Super Simple Chords

Piano chords · Old-time stride

Run For Your Life: easy piano accompaniment in letter notes

Written by John Lennon & Paul McCartney

Tuning the piano…
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Left hand Boom-chickRight hand Peekaboo chordsChords the loop the song repeats most

Play the full song with sheet music

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 Run For Your Life without reading music. The left hand plays boom-chick (boom-chick) and the right hand peekaboo chords.

Run For Your Life accompaniment in letter notes

The D – Bm – D – Bm loop with boom-chick in the left hand and peekaboo chords in the right. Notes struck together are joined with a plus; C4 is middle C.

Bar 1
D
RF#4+A4+D5 F#4+A4+D5 F#4+A4+D5
LD3 F#3+A3 A2 F#3+A3
Bar 2
Bm
RD4+F#4+B4 D4+F#4+B4 D4+F#4+B4
LB3 D4+F#4 F#3 D4+F#4
Bar 3
D
RF#4+A4+D5 F#4+A4+D5 F#4+A4+D5
LD3 F#3+A3 A2 F#3+A3
Bar 4
Bm
RD4+F#4+B4 B6 F#6 D6 B5 F#5 E#5 E5 D#5
LB3 D4+F#4 F#3 D4+F#4
Bar 5
D
RF#4+A4+D5 F#4+A4+D5 F#4+A4+D5
LD3 F#3+A3 A2 F#3+A3
Bar 6
Bm
RD4+F#4+B4 D4+F#4+B4 D4+F#4+B4
LB3 D4+F#4 F#3 D4+F#4
Bar 7
D
RF#4+A4+D5 F#4+A4+D5 F#4+A4+D5
LD3 F#3+A3 A2 F#3+A3
Bar 8
Bm
RD4+F#4+B4 D4+F#4+B4 D4+F#4+B4
LB3 D4+F#4 F#3 D4+F#4

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 Run For Your Life

What are the letter notes for the Run For Your Life 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 D – Bm – D – Bm, so the letters repeat with the chords.

What chords are in Run For Your Life?

The loop is D – Bm – D – Bm (I – vi – I – vi) in D major, and the song ends on G – A – D.

What key is Run For Your Life in?

D major, at about 120 beats a minute in 2/2.

What does the left hand play in Run For Your Life?

Boom-chick: boom-chick, an easy pattern. It follows the chords, so the same shape works for every bar.

Is Run For Your Life easy to play on piano?

Yes. Both hands play easy patterns over 4 chords. Learn the chords first, then add one hand at a time.

Made from one arrangement of this song: the left and right hands are the patterns these scores repeat most.