Noctave

Free sheet music · Noctave edition

Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star

Traditional · arranged for Noctave

Easy · 1/10C major29 sRight hand

Listen

The first 29 seconds, played by the piano of Noctave (the app's SoundFont).

The piece

The tune appears in France around 1760. Mozart wrote twelve piano variations on it, K. 265, and English speakers sing it as "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star", a poem by Jane Taylor published in 1806. Noctave's arrangement gives the whole tune to the right hand and supports it with half-note basses in the left.

Nearly every note is played twice in a row, so the challenge is repeating without pounding: let the key rise just far enough to sound again. Right at the start, the right hand jumps from C up to G, a fifth; keep your thumb on C and your fifth finger ready over G. The A that follows lies outside that five-note position, so stretch a little and come back. The two middle phrases start on G and step down to D in pairs; count the pairs so none goes missing. In the left hand, C, F and G take turns slowly enough, at 100 beats per minute, for you to learn them on the bass staff.

What makes it hard

One hand at a time
The melody is in the right hand (42 notes); the left hand plays only 22.

Measured on the score, repeats included, at the written tempo.

Play it in Noctave

The score, free. The version that falls in light, in Noctave: the notes come down to your keyboard at your tempo, then fade to leave you the score. Noctave is coming soon to Android: leave your address to hear when it is out.

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