Super Simple Chords

Piano chords · Dreamy ballad

The Long Black Veil: easy piano accompaniment in letter notes

By Johnny Cash

Tuning the piano…
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Style

Left hand Rolling wavesRight hand Soft chordsChords 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 Long Black Veil without reading music. The left hand plays rolling waves (open arpeggio 1-5-10-5) and the right hand soft chords.

The Long Black Veil accompaniment in letter notes

The C – G – C – G loop with rolling waves in the left hand and soft chords in the right. Notes struck together are joined with a plus; C4 is middle C.

Bar 1
C
RG4+C5+E5 G4+C5+E5 G4+C5+E5
LC3 G3 E4 G3
Bar 2
G
RD5+G5+B5 D5+G5+B5 D5+G5+B5
LG2 D3 B3 D3
Bar 3
C
RG4+C5+E5 G4+C5+E5 G4+C5+E5
LC3 G3 E4 G3
Bar 4
G
RD5+G5+B5 G4 B4 D5 G5 B5 D6 G6 B6
LG2 D3 B3 D3
Bar 5
C
RG4+C5+E5 G4+C5+E5 G4+C5+E5
LC3 G3 E4 G3
Bar 6
G
RD5+G5+B5 D5+G5+B5 D5+G5+B5
LG2 D3 B3 D3
Bar 7
C
RG4+C5+E5 G4+C5+E5 G4+C5+E5
LC3 G3 E4 G3
Bar 8
G
RD5+G5+B5 D5+G5+B5 D5+G5+B5
LG2 D3 B3 D3

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 Long Black Veil

What are the letter notes for the The Long Black Veil 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 C – G – C – G, so the letters repeat with the chords.

What chords are in The Long Black Veil?

The loop is C – G – C – G (IV – I – IV – I) in G major, and the song ends on C – D – G.

What key is The Long Black Veil in?

G major, at about 120 beats a minute in 2/2.

What does the left hand play in The Long Black Veil?

Rolling waves: open arpeggio 1-5-10-5, a medium pattern. It follows the chords, so the same shape works for every bar.

Is The Long Black Veil 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.