Super Simple Chords

Piano chords · Dreamy ballad

Over The Rainbow: easy piano accompaniment in letter notes

By Harold Arlen

  • Eb major
  • 2/2
  • 100 BPM
  • 1938
  • Medium
Tuning the piano…
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Style

Left hand Happy wiggleRight hand Rocking thirdsChords worked out from the notes of the famous part

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 Over The Rainbow without reading music. The left hand plays happy wiggle (broken chord 1-5-6-5) and the right hand rocking thirds.

The main tune of Over The Rainbow 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.

Bar 1
Eb → Cm
REb4 Bb3+C4 Eb5 G4+Bb4
LEb2+Bb2+G3 C4
Bar 2
Gm
RD4+Bb4+D5 G4+Bb4 A4+C5 Bb4+D5 G4+C5+Eb5
LG2+D3+Bb3 Eb3+C#4
Bar 3
Ab
REb4 Ab3+C4 C4+G4+C5 Gb4
LAb2 Eb3
Bar 4
Gm → Gm7
RBb3+F4+Bb4 Eb4 D4 C#4
LG2+G3 F3 E3

Over The Rainbow accompaniment in letter notes

The Eb – Cm – Gm – Ab – Gm – Gm7 loop with happy wiggle in the left hand and rocking thirds in the right. Notes struck together are joined with a plus; C4 is middle C.

Bar 1
Eb → Cm
RG4 Bb4 G4 Bb4 Eb4 G4 Eb4 G4
LEb2 Bb2 A3 G3
Bar 2
Gm
RBb4 D5 Bb4 D5 Bb4 D5 Bb4 D5
LG2 D3 E3 D3
Bar 3
Ab
RC5 Eb5 C5 Eb5 C5 Eb5 C5 Eb5
LAb2 Eb3 F3 Eb3
Bar 4
Gm → Gm7
RBb4 D5 Bb4 D5 F4 G4 Bb4 D5 F5 G5 Bb5 D6
LG2 D3 E3 D3
Bar 5
Eb → Cm
RG4 Bb4 G4 Bb4 Eb4 G4 Eb4 G4
LEb2 Bb2 A3 G3
Bar 6
Gm
RBb4 D5 Bb4 D5 Bb4 D5 Bb4 D5
LG2 D3 E3 D3
Bar 7
Ab
RC5 Eb5 C5 Eb5 C5 Eb5 C5 Eb5
LAb2 Eb3 F3 Eb3
Bar 8
Gm → Gm7
RBb4 D5 Bb4 D5 Bb4 D5 Bb4 D5
LG2 D3 E3 D3

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 Over The Rainbow

What are the letter notes for the Over The Rainbow 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 Eb – Cm – Gm – Ab – Gm – Gm7, so the letters repeat with the chords.

What chords are in Over The Rainbow?

The loop is Eb – Cm – Gm – Ab – Gm – Gm7 (I – vi – iii – IV – iii – iii7) in Eb major, and the song ends on Fm – Bb7 – Eb.

What key is Over The Rainbow in?

Eb major, at about 100 beats a minute in 2/2.

What does the left hand play in Over The Rainbow?

Happy wiggle: broken chord 1-5-6-5, an easy pattern. It follows the chords, so the same shape works for every bar.

Is Over The Rainbow easy to play on piano?

It is a medium one: learn the 6 chords as blocks first, then add the left hand, then the right, slowly.

Can I hear the real melody of Over The Rainbow?

Yes: "The part you know" plays the main tune of the song from a score, with both hands.

Made from 11 arrangements of this song: the left and right hands are the patterns these scores repeat most.