Where I Come From: easy piano accompaniment in letter notes

Written by Michael Angelakos

E major
4/4
105 BPM
2012
Medium

Tuning the piano…

Learn it

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 I Come From without reading music. The left hand plays double island pulse (root bass · 1 · 1a · 2& · 3 · 3a · 4&) and the right hand double island chords.

Where I Come From accompaniment in letter notes

The C#m – B – A – F#m loop with double island pulse in the left hand and double island chords in the right. Notes struck together are joined with a plus; C4 is middle C.

Bar 1
C#mRE4+G#4+C#5 E4+G#4+C#5 E4+G#4+C#5 E4+G#4+C#5 E4+G#4+C#5 E4+G#4+C#5
LC#3 C#3 C#3 C#3 C#3 C#3

Bar 2
BRD#4+F#4+B4 D#4+F#4+B4 D#4+F#4+B4 D#4+F#4+B4 D#4+F#4+B4 D#4+F#4+B4
LB2 B2 B2 B2 B2 B2

Bar 3
ARC#4+E4+A4 C#4+E4+A4 C#4+E4+A4 C#4+E4+A4 C#4+E4+A4 C#4+E4+A4
LA2 A2 A2 A2 A2 A2

Bar 4
F#mRA4+C#5+F#5 A4+C#5+F#5 A4+C#5+F#5 D#4 E4 F#4 G#4 A4 B4 C#5 D#5
LF#2 F#2 F#2 F#2 F#2 F#2

Bar 5
C#mRE4+G#4+C#5 E4+G#4+C#5 E4+G#4+C#5 E4+G#4+C#5 E4+G#4+C#5 E4+G#4+C#5
LC#3 C#3 C#3 C#3 C#3 C#3

Bar 6
BRD#4+F#4+B4 D#4+F#4+B4 D#4+F#4+B4 D#4+F#4+B4 D#4+F#4+B4 D#4+F#4+B4
LB2 B2 B2 B2 B2 B2

Bar 7
ARC#4+E4+A4 C#4+E4+A4 C#4+E4+A4 C#4+E4+A4 C#4+E4+A4 C#4+E4+A4
LA2 A2 A2 A2 A2 A2

Bar 8
F#mRA4+C#5+F#5 A4+C#5+F#5 A4+C#5+F#5 A4+C#5+F#5 A4+C#5+F#5 A4+C#5+F#5
LF#2 F#2 F#2 F#2 F#2 F#2

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

The same left hand: Double island pulse

About this pattern

Questions about Where I Come From

What are the letter notes for the Where I Come From 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 C#m – B – A – F#m, so the letters repeat with the chords.

What chords are in Where I Come From?

The loop is C#m – B – A – F#m (vi – V – IV – ii) in E major, and the song ends on A – B – E.

What key is Where I Come From in?

E major, at about 105 beats a minute in 4/4.

What does the left hand play in Where I Come From?

Double island pulse: root bass · 1 · 1a · 2& · 3 · 3a · 4&, a medium pattern. It follows the chords, so the same shape works for every bar.

Is Where I Come From 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.