Super Simple Chords

Piano chords · Blues & boogie

Thou Swell: piano accompaniment sheet music

By Horace Silver

Tuning the piano…
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Left hand Velvet jazzThe right hand sings the tuneChords the loop the song repeats most

Play the full song with sheet music

Thou Swell written out as piano music: the ii – V7 – ii – V7 loop in Ab major for both hands, with chord names and finger numbers. Press play and follow the cursor. The left hand plays velvet jazz (lh shell voicings (1-7 / 1-3)), and the right hand sings the tune.

Thou Swell chord chart

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

BarChordNumeralNotes
1BbmiiBb Db F
2Eb7V7Eb G Bb Db
3BbmiiBb Db F
4Eb7V7Eb G Bb Db

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: velvet jazz (lh shell voicings (1-7 / 1-3)) in the left hand, with the right hand free for the melody, over the Bbm – Eb7 – Bbm – Eb7 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 Thou Swell

Does the sheet music for Thou Swell 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 Thou Swell?

The loop is Bbm – Eb7 – Bbm – Eb7 (ii – V7 – ii – V7) in Ab major, and the song ends on Db – Eb – Ab.

What key is Thou Swell in?

Ab major, at about 160 beats a minute in 4/4.

What does the left hand play in Thou Swell?

Velvet jazz: lh shell voicings (1-7 / 1-3), an easy pattern. It follows the chords, so the same shape works for every bar.

Is Thou Swell 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.