Super Simple Chords

Piano chords · Pop heartbeat

The Big Hurt: easy piano accompaniment in letter notes

Written by Wayne Shanklin

Tuning the piano…
Learn it
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 The Big Hurt without reading music. The left hand plays pop heartbeat (root bass · charleston push (1 · 2& · 3)) and the right hand ticking clock.

The Big Hurt accompaniment in letter notes

The F – Gb – F – Gb 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
F
RF4 F4 F4 F4 F4 F4
LF2 F2 F2
Bar 2
Gb
RGb4 Gb4 Gb4 Gb4 Gb4 Gb4
LGb2 Gb2 Gb2
Bar 3
F
RF4 F4 F4 F4 F4 F4
LF2 F2 F2
Bar 4
Gb
RGb4 Gb4 Gb4 Fb4 F4 Abb4 Bbb4 Bb4 C5 Ebb5 Fb5
LGb2 Gb2 Gb2
Bar 5
F
RF4 F4 F4 F4 F4 F4
LF2 F2 F2
Bar 6
Gb
RGb4 Gb4 Gb4 Gb4 Gb4 Gb4
LGb2 Gb2 Gb2
Bar 7
F
RF4 F4 F4 F4 F4 F4
LF2 F2 F2
Bar 8
Gb
RGb4 Gb4 Gb4 Gb4 Gb4 Gb4
LGb2 Gb2 Gb2

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 The Big Hurt

What are the letter notes for the The Big Hurt 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 F – Gb – F – Gb, so the letters repeat with the chords.

What chords are in The Big Hurt?

The loop is F – Gb – F – Gb (I – bII – I – bII) in F major, and the song ends on Bb – C – F.

What key is The Big Hurt in?

F major, at about 100 beats a minute in 4/4.

What does the left hand play in The Big Hurt?

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 The Big Hurt 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.