Piano chords · Blues & boogie
Somebody’s On My Mind: easy piano accompaniment in letter notes
Written by Billie Holiday & Arthur Herzog Jr.
- Ab major
- 4/4
- 80 BPM
- 1947
- Easy
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 Somebody’s On My Mind without reading music. The left hand plays velvet jazz (lh shell voicings (1-7 / 1-3)) and the right hand steady chords.
Somebody’s On My Mind accompaniment in letter notes
The Cm – F7 – Cbm – Fb7 loop with velvet jazz in the left hand and steady 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 Somebody’s On My Mind
What are the letter notes for the Somebody’s On My Mind 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 – Cbm – Fb7, so the letters repeat with the chords.
What chords are in Somebody’s On My Mind?
The loop is Cm – F7 – Cbm – Fb7 (iii – VI7 – biii – bVI7) in Ab major, and the song ends on Db – Eb – Ab.
What key is Somebody’s On My Mind in?
Ab major, at about 80 beats a minute in 4/4.
What does the left hand play in Somebody’s On My Mind?
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 Somebody’s On My Mind 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.