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The Varsity Drag: piano accompaniment sheet music

By Ray Henderson

Tuning the piano…
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Left hand Stair stepsRight hand Skip-and-stroll chordsChords the loop the song repeats most

Play the full song with sheet music

The Varsity Drag written out as piano music: the I – I7 – IV – iv loop in C major for both hands, with chord names and finger numbers. Press play and follow the cursor. The left hand plays stair steps (broken chord 1-3-5) and the right hand skip-and-stroll chords.

The Varsity Drag chord chart

The loop once round, bar by bar, in C major. The roman numeral says the chord's place in the key, so the same chart works in any key.

BarChordNumeralNotes
1CIC E G
2C7I7C E G Bb
3FIVF A C
4FmivF Ab C

What the sheet music shows

The grand staff: the right hand on the treble staff, the left hand on the bass staff, with the chord names above and a finger number on each note (1 is the thumb). It is the accompaniment: stair steps (broken chord 1-3-5) in the left hand and skip-and-stroll chords in the right, over the C – C7 – F – Fm chords.

Press play and a cursor follows the music. Above it, Colours paints each note in its key’s colour and Note names writes its letter on its head.

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Questions about The Varsity Drag

Does the sheet music for The Varsity Drag have finger numbers?

Yes: every note of both hands has its finger number, 1 being the thumb. To read the notes alone, turn Fingers off above the music.

What chords are in The Varsity Drag?

The loop is C – C7 – F – Fm (I – I7 – IV – iv) in C major, and the song ends on C – Fm – C.

What key is The Varsity Drag in?

C major, at about 160 beats a minute in 2/2.

What does the left hand play in The Varsity Drag?

Stair steps: broken chord 1-3-5, an easy pattern. It follows the chords, so the same shape works for every bar.

Is The Varsity Drag 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.