Super Simple Chords

Piano chords · Pop heartbeat

Surfin' Safari: easy piano accompaniment in letter notes

By The Beach Boys

  • Bb major
  • 4/4
  • 152 BPM
  • 1962
  • Medium
Tuning the piano…
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Style

Left hand Pop heartbeatRight hand Ticking clockChords 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 Surfin' Safari without reading music. The left hand plays pop heartbeat (root bass · charleston push (1 · 2& · 3)) and the right hand ticking clock.

Surfin' Safari accompaniment in letter notes

The Bb – Eb – F7 – Eb7 loop with pop heartbeat in the left hand and ticking clock in the right. Notes struck together are joined with a plus; C4 is middle C.

Bar 1
Bb
RBb3 Bb3 Bb3 Bb3 Bb3 Bb3 Bb3 Bb3
LBb2 Bb2 Bb2
Bar 2
Eb
REb4 Eb4 Eb4 Eb4 Eb4 Eb4 Eb4 Eb4
LEb2 Eb2 Eb2
Bar 3
F7
RF4 F4 F4 F4 F4 F4 F4 F4
LF2 F2 F2
Bar 4
Eb7
REb4 Eb4 Eb4 Eb4 Eb4 F4 G4 A4 Bb4 C5 D5 Eb5
LEb2 Eb2 Eb2
Bar 5
Bb
RBb3 Bb3 Bb3 Bb3 Bb3 Bb3 Bb3 Bb3
LBb2 Bb2 Bb2
Bar 6
Eb
REb4 Eb4 Eb4 Eb4 Eb4 Eb4 Eb4 Eb4
LEb2 Eb2 Eb2
Bar 7
F7
RF4 F4 F4 F4 F4 F4 F4 F4
LF2 F2 F2
Bar 8
Eb7
REb4 Eb4 Eb4 Eb4 Eb4 Eb4 Eb4 Eb4
LEb2 Eb2 Eb2

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 Surfin' Safari

What are the letter notes for the Surfin' Safari 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 Bb – Eb – F7 – Eb7, so the letters repeat with the chords.

What chords are in Surfin' Safari?

The loop is Bb – Eb – F7 – Eb7 (I – IV – V7 – IV7) in Bb major, and the song ends on Eb – F – Bb.

What key is Surfin' Safari in?

Bb major, at about 152 beats a minute in 4/4.

What does the left hand play in Surfin' Safari?

Pop heartbeat: root bass · charleston push (1 · 2& · 3), an easy pattern. It follows the chords, so the same shape works for every bar.

Is Surfin' Safari 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.