Piano chords · Waltz garden
The Old Rugged Cross: easy piano accompaniment in letter notes
By Rev. George Bennard
- Bb major
- 3/4
- 122 BPM
- I–V7–I–I7 loop
- 2014
- Medium
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 Old Rugged Cross without reading music. The left hand plays waltz stride (stride (3/4)) and the right hand waltz chords.
The Old Rugged Cross accompaniment in letter notes
The Bb – F7 – Bb – Bb7 loop with waltz stride in the left hand and waltz 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 Old Rugged Cross
What are the letter notes for the The Old Rugged Cross 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 Bb – F7 – Bb – Bb7, so the letters repeat with the chords.
What chords are in The Old Rugged Cross?
The loop is Bb – F7 – Bb – Bb7 (I – V7 – I – I7) in Bb major, and the song ends on Eb – F – Bb.
What key is The Old Rugged Cross in?
Bb major, at about 122 beats a minute in 3/4.
What does the left hand play in The Old Rugged Cross?
Waltz stride: stride (3/4), a medium pattern. It follows the chords, so the same shape works for every bar.
Is The Old Rugged Cross 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 4 arrangements of this song: the left and right hands are the patterns these scores repeat most.