Au clair de la lune ("By the light of the moon") is a French folk song from the eighteenth century, with no known author. It is often the first tune that children, and their parents, try on the piano, and because nearly everyone can sing it, your ear helps your reading.
The melody stays within a small range, from G to E, with few leaps, so the right hand can stay in one position from start to finish. The left hand mostly plays fifths (C and G), with no difficult chords.
Click the first note on the score: it is a C, found just to the left of the group of two black keys. The notes that follow move up or down one white key at a time. You see the score and the keyboard answering each other.
One spot breaks the pattern. On the third line of the score the left hand plays an F sharp, the black key between F and G. Click it to find it.
Tip for beginners: sing the song while following the score with your finger, then play the melody with the right hand, clicking each note to find the key before you play it.
About this piece
- Composer
- Traditional
- Key
- C major
- Time signature
- 4/4
- Number of bars
- 16
- Range
- G2 – E5
- Level
- Easy
More pieces to try
Source and licence
Notes: simple arrangement written for Partiscope. File licence: CC0 1.0. All sources and licences