Finding the Right Score
I keep seeing the same questions pop up about City of Stars sheet music from La La Land. People want something they can actually play, not some transcribed mess that doesn't match what's on the record. The main issue is that there are at least three different versions floating around the internet, and only one of them is reasonable for a solo piano player. The original key on the soundtrack is Ab major, which is painful for amateur pianists because of all the flats. Most of the arrangements you'll find online have transposed it to C major or G major so it's easier to read. That's fine if you're just learning, but it won't sound like the movie version. If you need it in the original key, look for the Easy Piano or Advanced Piano arrangements from Hal Leonard — they publish the Ab major version along with a C major simplified one. Here's the thing nobody tells you about this song: the left hand pattern is more important than it looks. The right hand carries the melody, sure, but the harmonic movement lives entirely in the left hand. Those walking bass-like figures under the melody are what make it sound like jazz and not like a carol. I spent about an hour on one practice session once trying to get the left hand to flow without stopping, and the problem was that I was reading every note individually instead of grouping them into two-measure patterns. Once I switched to thinking in pairs of bars, it clicked. The left hand pattern repeats enough times that you can memorize it quickly if you treat it as blocks rather than single notes.
The tempo marking on most editions says approximately quarter note equals 96, but that's misleading. When you're playing with the vocal line, you need to be able to push and pull slightly without the left hand rushing ahead of it. The song sits in a rubato zone more than a strict tempo zone. I recommend setting a metronome to 80 and practicing the left hand alone until it feels completely automatic, then bring the right hand in. That way your hands aren't fighting each other when you add dynamics later. Another common problem is the ending. The recorded version fades out with the piano going quiet and slow, but most sheet music editions just write a final chord and call it done. If you're performing this, you'll want to add your own ritardando at the last four measures. The original orchestration has the strings drop out first, then the piano carries it alone. On a solo instrument, you can approximate that by letting the right hand linger a beat longer than the left on each of the final chords. For people who just want something to start playing today without reading the whole thing, the C major easy piano version from Hal Leonard is probably your best bet. It removes the harder voicings and simplifies the left hand considerably. You'll lose some of the color, but you'll be able to play the melody cleanly and not fight the page turns. If you're playing in a setting where you need it to sound closer to the record, spend another week or two working through the intermediate arrangement and focus on getting those left hand patterns solid before you worry about expression.
The lyric sheet versions you see on free music sites are usually wrong on the chord names. I've checked several against the actual soundtrack and the chord symbols don't match what Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone are singing over. Don't trust those if you need accurate harmonies. The Hal Leonard books are cheap enough that it's worth the few dollars to avoid spending time reharmonizing a song that's already finished.
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