Song without Words Op. 19 No. 6 “Venetian Gondola Song”

Felix Mendelssohn · Level 5 (Advanced) · Romantic · Piano

A piece by Mendelssohn, master of the accompanied piano melody. G minor, 6/8, 46 bars (about 2 minutes), 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.
• Melody and accompaniment in the same hand: the top voice sings, the rest murmurs. In 6/8, count the beats as groups of three eighths (dotted beats) to keep the lilt. One hand sometimes plays two voices: hold the long notes for their full value and let the main line sing louder than the accompaniment. The left hand makes wide leaps: look at the landing note in advance and move early, without rushing the rhythm.

More pieces by Felix Mendelssohn

• Venetian Gondola Song Op. 30 No. 6 (Songs without Words)
• Song without Words Op. 102 No. 3 in C major
• Scherzo in E minor (Op. 16, No. 2)
• Song without Words Op. 85 No. 1
• Song without Words Op. 53 No. 5 “Folk Song”
• Song without Words Op. 19 No. 5 “Restlessness”
• Hark! The Herald Angels Sing

Source : Mutopia Project · CC BY 3.0