Super Simple Chords

Piano chords · Pop heartbeat

Paranoid Android: easy piano accompaniment in letter notes

By Radiohead

  • Bb major
  • 4/4
  • 81 BPM
  • 1997
  • Medium
Tuning the piano…
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Style

Left hand Excited heartbeatRight hand Skipping-stone chordsChords from the chord symbols in the score

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 Paranoid Android without reading music. The left hand plays excited heartbeat (root bass · 1 · 1& · 2 · 2a · 3 · 3& · 4) and the right hand skipping-stone chords.

The intro of Paranoid Android 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
Gm
RG3+Bb3 D4 G3+Bb3 Bb3+D4 G3+Bb3
LG2 A2 Bb2
Bar 2
Gm
RBb3+D4 A3+D4 G3+D4
LE3
Bar 3
Cm
RC4 C4 D4 C4+Eb4
LC3 Bb2
Bar 4
F7
REb4+G4 Eb4+A4 Eb4+Bb4 D4+Bb4
LF3 A2 Bb2

Paranoid Android accompaniment in letter notes

The Gm – Gm – Cm – F7 loop with excited heartbeat in the left hand and skipping-stone chords in the right. Notes struck together are joined with a plus; C4 is middle C.

Bar 1
Gm
RBb4+D5+G5 Bb4+D5+G5 Bb4+D5+G5
LG2 G2 G3 G3 G2 G2 G3
Bar 2
Gm
RBb4+D5+G5 Bb4+D5+G5 Bb4+D5+G5
LG2 G2 G3 G3 G2 G2 G3
Bar 3
Cm
REb4+G4+C5 Eb4+G4+C5 Eb4+G4+C5
LC3 C3 C4 C4 C3 C3 C4
Bar 4
F7
RA4+C5+F5 A4+C5+F5 C4 D4 Eb4 F4 G4 A4 Bb4 C5
LF2 F2 F3 F3 F2 F2 F3
Bar 5
Gm
RBb4+D5+G5 Bb4+D5+G5 Bb4+D5+G5
LG2 G2 G3 G3 G2 G2 G3
Bar 6
Gm
RBb4+D5+G5 Bb4+D5+G5 Bb4+D5+G5
LG2 G2 G3 G3 G2 G2 G3
Bar 7
Cm
REb4+G4+C5 Eb4+G4+C5 Eb4+G4+C5
LC3 C3 C4 C4 C3 C3 C4
Bar 8
F7
RA4+C5+F5 A4+C5+F5 A4+C5+F5
LF2 F2 F3 F3 F2 F2 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 Paranoid Android

What are the letter notes for the Paranoid Android 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 Gm – Gm – Cm – F7, so the letters repeat with the chords.

What chords are in Paranoid Android?

The loop is Gm – Gm – Cm – F7 (vi – ii – V7 – vi) in Bb major, and the song ends on Eb – F – Bb.

What key is Paranoid Android in?

Bb major, at about 81 beats a minute in 4/4.

What does the left hand play in Paranoid Android?

Excited heartbeat: root bass · 1 · 1& · 2 · 2a · 3 · 3& · 4, a medium pattern. It follows the chords, so the same shape works for every bar.

Is Paranoid Android 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.

Can I hear the real melody of Paranoid Android?

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

Made from 2 arrangements of this song: the left and right hands are the patterns these scores repeat most.