Pianuvo

Greensleeves (easy version, the verse only)

Traditional

A very old English tune. It was first registered for printing in London in 1580. It is played here in the key of A minor.

Play it in Pianuvo Free in your browser. Watch the notes fall, then play along on a piano, a MIDI keyboard or the screen.

About this easy piano piece

Composer
Traditional
Level
Easy · Stage 3: Little Classics
Difficulty
3.5 on Pianuvo’s scale (1 is your first notes, about 9 is Debussy)
Length
about 35 seconds, 16 bars
Hands
Both hands
Time and tempo
3/4 at about 84 BPM
Range
E2 to F5

Background

"Greensleeves" is one of the oldest popular tunes in English music. In 1580 a ballad called "A New Northern Dittye of the Lady Greene Sleves" was registered for printing in London, and several other versions were registered soon after. Shakespeare mentions the song twice in The Merry Wives of Windsor, which shows how well known it was by the 1590s.

You may hear that Henry VIII wrote it for Anne Boleyn. There is no evidence for this, and the tune's style, built over a repeating pattern of chords that came to England from Italy, points to a time after Henry's death in 1547.

The tune has had a long second life. The Christmas carol "What Child Is This?", with words written by William Chatterton Dix in 1865, is sung to it. Ralph Vaughan Williams used it in his opera Sir John in Love, and the popular Fantasia on Greensleeves was arranged from that score.

How to practise it

This easy version is the verse only, in A minor and 3/4 time, starting with a one-beat upbeat on A. Feel the lilt of three beats in each bar, with the first beat slightly heavier.

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Bars 1 to 4 with a suggested fingering; the upbeat A before them uses the thumb

The dotted rhythm (a dotted quarter note then an eighth note) is the tune's signature, and it appears in almost every other bar. Count "1, & 2 &" for it, putting the short note on the "and" of 2. Keep it gentle rather than jerky: the long note leans, the short note floats.

The fingering above uses the thumb on the upbeat A, then 2 and 3 for C and D, 4, 5, 4 for E, F, E, and 3 and 2 for D and B. In bar 4 the hand slides down so the thumb takes G. Pencil your chosen fingering into your own copy and use the same fingers every time.

The tricky spot is the ending, where two black keys come close together:

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The last three bars: G sharp and F sharp give the tune its old, modal sound

Play bars 13 and 14 slowly on their own until the G sharp and F sharp feel normal under your fingers, then join them to the A that ends the piece. G sharp also appears in bars 6 and 7.

The left hand holds two-note chords for whole bars: A with E, C with G, G with D, E with B. Learn the order of chords by name before playing hands together.

Tempo ladder: right hand alone at 60, hands together at 50, then 66, 76 and the full 84 beats a minute. Listen for a sad, flowing song rather than a dance, and let each four-bar phrase rise and fall.

Minor keys and their raised notes are explained in the minor keys unit.

Quick tips

  1. Feel three beats in every bar. The black key G sharp, in "A, G sharp, A", gives the tune its sad, folky sound.
  2. It covers a wide E2 to F5, so look ahead for the big moves and keep your arms relaxed. Both hands play: learn each hand on its own first, then put them together slowly. A minor has no sharps or flats in its key signature, though you will meet G♯ (the black key just above G).
  3. Written at about 84 BPM, but start near 67 BPM (80% speed) and speed up only when two clean plays in a row feel easy. Count 1-2-3 with a gentle lean on beat 1, like a waltz. It starts with a pickup, so count the empty beats silently before your first note.

In the Academy

Taught in the Academy after Unit 8 (Minor keys and a Baroque minuet). The Academy teaches the reading, rhythm and technique this piece needs, step by step.

More songs to try

Arrangement. Pianuvo (original arrangement). Original arrangement of a public-domain tune (CC0); free to reuse.