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Tonight: easy piano accompaniment in letter notes

Written by Leonard Bernstein

  • Ab major
  • 2/2
  • 132 BPM
  • 1957
  • Medium
Tuning the piano…
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Style

Left hand Hopscotch stepsRight hand Deep-breath chordsChords the loop the song repeats most

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 Tonight without reading music. The left hand plays hopscotch steps (root bass · 1 · 2 · 4) and the right hand deep-breath chords.

Tonight accompaniment in letter notes

The Ab – Bb – Ab – Fm loop with hopscotch steps in the left hand and deep-breath chords in the right. Notes struck together are joined with a plus; C4 is middle C.

Bar 1
Ab
RC5+Eb5+Ab5 C5+Eb5+Ab5 C5+Eb5+Ab5 C5+Eb5+Ab5 C5+Eb5+Ab5 C5+Eb5+Ab5 C5+Eb5+Ab5
LAb2 Ab3 Ab3
Bar 2
Bb
RD4+F4+Bb4 D4+F4+Bb4 D4+F4+Bb4 D4+F4+Bb4 D4+F4+Bb4 D4+F4+Bb4 D4+F4+Bb4
LBb2 Bb3 Bb3
Bar 3
Ab
RC5+Eb5+Ab5 C5+Eb5+Ab5 C5+Eb5+Ab5 C5+Eb5+Ab5 C5+Eb5+Ab5 C5+Eb5+Ab5 C5+Eb5+Ab5
LAb2 Ab3 Ab3
Bar 4
Fm
RAb4+C5+F5 Ab4+C5+F5 Ab4+C5+F5 Db4 Eb4 F4 G4 Ab4 Bb4 C5 Db5
LF2 F3 F3
Bar 5
Ab
RC5+Eb5+Ab5 C5+Eb5+Ab5 C5+Eb5+Ab5 C5+Eb5+Ab5 C5+Eb5+Ab5 C5+Eb5+Ab5 C5+Eb5+Ab5
LAb2 Ab3 Ab3
Bar 6
Bb
RD4+F4+Bb4 D4+F4+Bb4 D4+F4+Bb4 D4+F4+Bb4 D4+F4+Bb4 D4+F4+Bb4 D4+F4+Bb4
LBb2 Bb3 Bb3
Bar 7
Ab
RC5+Eb5+Ab5 C5+Eb5+Ab5 C5+Eb5+Ab5 C5+Eb5+Ab5 C5+Eb5+Ab5 C5+Eb5+Ab5 C5+Eb5+Ab5
LAb2 Ab3 Ab3
Bar 8
Fm
RAb4+C5+F5 Ab4+C5+F5 Ab4+C5+F5 Ab4+C5+F5 Ab4+C5+F5 Ab4+C5+F5 Ab4+C5+F5
LF2 F3 F3

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 Tonight

What are the letter notes for the Tonight 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 Ab – Bb – Ab – Fm, so the letters repeat with the chords.

What chords are in Tonight?

The loop is Ab – Bb – Ab – Fm (I – II – I – vi) in Ab major, and the song ends on Db – Eb – Ab.

What key is Tonight in?

Ab major, at about 132 beats a minute in 2/2.

What does the left hand play in Tonight?

Hopscotch steps: root bass · 1 · 2 · 4, an easy pattern. It follows the chords, so the same shape works for every bar.

Is Tonight 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.