Piano chords · Old-time stride
Row, Row, Row: easy piano accompaniment in letter notes
By Pearl Bailey
- Bb major
- 2/4
- 120 BPM
- 1994
- 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 Row, Row, Row without reading music. The left hand plays ragtime bounce (boom-chick (2/4)) and the right hand marching chords.
Row, Row, Row accompaniment in letter notes
The Cm – Bb – Gm – C7 loop with ragtime bounce in the left hand and marching 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 Row, Row, Row
What are the letter notes for the Row, Row, Row 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 Cm – Bb – Gm – C7, so the letters repeat with the chords.
What chords are in Row, Row, Row?
The loop is Cm – Bb – Gm – C7 (ii – I – vi – II7) in Bb major, and the song ends on Eb – F – Bb.
What key is Row, Row, Row in?
Bb major, at about 120 beats a minute in 2/4.
What does the left hand play in Row, Row, Row?
Ragtime bounce: boom-chick (2/4), a medium pattern. It follows the chords, so the same shape works for every bar.
Is Row, Row, Row 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.