Songs · Intermediate
Greensleeves
Traditional English tune · English song known since the 1580s; also the tune of the carol “What Child Is This?”
E minor6/8 time16 barsboth handsstarts with a pickup
Arranged: Teddy Rook Book: the melody and bass line of a hymn setting, for two hands. The notes here are not exactly the ones the composer wrote.
Loading the music…
About this piece
Count six eighth notes in each bar, in two groups of three. The tune is in E minor. Listen to the refrain: the first time it uses C-sharp (bar 9), and the second time C natural (bar 13), which gives it an old, gentle sound.
What it practices
- 6/8 time
- dotted rhythms
- a minor key
- a left-hand bass line
Where the notes come from
Melody and bass checked note by note against the Mutopia Project’s “Greensleeves” hymn setting (SATB, from cyberhymnal.org; public domain). We use its top and bottom voices.
How to practice with it
- Listen first. Press Play and follow the moving line with your eyes. The lit notes and keys show what sounds right now: blue is the right hand, orange the left.
- Slow it down. Use − and + to set the tempo. 60% is a good place to start.
- One hand at a time. Choose Right or Left, learn that hand, then put them together.
- Wait for me. Turn it on and press Start. The lit keys show what to play, and the music waits until you play them, on the screen, on your computer keyboard or on a MIDI keyboard.
- Loop the hard part. Turn on Loop, pick the bars, and play them a few times in a row.
Click a bar in the music to start from there. Space plays and pauses. The computer keys A S D F G H J K play C D E F G A B C (press ⌨ Computer keys under the music to see them on the piano).