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The Merry Widow Waltz: easy piano accompaniment in letter notes

By Franz Lehar

Tuning the piano…
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Left hand Oom-pah-pahRight hand Waltz bellsChords the loop the song repeats most

Play the full song with sheet music

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 Merry Widow Waltz without reading music. The left hand plays oom-pah-pah (waltz oom-pah-pah) and the right hand waltz bells.

The Merry Widow Waltz accompaniment in letter notes

The Am – D7 – G – Am loop with oom-pah-pah in the left hand and waltz bells in the right. Notes struck together are joined with a plus; C4 is middle C.

Bar 1
Am
RA4 C4+E4 C4+E4
LA2 C3+E3 C3+E3
Bar 2
D7
RD5 F#4+A4 F#4+A4
LD2 F#2+A2 F#2+A2
Bar 3
G
RG5 B4+D5 B4+D5
LG2 B2+D3 B2+D3
Bar 4
Am
RA4 E4 A4 C5 E5 A5 C6 E6 A6
LA2 C3+E3 C3+E3
Bar 5
Am
RA4 C4+E4 C4+E4
LA2 C3+E3 C3+E3
Bar 6
D7
RD5 F#4+A4 F#4+A4
LD2 F#2+A2 F#2+A2
Bar 7
G
RG5 B4+D5 B4+D5
LG2 B2+D3 B2+D3
Bar 8
Am
RA4 C4+E4 C4+E4
LA2 C3+E3 C3+E3

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 Merry Widow Waltz

What are the letter notes for the The Merry Widow Waltz 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 Am – D7 – G – Am, so the letters repeat with the chords.

What chords are in The Merry Widow Waltz?

The loop is Am – D7 – G – Am (ii – V7 – I – ii) in G major, and the song ends on Am – D7 – G.

What key is The Merry Widow Waltz in?

G major, at about 136 beats a minute in 3/4.

What does the left hand play in The Merry Widow Waltz?

Oom-pah-pah: waltz oom-pah-pah, an easy pattern. It follows the chords, so the same shape works for every bar.

Is The Merry Widow Waltz easy to play on piano?

Yes. Both hands play easy patterns over 4 chords. Learn the chords first, then add one hand at a time.

Made from 2 arrangements of this song: the left and right hands are the patterns these scores repeat most.