Piano chords · Rock drive
The Way It Is: easy piano accompaniment in letter notes
By Bruce Hornsby & The Range
- G major
- 4/4
- 100 BPM
- 1986
- 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 Way It Is without reading music. The left hand plays power fifths (lh power fifths) and the right hand pop stabs.
The main tune of The Way It Is in letter notes
The real notes from a score, both hands, bar by bar. R is the right hand, L the left; C4 is middle C.
The Way It Is accompaniment in letter notes
The Am7 – Em7 – D – D7 – G – D – C loop with power fifths in the left hand and pop stabs 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 Way It Is
What are the letter notes for the The Way It Is 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 Am7 – Em7 – D – D7 – G – D – C, so the letters repeat with the chords.
What chords are in The Way It Is?
The loop is Am7 – Em7 – D – D7 – G – D – C (ii7 – vi7 – V – V7 – I – V – IV) in G major, and the song ends on C – D – G.
What key is The Way It Is in?
G major, at about 100 beats a minute in 4/4.
What does the left hand play in The Way It Is?
Power fifths: lh power fifths, a medium pattern. It follows the chords, so the same shape works for every bar.
Is The Way It Is easy to play on piano?
It is a medium one: learn the 7 chords as blocks first, then add the left hand, then the right, slowly.
Can I hear the real melody of The Way It Is?
Yes: "The part you know" plays the main tune of the song from a score, with both hands.
Made from 2 arrangements of this song: the left and right hands are the patterns these scores repeat most.