Super Simple Chords

Piano chords · Blues & boogie

You Don't Know What Love Is: easy piano accompaniment in letter notes

By Carol Bruce

  • F minor
  • 4/4
  • 85 BPM
  • 1941
  • Easy
Tuning the piano…
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Style

Left hand Velvet jazzRight hand Skip-and-stroll 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 You Don't Know What Love Is without reading music. The left hand plays velvet jazz (lh shell voicings (1-7 / 1-3)) and the right hand skip-and-stroll chords.

You Don't Know What Love Is accompaniment in letter notes

The Db7 – C7 – Fm – Db7 loop with velvet jazz in the left hand and skip-and-stroll chords in the right. Notes struck together are joined with a plus; C4 is middle C.

Bar 1
Db7
RAb4+Cb4+Db5 Ab4+Cb4+Db5 Ab4+Cb4+Db5 Ab4+Cb4+Db5 Ab4+Cb4+Db5
LF3+Cb3 F3+Db4 F3+Cb3 F3+Db4
Bar 2
C7
RG4+Bb4+C5 G4+Bb4+C5 G4+Bb4+C5 G4+Bb4+C5 G4+Bb4+C5
LE3+Bb3 E3+C4 E3+Bb3 E3+C4
Bar 3
Fm
RC5+Eb5+F5 C5+Eb5+F5 C5+Eb5+F5 C5+Eb5+F5 C5+Eb5+F5
LAb2+Eb3 Ab2+F3 Ab2+Eb3 Ab2+F3
Bar 4
Db7
RAb4+Cb4+Db5 Ab4+Cb4+Db5 Ab4+Cb4+Db5 Fb5 F5 Ab5 Bb5 Ab5 F5 Fb5 Db5
LF3+Cb3 F3+Db4 F3+Cb3 F3+Db4
Bar 5
Db7
RAb4+Cb4+Db5 Ab4+Cb4+Db5 Ab4+Cb4+Db5 Ab4+Cb4+Db5 Ab4+Cb4+Db5
LF3+Cb3 F3+Db4 F3+Cb3 F3+Db4
Bar 6
C7
RG4+Bb4+C5 G4+Bb4+C5 G4+Bb4+C5 G4+Bb4+C5 G4+Bb4+C5
LE3+Bb3 E3+C4 E3+Bb3 E3+C4
Bar 7
Fm
RC5+Eb5+F5 C5+Eb5+F5 C5+Eb5+F5 C5+Eb5+F5 C5+Eb5+F5
LAb2+Eb3 Ab2+F3 Ab2+Eb3 Ab2+F3
Bar 8
Db7
RAb4+Cb4+Db5 Ab4+Cb4+Db5 Ab4+Cb4+Db5 Ab4+Cb4+Db5 Ab4+Cb4+Db5
LF3+Cb3 F3+Db4 F3+Cb3 F3+Db4

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 Don't Know What Love Is

What are the letter notes for the You Don't Know What Love Is 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 Db7 – C7 – Fm – Db7, so the letters repeat with the chords.

What chords are in You Don't Know What Love Is?

The loop is Db7 – C7 – Fm – Db7 (bVI7 – V7 – i – bVI7) in F minor, and the song ends on Db – Eb – Fm.

What key is You Don't Know What Love Is in?

F minor, at about 85 beats a minute in 4/4.

What does the left hand play in You Don't Know What Love Is?

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 You Don't Know What Love Is 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.