Super Simple Chords

Piano chords · Rock drive

Set It Off: easy piano accompaniment in letter notes

By Samuel Hollander

Tuning the piano…
Learn it
Style

Left hand Engine 8thsRight hand Swing pushChords 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 Set It Off without reading music. The left hand plays engine 8ths (root bass · 8ths) and the right hand swing push.

Set It Off accompaniment in letter notes

The Am – G – F – Am loop with engine 8ths in the left hand and swing push in the right. Notes struck together are joined with a plus; C4 is middle C.

Bar 1
Am
RE4+A4+C5 E4+A4+C5 E4+A4+C5
LA2 A2 A2 A2 A2 A2 A2 A2
Bar 2
G
RD5+G5+B5 D5+G5+B5 D5+G5+B5
LG2 G2 G2 G2 G2 G2 G2 G2
Bar 3
F
RC5+F5+A5 C5+F5+A5 C5+F5+A5
LF2 F2 F2 F2 F2 F2 F2 F2
Bar 4
Am
RE4+A4+C5 E4+A4+C5 E4+A4+C5 A6 E6 C6 A5 G#5 G5 F#5 F5
LA2 A2 A2 A2 A2 A2 A2 A2
Bar 5
Am
RE4+A4+C5 E4+A4+C5 E4+A4+C5
LA2 A2 A2 A2 A2 A2 A2 A2
Bar 6
G
RD5+G5+B5 D5+G5+B5 D5+G5+B5
LG2 G2 G2 G2 G2 G2 G2 G2
Bar 7
F
RC5+F5+A5 C5+F5+A5 C5+F5+A5
LF2 F2 F2 F2 F2 F2 F2 F2
Bar 8
Am
RE4+A4+C5 E4+A4+C5 E4+A4+C5
LA2 A2 A2 A2 A2 A2 A2 A2

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

Questions about Set It Off

What are the letter notes for the Set It Off 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 Am – G – F – Am, so the letters repeat with the chords.

What chords are in Set It Off?

The loop is Am – G – F – Am (vi – V – IV – vi) in C major, and the song ends on G – F – C.

What key is Set It Off in?

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

What does the left hand play in Set It Off?

Engine 8ths: root bass · 8ths, a medium pattern. It follows the chords, so the same shape works for every bar.

Is Set It Off 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.