Super Simple Chords

Piano chords · Blues & boogie

What It Ain't: easy piano accompaniment in letter notes

By Josh Turner

Tuning the piano…
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Left hand Boogie walkerRight hand Hide-and-seek 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 What It Ain't without reading music. The left hand plays boogie walker (boogie-woogie line) and the right hand hide-and-seek chords.

What It Ain't accompaniment in letter notes

The G – C7 – G – D7 loop with boogie walker in the left hand and hide-and-seek chords in the right. Notes struck together are joined with a plus; C4 is middle C.

Bar 1
G
RB4+D5+F5+G5 B4+D5+F5+G5 B4+D5+F5+G5
LG2 D3 F3 D3 E3 D3 B2 D3
Bar 2
C7
RE4+G4+Bb4+C5 E4+G4+Bb4+C5 E4+G4+Bb4+C5
LC3 G3 Bb3 G3 A3 G3 E3 G3
Bar 3
G
RB4+D5+F5+G5 B4+D5+F5+G5 B4+D5+F5+G5
LG2 D3 F3 D3 E3 D3 B2 D3
Bar 4
D7
RF#4+A4+C5+D5 F5 F#5 A5 B5 A5 F#5 F5 D5
LD2 A2 C3 A2 B2 A2 F#2 A2
Bar 5
G
RB4+D5+F5+G5 B4+D5+F5+G5 B4+D5+F5+G5
LG2 D3 F3 D3 E3 D3 B2 D3
Bar 6
C7
RE4+G4+Bb4+C5 E4+G4+Bb4+C5 E4+G4+Bb4+C5
LC3 G3 Bb3 G3 A3 G3 E3 G3
Bar 7
G
RB4+D5+F5+G5 B4+D5+F5+G5 B4+D5+F5+G5
LG2 D3 F3 D3 E3 D3 B2 D3
Bar 8
D7
RF#4+A4+C5+D5 F#4+A4+C5+D5 F#4+A4+C5+D5
LD2 A2 C3 A2 B2 A2 F#2 A2

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 It Ain't

What are the letter notes for the What It Ain't 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 G – C7 – G – D7, so the letters repeat with the chords.

What chords are in What It Ain't?

The loop is G – C7 – G – D7 (I – IV7 – I – V7) in G major, and the song ends on C – D – G.

What key is What It Ain't in?

G major, at about 140 beats a minute in 4/4.

What does the left hand play in What It Ain't?

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

Is What It Ain't 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.