Super Simple Chords

Piano chords · Blues & boogie

Smoke Gets in Your Eyes: easy piano accompaniment in letter notes

By Jerome Kern

  • Bb major
  • 4/4
  • 70 BPM
  • 1933
  • Easy
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Style

Left hand Velvet jazzThe right hand sings the tuneChords 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 Smoke Gets in Your Eyes without reading music. The left hand plays velvet jazz (lh shell voicings (1-7 / 1-3)), and the right hand sings the tune.

Smoke Gets in Your Eyes accompaniment in letter notes

The Cm – F7 – Ab – Bb7 loop with velvet jazz in the left hand. Notes struck together are joined with a plus; C4 is middle C.

Bar 1
Cm
RC4+Eb4+G4
LEb3+Bb3 Eb3+C4 Eb3+Bb3 Eb3+C4
Bar 2
F7
RF4+A4+C5
LA2+Eb3 A2+F3 A2+Eb3 A2+F3
Bar 3
Ab
RAb4+C5+Eb5
LC3+Gb3 C3+Ab3 C3+Gb3 C3+Ab3
Bar 4
Bb7
RBb3+D4+F4 Db5 D5 F5 G5 F5 D5 Db5 Bb4
LD3+Ab3 D3+Bb3 D3+Ab3 D3+Bb3
Bar 5
Cm
RC4+Eb4+G4
LEb3+Bb3 Eb3+C4 Eb3+Bb3 Eb3+C4
Bar 6
F7
RF4+A4+C5
LA2+Eb3 A2+F3 A2+Eb3 A2+F3
Bar 7
Ab
RAb4+C5+Eb5
LC3+Gb3 C3+Ab3 C3+Gb3 C3+Ab3
Bar 8
Bb7
RBb3+D4+F4
LD3+Ab3 D3+Bb3 D3+Ab3 D3+Bb3

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 Smoke Gets in Your Eyes

What are the letter notes for the Smoke Gets in Your Eyes 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 – F7 – Ab – Bb7, so the letters repeat with the chords.

What chords are in Smoke Gets in Your Eyes?

The loop is Cm – F7 – Ab – Bb7 (ii – V7 – bVII – I7) in Bb major, and the song ends on Eb – F – Bb.

What key is Smoke Gets in Your Eyes in?

Bb major, at about 70 beats a minute in 4/4.

What does the left hand play in Smoke Gets in Your Eyes?

Velvet jazz: lh shell voicings (1-7 / 1-3), an easy pattern. It follows the chords, so the same shape works for every bar.

Is Smoke Gets in Your Eyes 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.