Description
Scales rising in sixteenth-note thirds, C with E, D with F, fill the right hand from the very start. The key is C major and the metre 2/4. The left hand supports it with chords and a sixteenth-note figure that takes the bass notes in turn. For the last 16 of its 32 bars the key signature changes to three flats for C minor. It has 387 notes.
At about 32 seconds it is the shortest of Nos. 1–10 of Czerny's Op. 840 on this site. It shares the C major to C minor design of Nos. 1 and 5, but its task is double thirds in the right hand.
It is rated beginner, but scales in double thirds are a far harder skill than single-note scales. If the two notes do not sound together the result is muddy, so keep the fingers level and settle the fingering before you practise. Slow the playback a lot to hear the thirds, and repeat the double-third scale passages with an A-B loop. The score view also shows where major gives way to minor. The range runs from C2 to C7, which just fits a 61-key keyboard.
A set of melodious studies by Czerny covering all 24 keys, valued as a way to develop technique and musicality at the same time.
Browse all songs in 50 Melodious Studies Op.840 →Sheet Music
Sheet music provided by Mutopia Project
About the Composer
Carl Czerny (1791-1857)
Carl Czerny was a Viennese pianist and composer who studied under Beethoven and later taught Franz Liszt. He is best known for his enormous output of piano etudes, which remain widely used in piano pedagogy around the world today. This site includes selections from the 160 Eight-Measure Exercises, Op. 821, and the 50 Progressive Studies in All Keys, Op. 840.
View all works by Czerny →