Super Simple Chords

Piano chords · Pop heartbeat

What To Do: easy piano accompaniment in letter notes

By Buddy Holly

Tuning the piano…
Learn it
Style

Left hand Lazy footstepsRight hand Hurrying 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 To Do without reading music. The left hand plays lazy footsteps (root bass · 1 · 3 · 4) and the right hand hurrying chords.

What To Do accompaniment in letter notes

The Bb – Eb – F7 – Bb loop with lazy footsteps in the left hand and hurrying chords in the right. Notes struck together are joined with a plus; C4 is middle C.

Bar 1
Bb
RD4+F4+Bb4 D4+F4+Bb4 D4+F4+Bb4 D4+F4+Bb4 D4+F4+Bb4 D4+F4+Bb4
LBb2 Bb3 Bb2
Bar 2
Eb
RG4+Bb4+Eb5 G4+Bb4+Eb5 G4+Bb4+Eb5 G4+Bb4+Eb5 G4+Bb4+Eb5 G4+Bb4+Eb5
LEb2 Eb3 Eb2
Bar 3
F7
RA4+C5+F5 A4+C5+F5 A4+C5+F5 A4+C5+F5 A4+C5+F5 A4+C5+F5
LF2 F3 F2
Bar 4
Bb
RD4+F4+Bb4 D4+F4+Bb4 Eb4 F4 G4 A4 Bb4 C5 D5 Eb5
LBb2 Bb3 Bb2
Bar 5
Bb
RD4+F4+Bb4 D4+F4+Bb4 D4+F4+Bb4 D4+F4+Bb4 D4+F4+Bb4 D4+F4+Bb4
LBb2 Bb3 Bb2
Bar 6
Eb
RG4+Bb4+Eb5 G4+Bb4+Eb5 G4+Bb4+Eb5 G4+Bb4+Eb5 G4+Bb4+Eb5 G4+Bb4+Eb5
LEb2 Eb3 Eb2
Bar 7
F7
RA4+C5+F5 A4+C5+F5 A4+C5+F5 A4+C5+F5 A4+C5+F5 A4+C5+F5
LF2 F3 F2
Bar 8
Bb
RD4+F4+Bb4 D4+F4+Bb4 D4+F4+Bb4 D4+F4+Bb4 D4+F4+Bb4 D4+F4+Bb4
LBb2 Bb3 Bb2

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 What To Do

What are the letter notes for the What To Do 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 – Eb – F7 – Bb, so the letters repeat with the chords.

What chords are in What To Do?

The loop is Bb – Eb – F7 – Bb (I – IV – V7 – I) in Bb major, and the song ends on Bb – Eb – Bb.

What key is What To Do in?

Bb major, at about 140 beats a minute in 2/2.

What does the left hand play in What To Do?

Lazy footsteps: root bass · 1 · 3 · 4, an easy pattern. It follows the chords, so the same shape works for every bar.

Is What To Do 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 2 arrangements of this song: the left and right hands are the patterns these scores repeat most.