Super Simple Chords

Piano chords · Bossa beach

Year Of The Cat: easy piano accompaniment in letter notes

Written by Ian Alastir Stewart & Peter Wood

  • E minor
  • 4/4
  • 100 BPM
  • 1976
  • Easy
Tuning the piano…
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Left hand Bossa swayRight hand Wait-a-beat chordsChords the loop the song repeats most

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 Year Of The Cat without reading music. The left hand plays bossa sway (root bass · bossa (1 · 2& · 3 · 4&)) and the right hand wait-a-beat chords.

Year Of The Cat accompaniment in letter notes

The D – C – D – Em loop with bossa sway in the left hand and wait-a-beat chords in the right. Notes struck together are joined with a plus; C4 is middle C.

Bar 1
D
RF#4+A4+D5 F#4+A4+D5 F#4+A4+D5
LD2 D2 D2 D2
Bar 2
C
RE4+G4+C5 E4+G4+C5 E4+G4+C5
LC3 C3 C3 C3
Bar 3
D
RF#4+A4+D5 F#4+A4+D5 F#4+A4+D5
LD2 D2 D2 D2
Bar 4
Em
RG4+B4+D5+E5 E6 D6 C6 B5 A5 G5 F#5 E5
LE2 E2 E2 E2
Bar 5
D
RF#4+A4+D5 F#4+A4+D5 F#4+A4+D5
LD2 D2 D2 D2
Bar 6
C
RE4+G4+C5 E4+G4+C5 E4+G4+C5
LC3 C3 C3 C3
Bar 7
D
RF#4+A4+D5 F#4+A4+D5 F#4+A4+D5
LD2 D2 D2 D2
Bar 8
Em
RG4+B4+D5+E5 G4+B4+D5+E5 G4+B4+D5+E5
LE2 E2 E2 E2

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 Year Of The Cat

What are the letter notes for the Year Of The Cat 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 D – C – D – Em, so the letters repeat with the chords.

What chords are in Year Of The Cat?

The loop is D – C – D – Em (bVII – bVI – bVII – i) in E minor, and the song ends on C – D – Em.

What key is Year Of The Cat in?

E minor, at about 100 beats a minute in 4/4.

What does the left hand play in Year Of The Cat?

Bossa sway: root bass · bossa (1 · 2& · 3 · 4&), an easy pattern. It follows the chords, so the same shape works for every bar.

Is Year Of The Cat 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.