Piano chords · Pop heartbeat
Starlight Express: easy piano accompaniment in letter notes
- Eb major
- 4/4
- 90 BPM
- 1984
- 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 Starlight Express without reading music. The left hand plays excited heartbeat (root bass · 1 · 1& · 2 · 2a · 3 · 3& · 4) and the right hand sprint-and-stop chords.
The intro of Starlight Express in letter notes
The real notes from a score, both hands, bar by bar. R is the right hand, L the left; C4 is middle C.
Starlight Express accompaniment in letter notes
The Eb – Fm – Bb – Ebmaj7 – Ab – Eb loop with excited heartbeat in the left hand and sprint-and-stop 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.
Play next
Questions about Starlight Express
What are the letter notes for the Starlight Express 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 Eb – Fm – Bb – Ebmaj7 – Ab – Eb, so the letters repeat with the chords.
What chords are in Starlight Express?
The loop is Eb – Fm – Bb – Ebmaj7 – Ab – Eb (I – ii – V – Imaj7 – IV – I) in Eb major, and the song ends on Eb – Ab – Eb.
What key is Starlight Express in?
Eb major, at about 90 beats a minute in 4/4.
What does the left hand play in Starlight Express?
Excited heartbeat: root bass · 1 · 1& · 2 · 2a · 3 · 3& · 4, a medium pattern. It follows the chords, so the same shape works for every bar.
Is Starlight Express easy to play on piano?
It is a medium one: learn the 6 chords as blocks first, then add the left hand, then the right, slowly.
Can I hear the real melody of Starlight Express?
Yes: "The part you know" plays the intro of the song from a score, with both hands.
Made from 4 arrangements of this song: the left and right hands are the patterns these scores repeat most.