Merrily We Roll Along
Three white keys under fingers 1, 2 and 3, reading by finger number before the staff.
- Level:
- 1 of 6
- Hands:
- Right hand
- Key:
- C major
- Notes:
- 26
- Range:
- C4 to G4
- One run:
- about 25 seconds at 80 bpm
The notes, in order
26 notes, one at a time, with the finger to play each one in brackets.
- E4 (3)
- D4 (2)
- C4 (1)
- D4 (2)
- E4 (3)
- E4 (3)
- E4 (3)
- D4 (2)
- D4 (2)
- D4 (2)
- E4 (3)
- G4 (5)
- G4 (5)
- E4 (3)
- D4 (2)
- C4 (1)
- D4 (2)
- E4 (3)
- E4 (3)
- E4 (3)
- E4 (3)
- D4 (2)
- D4 (2)
- E4 (3)
- D4 (2)
- C4 (1)
How to practise it
- Thumb on C, finger 3 on E: the tune lives on those three keys until the G near the end
- Two long notes at the end of each line, count them out
- The finger numbers on the staff are the whole lesson: read them, not the notes
The scale behind it
This one is built on the C Major scale: C D E F G A B (no sharps or flats). Its right-hand fingering runs 1-2-3-1-2-3-4-5, and the scale page has the full diagram if you want to hear the shape on its own first.
How to play it here
Play along on the keys with your mouse, your computer keyboard, a touch screen, or a MIDI keyboard you have plugged in. Every key can show its own name, and the metronome will hold the tempo while you work through the 26 notes.
What it trains
- adult beginner
- folk
- first tune
- hand position
More adult beginner course
Piano for adult beginners, in the order the method books teach it: black keys and finger numbers, Middle C, pentascales, primary chords, then real pieces with both hands.
- Morning (Grieg) on the Black Keys (level 1)
- C Pentascale and Chord, Major and Minor (level 2)
- Ode to Joy (Complete Theme) (level 2)
- Taps (level 2)
- Yankee Doodle (Middle C Position) (level 2)
- G Pentascale and Chord, Major and Minor (level 2)