Super Simple Chords

Piano chords · Pop heartbeat

The Odd Couple: easy piano accompaniment in letter notes

By Neal Hefti

  • D minor
  • 2/2
  • 120 BPM
  • 1968
  • Medium
Tuning the piano…
Learn it
Style

Left hand Push and landRight hand Pumping 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 Odd Couple without reading music. The left hand plays push and land (root bass · 1 · 2& · 3 · 4) and the right hand pumping chords.

The Odd Couple accompaniment in letter notes

The Gm – C7 – Gm – C7 loop with push and land in the left hand and pumping chords in the right. Notes struck together are joined with a plus; C4 is middle C.

Bar 1
Gm
RD5+G5+Bb5 D5+G5+Bb5 D5+G5+Bb5 D5+G5+Bb5 D5+G5+Bb5 D5+G5+Bb5 D5+G5+Bb5 D5+G5+Bb5
LG2 G2 G2 G2
Bar 2
C7
RG4+C5+E5 G4+C5+E5 G4+C5+E5 G4+C5+E5 G4+C5+E5 G4+C5+E5 G4+C5+E5 G4+C5+E5
LC3 C3 C3 C3
Bar 3
Gm
RD5+G5+Bb5 D5+G5+Bb5 D5+G5+Bb5 D5+G5+Bb5 D5+G5+Bb5 D5+G5+Bb5 D5+G5+Bb5 D5+G5+Bb5
LG2 G2 G2 G2
Bar 4
C7
RG4+C5+E5 G4+C5+E5 G4+C5+E5 G4+C5+E5 C4 D4 E4 F4 G4 A4 Bb4 C5
LC3 C3 C3 C3
Bar 5
Gm
RD5+G5+Bb5 D5+G5+Bb5 D5+G5+Bb5 D5+G5+Bb5 D5+G5+Bb5 D5+G5+Bb5 D5+G5+Bb5 D5+G5+Bb5
LG2 G2 G2 G2
Bar 6
C7
RG4+C5+E5 G4+C5+E5 G4+C5+E5 G4+C5+E5 G4+C5+E5 G4+C5+E5 G4+C5+E5 G4+C5+E5
LC3 C3 C3 C3
Bar 7
Gm
RD5+G5+Bb5 D5+G5+Bb5 D5+G5+Bb5 D5+G5+Bb5 D5+G5+Bb5 D5+G5+Bb5 D5+G5+Bb5 D5+G5+Bb5
LG2 G2 G2 G2
Bar 8
C7
RG4+C5+E5 G4+C5+E5 G4+C5+E5 G4+C5+E5 G4+C5+E5 G4+C5+E5 G4+C5+E5 G4+C5+E5
LC3 C3 C3 C3

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 Odd Couple

What are the letter notes for the The Odd Couple 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 Gm – C7 – Gm – C7, so the letters repeat with the chords.

What chords are in The Odd Couple?

The loop is Gm – C7 – Gm – C7 (iv – bVII7 – iv – bVII7) in D minor, and the song ends on Bb – C – Dm.

What key is The Odd Couple in?

D minor, at about 120 beats a minute in 2/2.

What does the left hand play in The Odd Couple?

Push and land: root bass · 1 · 2& · 3 · 4, an easy pattern. It follows the chords, so the same shape works for every bar.

Is The Odd Couple 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 3 arrangements of this song: the left and right hands are the patterns these scores repeat most.