Super Simple Chords

Piano chords · Blues & boogie

Unexpected Song: easy piano accompaniment in letter notes

By Andrew Lloyd Webber

  • D major
  • 4/4
  • 76 BPM
  • 1978
  • Medium
Tuning the piano…
Learn it
Style

Left hand Boogie walkerThe right hand sings the tuneChords 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 Unexpected Song without reading music. The left hand plays boogie walker (boogie-woogie line), and the right hand sings the tune.

Unexpected Song accompaniment in letter notes

The D – Em – A – Bm loop with boogie walker in the left hand. Notes struck together are joined with a plus; C4 is middle C.

Bar 1
D
RD4+F#4+A4
LD2 A2 C3 A2 B2 A2 F#2 A2
Bar 2
Em
RE4+G4+B4
LE2 B2 D3 B2 C#3 B2 G2 B2
Bar 3
A
RA3+C#4+E4
LA2 E3 G3 E3 F#3 E3 C#3 E3
Bar 4
Bm
RB3+D4+F#4 C#5 D5 F#5 G#5 F#5 D5 D5 B4
LB2 F#3 A3 F#3 G#3 F#3 D3 F#3
Bar 5
D
RD4+F#4+A4
LD2 A2 C3 A2 B2 A2 F#2 A2
Bar 6
Em
RE4+G4+B4
LE2 B2 D3 B2 C#3 B2 G2 B2
Bar 7
A
RA3+C#4+E4
LA2 E3 G3 E3 F#3 E3 C#3 E3
Bar 8
Bm
RB3+D4+F#4
LB2 F#3 A3 F#3 G#3 F#3 D3 F#3

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

Questions about Unexpected Song

What are the letter notes for the Unexpected Song 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 D – Em – A – Bm, so the letters repeat with the chords.

What chords are in Unexpected Song?

The loop is D – Em – A – Bm (I – ii – V – vi) in D major, and the song ends on D – Em – D.

What key is Unexpected Song in?

D major, at about 76 beats a minute in 4/4.

What does the left hand play in Unexpected Song?

Boogie walker: boogie-woogie line, a medium pattern. It follows the chords, so the same shape works for every bar.

Is Unexpected Song 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.