Traditioner af Swenska Folk-Dansar, 1st part, nr 16

Description

Two rhythms run at once in this compact G major dance: a springing dotted melody in the right hand and an even stream of eighth notes in the left. No. 16 lasts about thirty-seven seconds. It is found in the first part of Traditioner af Swenska Folk-Dansar, a collection published in Sweden in the early nineteenth century that notates traditional dance melodies, makers unknown, for keyboard.

In G major and 3/4. The right-hand melody moves in quarter notes and dotted eighth plus sixteenth figures, while the left hand runs mainly in eighth notes to keep the accompaniment flowing. The right hand sings in a springing rhythm and the left supports it smoothly. The range stays within the three octaves from G2 to G5. Two different rhythms run together within the bright sound of the major key.

It is rated intermediate, with 257 notes. Playing the right-hand dotted rhythm against even left-hand eighths, it is easy for the left hand to pick up the dotting or for the right hand to flatten it out. The surest route is to secure each hand separately before combining them; comparing the two hands' movements in the hand colours makes this easier to sort out. Practise at a slower playback speed and listen for the difference between the two rhythms.

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