Piano chords · Rock drive
Those Were The Days: easy piano accompaniment in letter notes
Written by Gene Raskin
- A minor
- 2/4
- 90 BPM
- 1962
- 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 Those Were The Days without reading music. The left hand plays power fifths (lh power fifths) and the right hand wait-a-beat chords.
The main tune of Those Were The Days 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.
Those Were The Days accompaniment in letter notes
The Dm – G loop with power fifths in the left hand and wait-a-beat 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 Those Were The Days
What are the letter notes for the Those Were The Days 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 Dm – G, so the letters repeat with the chords.
What chords are in Those Were The Days?
The loop is Dm – G (iv – VII) in A minor, and the song ends on F – G – Am.
What key is Those Were The Days in?
A minor, at about 90 beats a minute in 2/4.
What does the left hand play in Those Were The Days?
Power fifths: lh power fifths, a medium pattern. It follows the chords, so the same shape works for every bar.
Is Those Were The Days easy to play on piano?
It is a medium one: learn the 2 chords as blocks first, then add the left hand, then the right, slowly.
Can I hear the real melody of Those Were The Days?
Yes: "The part you know" plays the main tune of the song from a score, with both hands.
Made from 4 arrangements of this song: the left and right hands are the patterns these scores repeat most.