – B loop with three-step climb in the left hand and marching chords in the right. Notes struck together are joined with a plus; C4 is middle C.

Bar 1
E
RG#4+B4+E5 G#4+B4+E5 G#4+B4+E5 G#4+B4+E5
LE2 B2 E3
Bar 2
B
RD#4+F#4+B4 D#4+F#4+B4 D#4+F#4+B4 D#4+F#4+B4
LB2 F#3 B3
Bar 3
A
RC#4+E4+A4 C#4+E4+A4 C#4+E4+A4 C#4+E4+A4
LA2 E3 A3
Bar 4
B
RD#4+F#4+B4 D#4+F#4+B4 F#4 B4 D#5 F#5 B5 D#6 F#6 B6
LB2 F#3 B3
Bar 5
E
RG#4+B4+E5 G#4+B4+E5 G#4+B4+E5 G#4+B4+E5
LE2 B2 E3
Bar 6
B
RD#4+F#4+B4 D#4+F#4+B4 D#4+F#4+B4 D#4+F#4+B4
LB2 F#3 B3
Bar 7
A
RC#4+E4+A4 C#4+E4+A4 C#4+E4+A4 C#4+E4+A4
LA2 E3 A3
Bar 8
B
RD#4+F#4+B4 D#4+F#4+B4 D#4+F#4+B4 D#4+F#4+B4
LB2 F#3 B3

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.

Play next

Questions about O Little Town Of Bethlehem

What are the letter notes for the O Little Town Of Bethlehem 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 E – B – A – B, so the letters repeat with the chords.

What chords are in O Little Town Of Bethlehem?

The loop is E – B – A – B (I – V – IV – V) in E major, and the song ends on A – B – E.

What key is O Little Town Of Bethlehem in?

E major, at about 72 beats a minute in 4/4.

What does the left hand play in O Little Town Of Bethlehem?

Three-step climb: broken chord 1-5-8, an easy pattern. It follows the chords, so the same shape works for every bar.

Is O Little Town Of Bethlehem easy to play on piano?

Yes. Both hands play easy patterns over 4 chords. Learn the chords first, then add one hand at a time.

Made from one arrangement of this song: the left and right hands are the patterns these scores repeat most.