Pianuvo

Melody (Album for the Young, Op. 68 No. 1)

Robert Schumann (1810–1856)

A gentle, singing tune in the right hand with the left hand weaving soft broken chords underneath.

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
Robert Schumann (1810–1856)
Level
Easy · Stage 3: Little Classics
Difficulty
4 on Pianuvo’s scale (1 is your first notes, about 9 is Debussy)
Length
about 1½ minutes, 24 bars
Hands
Both hands
Time and tempo
4/4 at about 66 BPM
Range
G3 to A5

Background

Melodie is the first piece in Robert Schumann's Album für die Jugend ("Album for the Young"), Op. 68. The collection began as a present. In 1848 Schumann wrote a group of small pieces for his eldest daughter, Marie, for her seventh birthday on 1 September, and he kept going until there were 43. The album was published in two parts, one for younger players and one for older ones, and this gentle tune opens the first.

Several of its pieces have become classics of the teaching repertoire, The Happy Farmer and the Soldiers' March included. Melodie is the simplest of all: a right-hand tune in quarter notes over a flowing left hand, with no tricks, only the challenge of making it sing.

How to practise it

This version is 24 bars in C major and 4/4, with its repeats written out: a four-bar phrase played twice (bars 1 to 8), then an eight-bar section played twice (bars 9 to 24).

The right hand's tune moves mostly by step. Start with finger 5 on the E at the top:

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Bars 1 and 2, right hand: a falling line, then a little turn before the phrase rests

The left hand is the real lesson. It plays eighth notes all the way through, and in many bars it is two lines at once: a slow line underneath, played by the lower fingers, and a repeated G on top, played by the thumb. In bar 1 the lower line is C, F, E, C.

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Bar 1, left hand, written in the treble clef because it lies above middle C: the thumb repeats G between the moving notes

Make the thumb's Gs light, almost an echo, and join the lower notes smoothly so you can hear their slow line. Both hands play in the same part of the keyboard, so keep them close to the keys and out of each other's way.

Two spots need extra time:

Practise each hand alone at 44 beats a minute, then together at 44, 56 and the full 66. The right hand should sing out over a soft left hand, and each four-bar phrase should rise and fall like a line of a song, with the last note of a phrase gentler than the first.

For an earlier and more searching Schumann melody, written ten years before for grown-up players, try Träumerei.

Quick tips

  1. Make the top notes sing and let the left hand whisper. Aim for smooth, connected fingers.
  2. It stretches from G3 to A5, so look ahead for the moves across the keyboard. Both hands play: learn each hand on its own first, then put them together slowly. At 24 bars it is easiest to learn in small pieces of four bars.
  3. Written at about 66 BPM, but start near 53 BPM (80% speed) and speed up only when two clean plays in a row feel easy. Count 1-2-3-4, leaning a little on beats 1 and 3.

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

Edition credit. The composition is in the public domain. This version of the music uses an edition by Mutopia Project (typeset by Philippe Hézaine), licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.5 (source page). Thank you to its creators.