Piano chords · Rock drive
Three Flights Up: easy piano accompaniment in letter notes
Written by Don McLean
- G major
- 2/2
- 160 BPM
- 1970
- Medium
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 Three Flights Up without reading music. The left hand plays heartbeat octaves (rocking octaves) and the right hand ticking clock.
Three Flights Up accompaniment in letter notes
The C – G – C – G7 loop with heartbeat octaves in the left hand and ticking clock 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.
Play next
More by Don McLean
The same left hand: Heartbeat octaves
Questions about Three Flights Up
What are the letter notes for the Three Flights Up 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 C – G – C – G7, so the letters repeat with the chords.
What chords are in Three Flights Up?
The loop is C – G – C – G7 (IV – I – IV – I7) in G major, and the song ends on Am – D7 – G.
What key is Three Flights Up in?
G major, at about 160 beats a minute in 2/2.
What does the left hand play in Three Flights Up?
Heartbeat octaves: rocking octaves, an easy pattern. It follows the chords, so the same shape works for every bar.
Is Three Flights Up easy to play on piano?
It is a medium one: learn the 4 chords as blocks first, then add the left hand, then the right, slowly.
Made from one arrangement of this song: the left and right hands are the patterns these scores repeat most.