The Keel Row

Traditionnel (Northumberland) · Level 3 (Late beginner) · traditional · Piano

A Northumbrian tune (18th century) sung by the Tyne keelmen, with its little “Scotch snap” rhythms. An easy arrangement in G major: the right hand plays the tune, the left hand alternates a bass note and a two-note chord (“oom-pah”).

▶ 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.
• Work in four-bar phrases, hands separately then together. Keep the left hand softer than the tune: let the right hand sing. The sixteenth–dotted-eighth rhythm is played short-long, with an accent on the first note.

Source : Arrangement Note after Note d’après l’air traditionnel (Nottingham Music Database) · Public Domain