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What Have They Done To My Song, Ma?: easy piano accompaniment in letter notes

Artist unknown

  • Bb major
  • 4/4
  • 69 BPM
  • Easy
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Left hand Ping-pong bounceThe right hand sings the tuneChords the loop the song repeats most

Play the full song with sheet music

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 What Have They Done To My Song, Ma? without reading music. The left hand plays ping-pong bounce (broken chord 8-5), and the right hand sings the tune.

What Have They Done To My Song, Ma? accompaniment in letter notes

The Bb – C7 – Eb – Bb loop with ping-pong bounce in the left hand. Notes struck together are joined with a plus; C4 is middle C.

Bar 1
Bb
RBb3+D4+F4
LBb3 F3 Bb3 F3
Bar 2
C7
RC4+E4+G4
LC4 G3 C4 G3
Bar 3
Eb
REb4+G4+Bb4
LEb3 Bb2 Eb3 Bb2
Bar 4
Bb
RBb3+D4+F4 F4 Bb4 D5 F5 Bb5 D6 F6 Bb6
LBb3 F3 Bb3 F3
Bar 5
Bb
RBb3+D4+F4
LBb3 F3 Bb3 F3
Bar 6
C7
RC4+E4+G4
LC4 G3 C4 G3
Bar 7
Eb
REb4+G4+Bb4
LEb3 Bb2 Eb3 Bb2
Bar 8
Bb
RBb3+D4+F4
LBb3 F3 Bb3 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 What Have They Done To My Song, Ma?

What are the letter notes for the What Have They Done To My Song, Ma? 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 Bb – C7 – Eb – Bb, so the letters repeat with the chords.

What chords are in What Have They Done To My Song, Ma??

The loop is Bb – C7 – Eb – Bb (I – II7 – IV – I) in Bb major, and the song ends on Bb – F – Bb.

What key is What Have They Done To My Song, Ma? in?

Bb major, at about 69 beats a minute in 4/4.

What does the left hand play in What Have They Done To My Song, Ma??

Ping-pong bounce: broken chord 8-5, an easy pattern. It follows the chords, so the same shape works for every bar.

Is What Have They Done To My Song, Ma? 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 one arrangement of this song: the left and right hands are the patterns these scores repeat most.