Piano chords · Pop heartbeat
This Is The Time: easy piano accompaniment in letter notes
By Billy Joel
- F major
- 4/4
- 132 BPM
- IV–V–IV–V loop
- 1986
- Easy
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 This Is The Time without reading music. The left hand plays pop heartbeat (root bass · charleston push (1 · 2& · 3)) and the right hand heartbeat chords.
This Is The Time accompaniment in letter notes
The Bb – C – Bb – C loop with pop heartbeat in the left hand and heartbeat 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 This Is The Time
What are the letter notes for the This Is The Time 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 – C – Bb – C, so the letters repeat with the chords.
What chords are in This Is The Time?
The loop is Bb – C – Bb – C (IV – V – IV – V) in F major, and the song ends on Bb – C – F.
What key is This Is The Time in?
F major, at about 132 beats a minute in 4/4.
What does the left hand play in This Is The Time?
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 This Is The Time 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.