Piano chords · Dreamy ballad
Simple Gifts: easy piano accompaniment in letter notes
By Traditional Shaker Hymn
- E major
- 4/4
- 116 BPM
- 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 Simple Gifts without reading music. The left hand plays rolling waves (open arpeggio 1-5-10-5) and the right hand double-skip chords.
Simple Gifts accompaniment in letter notes
The E – A – B7 – A loop with rolling waves in the left hand and double-skip 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 Simple Gifts
What are the letter notes for the Simple Gifts 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 E – A – B7 – A, so the letters repeat with the chords.
What chords are in Simple Gifts?
The loop is E – A – B7 – A (I – IV – V7 – IV) in E major, and the song ends on A – B – E.
What key is Simple Gifts in?
E major, at about 116 beats a minute in 4/4.
What does the left hand play in Simple Gifts?
Rolling waves: open arpeggio 1-5-10-5, a medium pattern. It follows the chords, so the same shape works for every bar.
Is Simple Gifts 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 3 arrangements of this song: the left and right hands are the patterns these scores repeat most.