Piano chords · Bossa beach
Tell It Like It Is: piano accompaniment sheet music
Written by George Davis & Lee Diamond
- F major
- 4/4
- 90 BPM
- 1966
- Tricky
Play the full song with sheet music
Tell It Like It Is written out as piano music: the ii – V7 – I – VI7 loop in F major for both hands, with chord names and finger numbers. Press play and follow the cursor. The left hand plays island seesaw (root–fifth 1-5-1) and the right hand trotting-sleigh chords.
Tell It Like It Is chord chart
The loop once round, bar by bar, in F major. The roman numeral says the chord's place in the key, so the same chart works in any key.
| Bar | Chord | Numeral | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Gm | ii | G Bb D |
| 2 | C7 | V7 | C E G Bb |
| 3 | F | I | F A C |
| 4 | D7 | VI7 | D F# A C |
What the sheet music shows
The grand staff: the right hand on the treble staff, the left hand on the bass staff, with the chord names above and a finger number on each note (1 is the thumb). It is the accompaniment: island seesaw (root–fifth 1-5-1) in the left hand and trotting-sleigh chords in the right, over the Gm – C7 – F – D7 chords.
Press play and a cursor follows the music. Above it, Colours paints each note in its key’s colour and Note names writes its letter on its head.
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Questions about Tell It Like It Is
Does the sheet music for Tell It Like It Is have finger numbers?
Yes: every note of both hands has its finger number, 1 being the thumb. To read the notes alone, turn Fingers off above the music.
What chords are in Tell It Like It Is?
The loop is Gm – C7 – F – D7 (ii – V7 – I – VI7) in F major, and the song ends on Gm – C7 – F.
What key is Tell It Like It Is in?
F major, at about 90 beats a minute in 4/4.
What does the left hand play in Tell It Like It Is?
Island seesaw: root–fifth 1-5-1, an easy pattern. It follows the chords, so the same shape works for every bar.
Is Tell It Like It Is easy to play on piano?
It is a tricky 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.