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You’ve Got A Friend: easy piano accompaniment in letter notes

By Carole King

Tuning the piano…
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Style

Left hand Push and landRight hand Jump-in 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’ve Got A Friend without reading music. The left hand plays push and land (root bass · 1 · 2& · 3 · 4) and the right hand jump-in chords.

You’ve Got A Friend accompaniment in letter notes

The D – A – D – A loop with push and land in the left hand and jump-in chords in the right. Notes struck together are joined with a plus; C4 is middle C.

Bar 1
D
RA4+D5 A4+D5 A4+D5 A4+D5 A4+D5 A4+D5
LD2 D2 D2 D2
Bar 2
A
RE4+A4 E4+A4 E4+A4 E4+A4 E4+A4 E4+A4
LA2 A2 A2 A2
Bar 3
D
RA4+D5 A4+D5 A4+D5 A4+D5 A4+D5 A4+D5
LD2 D2 D2 D2
Bar 4
A
RE4+A4 E4+A4 E4+A4 C#4 D4 E4 F#4 G#4 A4 B4 C#5
LA2 A2 A2 A2
Bar 5
D
RA4+D5 A4+D5 A4+D5 A4+D5 A4+D5 A4+D5
LD2 D2 D2 D2
Bar 6
A
RE4+A4 E4+A4 E4+A4 E4+A4 E4+A4 E4+A4
LA2 A2 A2 A2
Bar 7
D
RA4+D5 A4+D5 A4+D5 A4+D5 A4+D5 A4+D5
LD2 D2 D2 D2
Bar 8
A
RE4+A4 E4+A4 E4+A4 E4+A4 E4+A4 E4+A4
LA2 A2 A2 A2

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’ve Got A Friend

What are the letter notes for the You’ve Got A Friend 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 – A – D – A, so the letters repeat with the chords.

What chords are in You’ve Got A Friend?

The loop is D – A – D – A (IV – I – IV – I) in A major, and the song ends on A – D – A.

What key is You’ve Got A Friend in?

A major, at about 96 beats a minute in 4/4.

What does the left hand play in You’ve Got A Friend?

Push and land: root bass · 1 · 2& · 3 · 4, an easy pattern. It follows the chords, so the same shape works for every bar.

Is You’ve Got A Friend 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 5 arrangements of this song: the left and right hands are the patterns these scores repeat most.