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Preparatory School, Op. 101 No. 37

Ferdinand Beyer (1803–1863) · sheet music

  • Time 3/4
  • Levels 2–3
  • Passages 6

Your turn · both hands

 

 

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Ferdinand Beyer, German romantic (1803–1863). The reading release has 6 passages from this piece at levels 2–3; the reader above opens on the easiest, bars 1–4 for the right hand alone.

Practice the hard bars →

The hardest stretch is bars 9–12 at level 3.

Your practice path

Learn it the way teachers do: each hand on its own, then together, then the hard bars. Each step is a real graded passage of Preparatory School, Op. 101 No. 37.

  1. Right hand alone · bars 1–8 level 2
  2. The hardest bars · bars 9–12 level 3

How to play Preparatory School, Op. 101 No. 37

  1. Tempo:Allegretto in the Peters edition: a light, moving three, with every dotted half note still held for its full count.
  2. Right hand:Place the thumb on G and finger 5 on D; the edition prints 1-3-1 for G-B-G and 2 for the held A.
  3. Fingering:Play G-B-D with 1-3-5 and the descent D-C-A with 5-4-2, as printed; the hand itself never moves.
  4. Left hand:The left-hand part also sits on G and plays mostly long B's and C's, with printed fingers 3 and 2-1-2.
  5. Hands together:Practice the held A's with the left hand's short C-D-C beneath them, so the long note keeps sounding while the other hand moves.
  6. Practice:Drill the second half's switch from A-B-A to G-B-D slowly; the same few notes appear in a different order each measure.
  7. Reading:Find the thumb's G on the second line of the treble staff before you start; everything else is a step or a skip from there.

Common mistakes

  • Placing the thumb on C from habit. Fix: Check the starting G on the second staff line before you play.
  • Rushing the climb G-B-D. Fix: Give each of the three notes one full beat.
  • Lifting the held A early. Fix: Count three while the left hand moves under it.

Structure: binary (opening returns in the repeated second half)

PTNA classes it as binary. The first half sets the G-B-G skip against a held A and closes on G; the repeated second half trades A-B-A with G-B-D, pauses on a long A, and then restates the whole opening.

A · Skip and hold
G-B-G, a dotted half note A, twice, then G-B-D and a stepwise descent to a long G.
B · Neighbor and skip
A-B-A alternates with G-B-D three times, then D-C-B comes to rest on A, leaving the phrase open.
A · Reprise
The opening returns unchanged and closes on G.

About Preparatory School, Op. 101 No. 37

No. 37 moves the hands off C. Both sit over G, A, B, C, and D, and the Peters edition's hand chart labels the middle note h (b), the German name for B natural. PTNA's encyclopedia points out that the piece is in G major even though it has neither a key signature nor any accidental.

The right hand skips G-B-G and then holds A for a full measure, twice, before climbing G-B-D and stepping down to a long G. PTNA calls the form binary: its repeated second half alternates A-B-A with the G-B-D skip, comes down from D to rest on A, and then brings back the whole opening to end on G.

PTNA's commentary adds that although the hand never shifts, the skips call for a steady wrist and some independence in each finger. The left hand, also placed on G, mostly holds dotted half notes on B and C and fills in with short C-D-C figures.

  • Several recordings on PTNA's page for No. 37 are labeled as the set piece for its 2021 piano competition.
  • In German note names H means B natural, which is why the Peters chart for this piece reads g a h(b) c d.

Why the first passage is level 2

That passage is level 2 rather than 1 because it leaps a major third, it is in 3/4, not 4/4, it has dotted rhythms.

The hand sits on G instead of C, but there are still no sharps or flats; anchor on the G-B-D skip and read A and C as its neighbors.

Questions about Preparatory School, Op. 101 No. 37

How hard is Preparatory School, Op. 101 No. 37 to play?
Its passages grade from level 2 to level 3 on Real Sight Reader's ten-level reading scale, which keeps all of it within beginner reading. The hardest stretch is bars 9–12 at level 3.
Is there an easy part of Preparatory School, Op. 101 No. 37 for beginners?
Yes. Start with bars 1–4 for the right hand alone, the level-2 passage in the reader at the top of this page; it is level 2 because it leaps a major third and it is in 3/4, not 4/4.
What key and time signature is Preparatory School, Op. 101 No. 37 in?
The engraving on this page is in 3/4 time.
Who composed Preparatory School, Op. 101 No. 37?
Ferdinand Beyer, German romantic (1803–1863). No.
Can I practice Preparatory School, Op. 101 No. 37 online for free?
Yes. The reader on this page plays any of the 6 graded passages from Preparatory School, Op. 101 No. 37 in your browser, with an on-screen keyboard or a MIDI keyboard, and marks every note as you play. No signup.
Has No. 37 been used in competitions?
Yes. PTNA's encyclopedia lists several performances recorded as the set piece for its 2021 piano competition.
How long does No. 37 take to play?
About 40 seconds, according to PTNA.
What comes after the five-note pieces in Beyer's book?
PTNA explains that from No. 65 on, Beyer brings in passing the thumb under, then intervals of a sixth or more, scales, ornaments, and chromatic scales.

Every passage, easiest first

The reading release grades 6 distinct passages of this piece. Open any of them in the reader:

Level 2
bars 1–8 right hand · bars 1–4 right hand · bars 5–8 right hand · bars 13–16 right hand
Level 3
bars 9–12 right hand · bars 9–16 right hand

More pieces to sight-read

Score: public-domain engraving from the corpus (imslp-omr), graded by the piano-reading-v2-20261023-identity-audit reading release.

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