Piano chords · Old-time stride
Steel Rail Blues: easy piano accompaniment in letter notes
Written by Gordon Lightfoot
- C major
- 2/2
- 160 BPM
- I–V7–I–I7 loop
- 1966
- 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 Steel Rail Blues without reading music. The left hand plays boom-chick (boom-chick) and the right hand knock-and-peek.
Steel Rail Blues accompaniment in letter notes
The C – G7 – C – C7 loop with boom-chick in the left hand and knock-and-peek 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 Steel Rail Blues
What are the letter notes for the Steel Rail Blues 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 C – G7 – C – C7, so the letters repeat with the chords.
What chords are in Steel Rail Blues?
The loop is C – G7 – C – C7 (I – V7 – I – I7) in C major, and the song ends on F – G – C.
What key is Steel Rail Blues in?
C major, at about 160 beats a minute in 2/2.
What does the left hand play in Steel Rail Blues?
Boom-chick: boom-chick, an easy pattern. It follows the chords, so the same shape works for every bar.
Is Steel Rail Blues 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.