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Temporarily Painless: easy piano accompaniment in letter notes

By John Legend

  • G major
  • 4/4
  • 96 BPM
  • 2016
  • Medium
Tuning the piano…
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Left hand Tick-tick-boom pulseThe right hand sings the tuneChords 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 Temporarily Painless without reading music. The left hand plays tick-tick-boom pulse (root bass · 8ths 1-2, 3-4), and the right hand sings the tune.

Temporarily Painless accompaniment in letter notes

The Bm – C – Em – Am loop with tick-tick-boom pulse in the left hand. Notes struck together are joined with a plus; C4 is middle C.

Bar 1
Bm
RB3+D4+F#4
LB2 B2 B3 B2 B2 B3
Bar 2
C
RC4+E4+G4
LC3 C3 C4 C3 C3 C4
Bar 3
Em
RE4+G4+B4
LE2 E2 E3 E2 E2 E3
Bar 4
Am
RA3+C4+E4 C4 D4 E4 F#4 G4 A4 B4 C5
LA2 A2 A3 A2 A2 A3
Bar 5
Bm
RB3+D4+F#4
LB2 B2 B3 B2 B2 B3
Bar 6
C
RC4+E4+G4
LC3 C3 C4 C3 C3 C4
Bar 7
Em
RE4+G4+B4
LE2 E2 E3 E2 E2 E3
Bar 8
Am
RA3+C4+E4
LA2 A2 A3 A2 A2 A3

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 Temporarily Painless

What are the letter notes for the Temporarily Painless 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 Bm – C – Em – Am, so the letters repeat with the chords.

What chords are in Temporarily Painless?

The loop is Bm – C – Em – Am (iii – IV – vi – ii) in G major, and the song ends on C – D – G.

What key is Temporarily Painless in?

G major, at about 96 beats a minute in 4/4.

What does the left hand play in Temporarily Painless?

Tick-tick-boom pulse: root bass · 8ths 1-2, 3-4, a medium pattern. It follows the chords, so the same shape works for every bar.

Is Temporarily Painless 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.