Super Simple Chords

Piano chords · Blues & boogie

Where Do You Start?: easy piano accompaniment in letter notes

Written by Johnny Mandel

Tuning the piano…
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Style

Left hand Velvet jazzRight hand Steady 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 Where Do You Start? without reading music. The left hand plays velvet jazz (lh shell voicings (1-7 / 1-3)) and the right hand steady chords.

Where Do You Start? accompaniment in letter notes

The Bb – F – Bb – F loop with velvet jazz in the left hand and steady chords in the right. Notes struck together are joined with a plus; C4 is middle C.

Bar 1
Bb
RD4+F4+Ab4+Bb4 D4+F4+Ab4+Bb4 D4+F4+Ab4+Bb4 D4+F4+Ab4+Bb4
LBb3+Ab4 Bb3+D4 Bb2
Bar 2
F
RA4+C5+Eb5+F5 A4+C5+Eb5+F5 A4+C5+Eb5+F5 A4+C5+Eb5+F5
LF3+Eb4 F3+A3 F2
Bar 3
Bb
RD4+F4+Ab4+Bb4 D4+F4+Ab4+Bb4 D4+F4+Ab4+Bb4 D4+F4+Ab4+Bb4
LBb3+Ab4 Bb3+D4 Bb2
Bar 4
F
RA4+C5+Eb5+F5 A4+C5+Eb5+F5 Ab4 A4 C5 D5 C5 A4 Ab4 F4
LF3+Eb4 F3+A3 F2
Bar 5
Bb
RD4+F4+Ab4+Bb4 D4+F4+Ab4+Bb4 D4+F4+Ab4+Bb4 D4+F4+Ab4+Bb4
LBb3+Ab4 Bb3+D4 Bb2
Bar 6
F
RA4+C5+Eb5+F5 A4+C5+Eb5+F5 A4+C5+Eb5+F5 A4+C5+Eb5+F5
LF3+Eb4 F3+A3 F2
Bar 7
Bb
RD4+F4+Ab4+Bb4 D4+F4+Ab4+Bb4 D4+F4+Ab4+Bb4 D4+F4+Ab4+Bb4
LBb3+Ab4 Bb3+D4 Bb2
Bar 8
F
RA4+C5+Eb5+F5 A4+C5+Eb5+F5 A4+C5+Eb5+F5 A4+C5+Eb5+F5
LF3+Eb4 F3+A3 F2

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 Where Do You Start?

What are the letter notes for the Where Do You Start? 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 – F – Bb – F, so the letters repeat with the chords.

What chords are in Where Do You Start??

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

What key is Where Do You Start? in?

F major, at about 56 beats a minute in 4/4.

What does the left hand play in Where Do You Start??

Velvet jazz: lh shell voicings (1-7 / 1-3), an easy pattern. It follows the chords, so the same shape works for every bar.

Is Where Do You Start? 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.