Piano chords · Rock drive
The Little Drummer Boy: easy piano accompaniment in letter notes
By Harry Simeone
- F major
- 12/8
- 160 BPM
- 1958
- 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 The Little Drummer Boy without reading music. The left hand plays power fifths (lh power fifths) and the right hand double-skip chords.
The main tune of The Little Drummer Boy in letter notes
The real notes from a score, both hands, bar by bar. R is the right hand, L the left; C4 is middle C.
The Little Drummer Boy accompaniment in letter notes
The F7 – Bb – F – F7 – C7 loop with power fifths in the left hand and double-skip chords 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 The Little Drummer Boy
What are the letter notes for the The Little Drummer Boy 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 F7 – Bb – F – F7 – C7, so the letters repeat with the chords.
What chords are in The Little Drummer Boy?
The loop is F7 – Bb – F – F7 – C7 (I7 – IV – I – I7 – V7) in F major, and the song ends on Bb – C – F.
What key is The Little Drummer Boy in?
F major, at about 160 beats a minute in 12/8.
What does the left hand play in The Little Drummer Boy?
Power fifths: lh power fifths, a medium pattern. It follows the chords, so the same shape works for every bar.
Is The Little Drummer Boy easy to play on piano?
It is a medium one: learn the 5 chords as blocks first, then add the left hand, then the right, slowly.
Can I hear the real melody of The Little Drummer Boy?
Yes: "The part you know" plays the main tune of the song from a score, with both hands.
Made from 7 arrangements of this song: the left and right hands are the patterns these scores repeat most.