Frère Jacques, known in English as "Are you sleeping?" or "Brother John", is a French nursery rhyme that is sung all over the world, often as a round. It dates from the eighteenth century and its author is unknown. It is only eight measures long, which makes it one of the shortest pieces for practising score reading.
The melody moves up and down the white keys, almost always by step, and every phrase is played twice. You learn eight measures but only four musical ideas. The left hand simply alternates between C and G.
Click the notes of the first measure: C, D, E, C. You see the phrase written on the staff and played on the keyboard, and then the score repeats it exactly. It is a good way to understand that a higher note on the staff is a key further to the right.
The spot to watch is measures 5 and 6 ("Sonnez les matines"), where the eighth notes, two to a beat, go twice as fast as the quarter notes.
Tip for beginners: learn one phrase at a time, then play the melody with the right hand while a friend sings the round.
About this piece
- Composer
- Traditional
- Key
- C major
- Time signature
- 4/4
- Number of bars
- 8
- Range
- G2 – A5
- Level
- Easy
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Source and licence
Notes: simple arrangement written for Partiscope. File licence: CC0 1.0. All sources and licences