Piano chords · Pop heartbeat
Uptown Girl: easy piano accompaniment in letter notes
By Billy Joel
- E major
- 4/4
- 144 BPM
- 1983
- 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 Uptown Girl without reading music. The left hand plays groovy roots (root bass · syncopated 8ths) and the right hand pausing chords.
The repeating figure of Uptown Girl 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.
Uptown Girl accompaniment in letter notes
The E – F#m7 – E – A loop with groovy roots in the left hand and pausing 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 Uptown Girl
What are the letter notes for the Uptown Girl 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 E – F#m7 – E – A, so the letters repeat with the chords.
What chords are in Uptown Girl?
The loop is E – F#m7 – E – A (I – ii7 – I – IV) in E major, and the song ends on A – B – E.
What key is Uptown Girl in?
E major, at about 144 beats a minute in 4/4.
What does the left hand play in Uptown Girl?
Groovy roots: root bass · syncopated 8ths, a medium pattern. It follows the chords, so the same shape works for every bar.
Is Uptown Girl 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.
Can I hear the real melody of Uptown Girl?
Yes: "The part you know" plays the repeating figure 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.