Super Simple Chords

Piano chords · Dreamy ballad

Please Don’t Ask Me: easy piano accompaniment in letter notes

By John Farnham

Tuning the piano…
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Style

Left hand Shimmering wavesRight hand Steady chordsChords 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 Please Don’t Ask Me without reading music. The left hand plays shimmering waves (open arpeggio 1-5) and the right hand steady chords.

Please Don’t Ask Me accompaniment in letter notes

The Bb – Eb – Ebm – Bb loop with shimmering waves in the left hand and steady chords in the right. Notes struck together are joined with a plus; C4 is middle C.

Bar 1
Bb
RD4+F4+Bb4 D4+F4+Bb4 D4+F4+Bb4 D4+F4+Bb4
LBb2 F3 D4 F3 D4 F3 D4 F3
Bar 2
Eb
RG4+Bb4+Eb5 G4+Bb4+Eb5 G4+Bb4+Eb5 G4+Bb4+Eb5
LEb2 Bb2 G3 Bb2 G3 Bb2 G3 Bb2
Bar 3
Ebm
RGb4+Bb4+Eb5 Gb4+Bb4+Eb5 Gb4+Bb4+Eb5 Gb4+Bb4+Eb5
LEb2 Bb2 Gb3 Bb2 Gb3 Bb2 Gb3 Bb2
Bar 4
Bb
RD4+F4+Bb4 D4+F4+Bb4 F4 Bb4 D5 F5 Bb5 D6 F6 Bb6
LBb2 F3 D4 F3 D4 F3 D4 F3
Bar 5
Bb
RD4+F4+Bb4 D4+F4+Bb4 D4+F4+Bb4 D4+F4+Bb4
LBb2 F3 D4 F3 D4 F3 D4 F3
Bar 6
Eb
RG4+Bb4+Eb5 G4+Bb4+Eb5 G4+Bb4+Eb5 G4+Bb4+Eb5
LEb2 Bb2 G3 Bb2 G3 Bb2 G3 Bb2
Bar 7
Ebm
RGb4+Bb4+Eb5 Gb4+Bb4+Eb5 Gb4+Bb4+Eb5 Gb4+Bb4+Eb5
LEb2 Bb2 Gb3 Bb2 Gb3 Bb2 Gb3 Bb2
Bar 8
Bb
RD4+F4+Bb4 D4+F4+Bb4 D4+F4+Bb4 D4+F4+Bb4
LBb2 F3 D4 F3 D4 F3 D4 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 Please Don’t Ask Me

What are the letter notes for the Please Don’t Ask Me 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 Bb – Eb – Ebm – Bb, so the letters repeat with the chords.

What chords are in Please Don’t Ask Me?

The loop is Bb – Eb – Ebm – Bb (I – IV – iv – I) in Bb major, and the song ends on Eb – Ebm – Bb.

What key is Please Don’t Ask Me in?

Bb major, at about 90 beats a minute in 4/4.

What does the left hand play in Please Don’t Ask Me?

Shimmering waves: open arpeggio 1-5, a medium pattern. It follows the chords, so the same shape works for every bar.

Is Please Don’t Ask Me 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 2 arrangements of this song: the left and right hands are the patterns these scores repeat most.