Super Simple Chords

Piano chords · Dreamy ballad

You Can't Sit Down: easy piano accompaniment in letter notes

By The Dovells

Tuning the piano…
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Left hand Three-step climbRight hand Wait-a-beat 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 You Can't Sit Down without reading music. The left hand plays three-step climb (broken chord 1-5-8) and the right hand wait-a-beat chords.

You Can't Sit Down accompaniment in letter notes

The G – Em – C – D loop with three-step climb 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
G
RB4+D5+G5 B4+D5+G5 B4+D5+G5
LG2 D3 G3
Bar 2
Em
RG4+B4+E5 G4+B4+E5 G4+B4+E5
LE2 B2 E3
Bar 3
C
RE4+G4+C5 E4+G4+C5 E4+G4+C5
LC3 G3 C4
Bar 4
D
RF#4+A4+D5 F#4 A4 D5 F#5 A5 D6 F#6 A6
LD2 A2 D3
Bar 5
G
RB4+D5+G5 B4+D5+G5 B4+D5+G5
LG2 D3 G3
Bar 6
Em
RG4+B4+E5 G4+B4+E5 G4+B4+E5
LE2 B2 E3
Bar 7
C
RE4+G4+C5 E4+G4+C5 E4+G4+C5
LC3 G3 C4
Bar 8
D
RF#4+A4+D5 F#4+A4+D5 F#4+A4+D5
LD2 A2 D3

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 You Can't Sit Down

What are the letter notes for the You Can't Sit Down 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 G – Em – C – D, so the letters repeat with the chords.

What chords are in You Can't Sit Down?

The loop is G – Em – C – D (I – vi – IV – V) in G major, and the song ends on C – D – G.

What key is You Can't Sit Down in?

G major, at about 130 beats a minute in 4/4.

What does the left hand play in You Can't Sit Down?

Three-step climb: broken chord 1-5-8, an easy pattern. It follows the chords, so the same shape works for every bar.

Is You Can't Sit Down 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 2 arrangements of this song: the left and right hands are the patterns these scores repeat most.