Siciliano
A. E. Müller's Siciliano is a gentle piece in A minor and 6/8, Octotune grade 5 of 8: a right-hand tune in the siciliano's lilting dotted rhythm over soft left-hand chords.
At a glance
| Composer | A. E. Müller |
|---|---|
| Difficulty | Intermediate: grade 5 of 8 |
| Key | Key signature: no sharps or flats |
| Time | 6/8 |
| Tempo | 84 quarter-note beats a minute, as the app starts it (it can go slower) |
| Length | 22 measures, about 47 seconds |
| Hands | both hands |
| Right hand | E4 to A5 |
| Left hand | C2 to B4 |
It reaches past the staff: see ledger lines explained.
Levels in the app
| Version | Grade | Levels |
|---|---|---|
| Siciliano | 5 of 8 | Melody, Melody and bass, Full |
Practice notes
A siciliano is a slow dance in 6/8 with a gently rocking rhythm, popular in the 1700s. This one is by A. E. Müller, a German composer of the late 1700s and early 1800s. It is short and tender, in A minor (no key signature).
How it is built. The right hand plays the tune in the siciliano rhythm: a long dotted eighth, a short sixteenth, then an eighth, C D C, before settling on a longer B. Then the same rhythm a step lower, A B A, G sharp. The left hand accompanies with soft chords and two-note shapes, rocking in quarters and eighths.
The tricky parts
- The siciliano rhythm. Long, short, medium: dotted eighth, sixteenth, eighth. It should rock, not jerk. Count six slow eighths: the dotted eighth takes one and a half, the sixteenth the other half.
- 6/8. Two slow beats in a measure, each of three eighths.
- G sharp. A minor's leading note is everywhere, written in each time; a few other sharps appear too.
- Soft chords. Keep the left hand below the tune, and hold each chord for its full length.
Practice plan
- Clap the rhythm of the first measure, then play the tune alone with the Melody level.
- Left hand alone at the Full level in Wait for me.
- Both hands at 60% speed, then Play along, letting it sway.
Before you start: Octotune's path through Unit 11, which teaches chords. The G sharps and other accidentals go a step beyond it.
Questions
What is a siciliano?
A slow dance in 6/8 or 12/8 with a gently rocking dotted rhythm: a long dotted eighth, a short sixteenth, then an eighth. It was popular in the 1700s.
Is Müller's Siciliano hard?
It is an early-intermediate piece, Octotune grade 5 of 8. The notes are few; the siciliano rhythm, the G sharps of A minor and the left hand's chords are what to practice.
Credits and license
- Music: A. E. Müller
- Typeset by Bas Wassink for the Mutopia Project
- License: Public Domain
- Source and printable sheet music: the Mutopia Project’s page for this piece