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Wish You Were Here: easy piano accompaniment in letter notes

Written by Harold Rome

  • F major
  • 2/2
  • 120 BPM
  • 1952
  • Easy
Tuning the piano…
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Style

Left hand Lazy footstepsRight hand Offbeat skankChords from the chord symbols in the score

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 Wish You Were Here without reading music. The left hand plays lazy footsteps (root bass · 1 · 3 · 4) and the right hand offbeat skank.

The catchy part of Wish You Were Here in letter notes

The real notes from a score, both hands, bar by bar. R is the right hand, L the left; C4 is middle C.

Bar 1
F
RA3+F4+A4 A4 A4 A4 A3+F4 A4
LF2+C3 D3
Bar 2
F
RA4 A3+C4 A3+C4 A3+C4 E4 A3+C4
LG3 D3
Bar 3
Fm
RD4 Ab3+C4 Ab3+C4 Ab3+C4 D4 E4
LF2+C3 D3
Bar 4
Fm
RD4 C4 C4 Ab3 C4
LAb3 D3

Wish You Were Here accompaniment in letter notes

The F – F – Fm – Fm loop with lazy footsteps in the left hand and offbeat skank in the right. Notes struck together are joined with a plus; C4 is middle C.

Bar 1
F
RA4+C5+F5 A4+C5+F5 A4+C5+F5 A4+C5+F5
LF2 F3 F2
Bar 2
F
RA4+C5+F5 A4+C5+F5 A4+C5+F5 A4+C5+F5
LF2 F3 F2
Bar 3
Fm
RAb4+C5+F5 Ab4+C5+F5 Ab4+C5+F5 Ab4+C5+F5
LF2 F3 F2
Bar 4
Fm
RAb4+C5+F5 Ab4+C5+F5 E4 F4 G4 A4 Bb4 C5 D5 E5
LF2 F3 F2
Bar 5
F
RA4+C5+F5 A4+C5+F5 A4+C5+F5 A4+C5+F5
LF2 F3 F2
Bar 6
F
RA4+C5+F5 A4+C5+F5 A4+C5+F5 A4+C5+F5
LF2 F3 F2
Bar 7
Fm
RAb4+C5+F5 Ab4+C5+F5 Ab4+C5+F5 Ab4+C5+F5
LF2 F3 F2
Bar 8
Fm
RAb4+C5+F5 Ab4+C5+F5 Ab4+C5+F5 Ab4+C5+F5
LF2 F3 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 Wish You Were Here

What are the letter notes for the Wish You Were Here 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 F – F – Fm – Fm, so the letters repeat with the chords.

What chords are in Wish You Were Here?

The loop is F – F – Fm – Fm (I – i – I – i) in F major, and the song ends on F – C7 – F.

What key is Wish You Were Here in?

F major, at about 120 beats a minute in 2/2.

What does the left hand play in Wish You Were Here?

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

Is Wish You Were Here 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.

Can I hear the real melody of Wish You Were Here?

Yes: "The part you know" plays the catchy part of the song from a score, with both hands.

Made from 2 arrangements of this song: the left and right hands are the patterns these scores repeat most.