Super Simple Chords

Piano chords · Pop heartbeat

Ode To Billy Joe: easy piano accompaniment in letter notes

Written by Bobbie Gentry

  • F major
  • 4/4
  • 100 BPM
  • 1967
  • Medium
Tuning the piano…
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Style

Left hand Pop heartbeatRight hand Moonbeam glimmerChords 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 Ode To Billy Joe without reading music. The left hand plays pop heartbeat (root bass · charleston push (1 · 2& · 3)) and the right hand moonbeam glimmer.

Ode To Billy Joe accompaniment in letter notes

The F7 – Cm – F7 – Bb7 loop with pop heartbeat in the left hand and moonbeam glimmer in the right. Notes struck together are joined with a plus; C4 is middle C.

Bar 1
F7
RF5 D5 F5 D5 F5 D5 F5 D5
LF2 F2 F2
Bar 2
Cm
RC5 A4 C5 A4 C5 A4 C5 A4
LC3 C3 C3
Bar 3
F7
RF5 D5 F5 D5 F5 D5 F5 D5
LF2 F2 F2
Bar 4
Bb7
RBb4 G4 Bb4 G4 D4 E4 F4 G4 A4 Bb4 C5 D5
LBb2 Bb2 Bb2
Bar 5
F7
RF5 D5 F5 D5 F5 D5 F5 D5
LF2 F2 F2
Bar 6
Cm
RC5 A4 C5 A4 C5 A4 C5 A4
LC3 C3 C3
Bar 7
F7
RF5 D5 F5 D5 F5 D5 F5 D5
LF2 F2 F2
Bar 8
Bb7
RBb4 G4 Bb4 G4 Bb4 G4 Bb4 G4
LBb2 Bb2 Bb2

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.

Questions about Ode To Billy Joe

What are the letter notes for the Ode To Billy Joe 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 F7 – Cm – F7 – Bb7, so the letters repeat with the chords.

What chords are in Ode To Billy Joe?

The loop is F7 – Cm – F7 – Bb7 (I7 – v – I7 – IV7) in F major, and the song ends on Bb – C – F.

What key is Ode To Billy Joe in?

F major, at about 100 beats a minute in 4/4.

What does the left hand play in Ode To Billy Joe?

Pop heartbeat: root bass · charleston push (1 · 2& · 3), an easy pattern. It follows the chords, so the same shape works for every bar.

Is Ode To Billy Joe 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.