Super Simple Chords

Piano chords · Pop heartbeat

The Way We Were: easy piano accompaniment in letter notes

By Barbra Streisand

Tuning the piano…
Learn it
Learn it
Style

Left hand Pop heartbeatRight hand Steady chordsChords 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 Way We Were without reading music. The left hand plays pop heartbeat (root bass · charleston push (1 · 2& · 3)) and the right hand steady chords.

The Way We Were accompaniment in letter notes

The A – D – E7 – A loop with pop heartbeat in the left hand and steady chords in the right. Notes struck together are joined with a plus; C4 is middle C.

Bar 1
A
RC#4+E4+A4 C#4+E4+A4 C#4+E4+A4 C#4+E4+A4
LA2 A2 A2
Bar 2
D
RF#4+A4+D5 F#4+A4+D5 F#4+A4+D5 F#4+A4+D5
LD2 D2 D2
Bar 3
E7
RG#4+B4+E5 G#4+B4+E5 G#4+B4+E5 G#4+B4+E5
LE2 E2 E2
Bar 4
A
RC#4+E4+A4 C#4+E4+A4 D4 E4 F#4 G#4 A4 B4 C#5 D5
LA2 A2 A2
Bar 5
A
RC#4+E4+A4 C#4+E4+A4 C#4+E4+A4 C#4+E4+A4
LA2 A2 A2
Bar 6
D
RF#4+A4+D5 F#4+A4+D5 F#4+A4+D5 F#4+A4+D5
LD2 D2 D2
Bar 7
E7
RG#4+B4+E5 G#4+B4+E5 G#4+B4+E5 G#4+B4+E5
LE2 E2 E2
Bar 8
A
RC#4+E4+A4 C#4+E4+A4 C#4+E4+A4 C#4+E4+A4
LA2 A2 A2

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.

Play next

Questions about The Way We Were

What are the letter notes for the The Way We Were 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 A – D – E7 – A, so the letters repeat with the chords.

What chords are in The Way We Were?

The loop is A – D – E7 – A (I – IV – V7 – I) in A major, and the song ends on A – D – A.

What key is The Way We Were in?

A major, at about 70 beats a minute in 4/4.

What does the left hand play in The Way We Were?

Pop heartbeat: root bass · charleston push (1 · 2& · 3), an easy pattern. It follows the chords, so the same shape works for every bar.

Is The Way We Were 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.