Selfish (Lyrics, chords)

Justin Timberlake  

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Hi, I am Rita. I transcribe piano sheets for popular music. All my sheet music are accurate but simple, beginner-level transcriptions with lyrics (singing is good for health) and harmonic chords.

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“Justin Timberlake — Selfish Sheet Music”

Please, notice that the vocals are written using a treble clef with the numeral 8 below it 𝄠 (a suboctave clef). This indicates that the pitches sound one octave below the written score. Play the right hand one octave lower than written.

Remember that the notation system was not intended to represent the sound of modern pop music with its layered vocal, computer-generated sounds, and inflections of modern electronic instruments. My piano sheet music can only show you the score within the boundaries of the twelve-note scale and a metered rhythm; alas, the pitch and rhythm have little to do with the aesthetic value of the track. Listen to the song before practicing to fully imitate the beauty of the song: its *timbre, phrasing, inflections.* Play the song, not sheet music. Sing a phrase before playing it on your keyboard.

Imitate the vocal delivery by Justin Timberlake or it won't sound as the song. The vocal part is rhythmic but with pitch inflections (slurred notes). All inflected notes should be played very quietly. A predominant vocal style is *staccato*.

_"Selfish"_ is played with a straight rhythm in common time. It is easy to count for beginners; accent strong beats to maintain a steady pulse. Practice _"Selfish"_ slowly along with the recording.

To keep listeners attention, the *chorus* was made to be the biggest part of the song. I colored it *blue* for your convenience: it is easier to learn a piece of music when you have a mental scheme of it. Play every part differently, as expressively as possible. If some notes are too difficult to play, omit them focusing on emotions instead of sightreading.

A single vocal line accompanied by an instrumental part constitutes the entire musical texture. _"Selfish"_ has a semi-improvised, loosely organized and wandering melody and homophonic arrengement: the instrumental part provides a harmony to support the vocal but lacks its own melody.

_"Selfish"_ is transcribed in the original *key,* А Sharp Major, and uses basic major and minor chords *B C♯ F♯ C♯/E♯ D♯m* but the harmony lacks motion and is fundamentally static: there is no sense of harmonic progression, only a drone on F♯. The last bar with the tonic chord was added by me is optional.

Notice the ellipsis (omitted chords) in the bars 31—32, 58, 60, 79—80.

The aesthetic value of a melodic line is achieved through the use of reoccurring *anacrusis* (pick-up notes). It was used to bring the weight to the first beat in such a soft melody, and thus strengthening or articulating the meter.

00:17 Verse I

01:22 Verse II

02:39 Bridge