Piano chords · Rock drive
Phonograph Blues: easy piano accompaniment in letter notes
Written by Robert Johnson
- C major
- 4/4
- 100 BPM
- 1978
- Medium
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 Phonograph Blues without reading music. The left hand plays power fifths (lh power fifths) and the right hand wake-and-run chords.
Phonograph Blues accompaniment in letter notes
The C7 – F – C7 – G7 loop with power fifths in the left hand and wake-and-run chords in the right. Notes struck together are joined with a plus; C4 is middle C.
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 Phonograph Blues
What are the letter notes for the Phonograph Blues 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 C7 – F – C7 – G7, so the letters repeat with the chords.
What chords are in Phonograph Blues?
The loop is C7 – F – C7 – G7 (I7 – IV – I7 – V7) in C major, and the song ends on F – G – C.
What key is Phonograph Blues in?
C major, at about 100 beats a minute in 4/4.
What does the left hand play in Phonograph Blues?
Power fifths: lh power fifths, a medium pattern. It follows the chords, so the same shape works for every bar.
Is Phonograph Blues 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.