Piano chords · Pop heartbeat
River: easy piano accompaniment in letter notes
By Josh Groban
- Ab major
- 4/4
- 75 BPM
- 2018
- 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 River without reading music. The left hand plays jogging footsteps (root bass · 1 · 2 · 2& · 3 · 3& · 4), and the right hand sings the tune.
River accompaniment in letter notes
The Fm – Ab – Db – Dbsus4 loop with jogging footsteps in the left hand. 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.
Play next
More by Josh Groban
The same left hand: Jogging footsteps
Questions about River
What are the letter notes for the River 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 Fm – Ab – Db – Dbsus4, so the letters repeat with the chords.
What chords are in River?
The loop is Fm – Ab – Db – Dbsus4 (vi – I – IV – IVsus) in Ab major, and the song ends on Db – Eb – Ab.
What key is River in?
Ab major, at about 75 beats a minute in 4/4.
What does the left hand play in River?
Jogging footsteps: root bass · 1 · 2 · 2& · 3 · 3& · 4, a medium pattern. It follows the chords, so the same shape works for every bar.
Is River 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.