Unchained Melody
Piano Sheet Music
This is one of those pieces of music that I arranged for my own pleasure. I love this song. Sadly, it is under copyright still, so I can't give the piano music away for free as I would like to do!
What you will find on this page:
- Links to buy the piano sheet music PDF, with Unchained Melody lyrics and chords included
- Two arrangements: the key of C, and the key of G
- A video/audio of the piano piece in the key of C
- A video of the Righteous Brothers singing this song
- A video of Unchained Melody being sung by the actor in the movie for which the song is named, "Unchained."
The images in the video are just two; the beginning (and the return to the beginning), and the section where the music says, "Lonely rivers flow to the sea... to the sea...," right around 1:20.
If, after listening to the video and examining the sheet music images, you would like to acquire the sheet music for Unchained Melody, keep reading down the page!
The first page of the song
This is an intermediate-level arrangement that captures the beauty and power of this song, in a version suited to piano. What do I mean? No triplets!
Every other version I have ever heard employs an underlying triplet feeling, like "O Holy Night." I like triplets just fine in this song - they are wonderful with guitar and percussion backup - but they feel very tedious on the piano, and slow down the forward motion of the piece. My opinion!
Part of page 2 (of 4 total pages):
The chord pattern changes:
Unchained Melody sung by The Righteous Brothers:
Here are the Righteous Brothers, live on the Andy Williams Show, in what is, in my opinion, the best version of Unchained Melody. (If you back up the video a bit, you will hear them explain to Andy how they came by the name "Righteous Brothers.")
Unchained Melody in the key of C:
Buy Unchained Melody in the key of C, $6.00, at:
or
Unchained Melody in the key of G:
Buy Unchained Melody in the key of G, $6.00, at:
or
What is Unchained Melody about? A poor fellow in prison, pining for his lover, as best as I can tell. Wikipedia has a pretty good page about it, with a discussion about the origins of the song, and its use in the movie "Unchained." (Later, this music was made famous a second time by its inclusion in the movie "Ghost.")
The music and lyrics were written by Hy Zaret and Alex North, but for some reason a fellow named Jim Mccluskey has recently (2026) snatched the copyright. I don't understand it, but it meant I had to make a couple of changes to my music and acquire all new links. This does happen from time to time with the music publishing business!
The original singer of Unchained Melody was Todd Duncan, in the movie "Unchained." Here he is in prison, and around him are his fellow prison inmates, touched by his singing. They are all dreaming of their release, and who will be waiting for them, hopefully, at home.
Dianna:
Your website is a light in the darkness. THANK YOU for all you do in helping to spread the love of music. It matters!
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Interested in songs from the Bible for your students or church? Check out my other website, SingTheBibleStory.com!
All the first-year material I give my beginner students.
Piano keyboard sheets, scales, chords, note-reading exercises, and over 256 pages of music!
Music-for-Music-Teachers.com is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
This beautiful song book for piano & voice "Esther, For Such a Time as This", available as a digital download, tells the riveting story of the time when Jews in ancient Persia faced a foe named Haman, and how a brave young queen risked her life to save her people.
A good choice for a singing story-teller, an operatic group, a short theater production, or a class of children!
This book is also available from Amazon as a paperback.
Music-for-Music-Teachers.com is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
This book is available as a digital download from this site. Visit this page to see some free examples from the book.
It is also available from Amazon as a paperback!
This is the perfect easy start for little pianists.
And when they start reading white-key notes on the staff, this is a fun easy resource to say each week, "Choose a new black-key song at home this week and figure it out to show me next lesson!" They will be spending more time at the piano.
Music-for-Music-Teachers.com is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
A perfect read aloud storybook
for little boys or girls.
The Adventures of Tonsta highlight the travels of a very young boy with a good heart, who goes about helping folk in trouble.
With a red cap on his head and a sack of tools slung over his shoulder, Tonsta seems to meet people in distress wherever he goes.
Lots of trolls in this book - including one who gives him a Christmas gift!
Music-for-Music-Teachers.com is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
Comments: Do you have a story or a question about music teaching? Share it!
Please note that all comments are moderated, and will not appear until I have approved them. Also, IF YOU ARE ASKING FOR MUSIC THAT IS NOT IN THE PUBLIC DOMAIN, YOUR REQUEST WILL BE IGNORED. That's pretty much any music written in the last 75 years...
About the Author
Hi, I'm Dana! (Say that like "Anna".) I'm the owner of Music-for-Music-Teachers.com, and a newer site, SingTheBibleStory.com.
Like so many of you, I've been playing the piano since early childhood, and have added a few other instruments along the way, plus an interest in arranging and composing music.
You can find out more about me and the reason for this website at my About Me page.
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Black Beauty Movie Danny Elfman Piano Sheet Music
This is the beautiful Black Beauty movie music, in an intermediate arrangement for piano that your students will love, with its energy and soaring melody. -
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Unchained Melody: an intermediate-level arrangement that captures the beauty & power of this song, in a version suited to piano. What do I mean? No triplets!