Super Simple Chords

Piano chords · Pop heartbeat

Powderfinger: easy piano accompaniment in letter notes

By Neil Young

Tuning the piano…
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Style

Left hand Walking rootsRight hand Ticking clockChords 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 Powderfinger without reading music. The left hand plays walking roots (root bass · quarters) and the right hand ticking clock.

Powderfinger accompaniment in letter notes

The C – Bm – C – Bm loop with walking roots in the left hand and ticking clock in the right. Notes struck together are joined with a plus; C4 is middle C.

Bar 1
C
RC4 C4 C4 C4 C4 C4 C4 C4
LC3 C3 C4 C4
Bar 2
Bm
RB3 B3 B3 B3 B3 B3 B3 B3
LB2 B2 B3 B3
Bar 3
C
RC4 C4 C4 C4 C4 C4 C4 C4
LC3 C3 C4 C4
Bar 4
Bm
RB3 B3 B3 B3 D4 E4 F#4 G4 A4 B4 C5 D5
LB2 B2 B3 B3
Bar 5
C
RC4 C4 C4 C4 C4 C4 C4 C4
LC3 C3 C4 C4
Bar 6
Bm
RB3 B3 B3 B3 B3 B3 B3 B3
LB2 B2 B3 B3
Bar 7
C
RC4 C4 C4 C4 C4 C4 C4 C4
LC3 C3 C4 C4
Bar 8
Bm
RB3 B3 B3 B3 B3 B3 B3 B3
LB2 B2 B3 B3

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 Powderfinger

What are the letter notes for the Powderfinger 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 C – Bm – C – Bm, so the letters repeat with the chords.

What chords are in Powderfinger?

The loop is C – Bm – C – Bm (IV – iii – IV – iii) in G major, and the song ends on G – C – G.

What key is Powderfinger in?

G major, at about 120 beats a minute in 4/4.

What does the left hand play in Powderfinger?

Walking roots: root bass · quarters, an easy pattern. It follows the chords, so the same shape works for every bar.

Is Powderfinger 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.