Description
Chopin's 24 Preludes, Op. 28, completed in 1839, travel once through every major and minor key. The seventh is among the shortest of them, over in sixteen bars. In Japan it has been used in television advertising for decades, so a great many people know the tune without knowing its name.
In A major and triple time, a dotted rhythm suggesting a mazurka repeats while the same figure is carried gradually higher, its notes changing as it climbs. Near the end the harmony opens out once, then subsides at once into quiet. The whole is about twenty-five seconds and some 170 notes.
It is technically within a beginner's reach, but brevity leaves nowhere to hide. Keep the dotted rhythm exact, do not let the repeated figure turn mechanical, and make the one harmonic opening near the end register. Attend to those three things and a small story with real shape appears inside the sixteen bars.
A set of 24 short pieces Chopin composed in 1838-39, covering all 24 keys, each with its own distinct character — a poetic cycle for piano.
Browse all songs in 24 Preludes Op.28 →Sheet Music
Sheet music provided by Mutopia Project
What this piece teaches
Prelude Op. 28 No. 7 in A major: sixteen bars in triple time, a dotted rhythm recalling the mazurka repeated as its notes gradually change. As a first Chopin piece, it teaches the dotted rhythm and the pedal.
How to practise it
- Watch the pedal indicators to see where the pedal goes down and comes up, then pedal the same way yourself.
- Keep the dotted rhythm exact. At 0.75x, make sure the short note after each dot does not stumble.
- Near the end the harmony opens out once. Make that the high point, and let the rest settle quietly.
About the Composer
Frédéric Chopin (1810-1849)
Frederic Chopin was born in Poland and made his career in Paris, remaining unusual among great composers for writing almost exclusively for piano. He poured his longing for his homeland into mazurkas and polonaises, while his ballades and etudes combine poetic melody with harmonic innovation. This site includes the "Revolutionary" and other etudes, Ballades No. 1 and No. 4, nocturnes, and the Preludes, Op. 28.
View all works by Chopin →