Folk Melody (Lyric Pieces Op. 12 No. 5)

Edvard Grieg · Level 4 (Intermediate) · Romantic · Piano

The fifth piece of the first book of Lyric Pieces (1867): Grieg imagines a melancholy Norwegian folk tune, harmonised in full, sustained chords like a choir, in F-sharp minor. F♯ minor, 3/4, 41 bars (about one minute), complete score.

▶ Play this piece with the interactive score

How to practise it

• Listen first: the site plays it while the score scrolls.
• Wait mode: the score waits for you at every note, at your own pace.
• Tempo challenge: play in time, with a score and a map of the bars you got right.
• Play legato, connecting the chords with the fingers as much as possible, changing the pedal with each harmony; the melody, in the soprano, must dominate the inner voices. The original grace notes are not in the playable score: add them once you know the notes. The piece starts with a pickup: count the incomplete bar before coming in. One hand sometimes plays two voices: hold the long notes for their full value and let the main line sing louder than the accompaniment. Triplets and other tuplets must be perfectly even: count them aloud with the metronome.

More pieces by Edvard Grieg

• Album Leaf Op. 12 No. 7
• Troldtog (March of the Dwarfs) (Op. 54, No. 3)
• Wedding Day at Troldhaugen (Lyric Pieces Op. 65 No. 6)
• The Death of Åse (Peer Gynt Op. 46 No. 2)
• The Mountaineer’s Song Op. 73 No. 7
• Arietta (Lyric Pieces Op. 12 No. 1)
• In the Hall of the Mountain King (Peer Gynt), theme
• Morning Mood (Peer Gynt), theme

Source : PDMX / MuseScore · CC0 1.0