Preparatory School, Op. 101 No. 50
Ferdinand Beyer (1803–1863) · sheet music
- Time 3/4
- Levels 2–3
- Passages 6
Your turn · both hands
Preparing your passage…
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 1–8 for the right hand alone.
The hardest stretch is bars 9–16 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. 50.
- Right hand alone · bars 1–4 level 2
- The hardest bars · bars 9–16 level 3
How to play Preparatory School, Op. 101 No. 50
- Tempo:Comodo means comfortable: choose a pace at which all six eighth notes in a measure come out equal, and keep it there.
- Right hand:In each rocking measure the same two fingers alternate, 1-2 for C-D, 3-4 for E-F, 2-3 for D-E; keep the hand quiet and let the fingers work.
- Fingering:Take the sweep D-E-G-F-E-D with 2-3-5-4-3-2, skipping finger 4 on the way up and using it on the way down.
- Left hand:The left hand's chords move between C-E-G and B-D-G; the printed 5 marks where the little finger reaches down to B.
- Hands together:Where the right hand holds a long note the left hand switches to eighths, so keep counting one-and, two-and, three-and to pass the motion across cleanly.
- Practice:Practice each rocking measure and each sweep separately and slowly, then join one rocking measure to the sweep that follows it.
Common mistakes
- Playing the rocking eighths unevenly, long-short. Fix: Count one-and aloud and make every note the same length.
- Slowing down in the sweep. Fix: Carry the eighth-note speed of the rocking measure straight into it.
- Tensing the forearm in the busy measures. Fix: Keep the wrist loose and still so only the fingers move.
- Cutting the held notes short in the middle passage. Fix: Hold them while the left hand plays its eighths.
Structure: ternary (A-B-A)
An opening section of rocking measures and sweeps closes on a long C. A short middle passage sets the sweep against held notes as the eighth-note motion passes to the left hand, and the opening returns with a new ending, a broken C chord.
- A · Rocking pairs
- C-D, E-F, and D-E rock back and forth in even eighths, each run followed by the sweep up to G and back, ending on a held C.
- B · Sweep and hold
- The sweep alternates with longer notes, E to C and then E to G, while the left hand takes over the eighth-note motion.
- A · Return
- The rocking pairs come back and the piece closes on C-E-G-E-C.
About Preparatory School, Op. 101 No. 50
No. 50 comes shortly after Beyer brings in eighth notes; in the Peters edition an exercise in eighths stands just before No. 45. Here most right-hand measures hold six of them, rocking between two neighboring keys, C and D, then E and F, then D and E, with a quick sweep, D-E-G-F-E-D, after each run of rocking measures.
The left hand outlines chords in quarter notes, C-E-G and B-D-G, and switches to eighth notes wherever the right hand holds a long note, so the motion never stops. After a short middle passage in which the sweep alternates with held notes, the rocking music returns and the piece ends on a quick C-E-G-E-C.
Alfred's edition notes that Beyer introduces dynamics only at No. 53, so No. 50 has none in the original and its shape comes from touch alone.
- Right after No. 50, the Peters edition reminds pupils to keep their elbows close to the body even when the hands play far apart.
- The next item in the Peters edition sets treble-clef and bass-clef notes side by side to show that they are played on the same keys.
Why the first passage is level 2
That passage is level 2 rather than 1 because notes come faster than one per beat, it leaps a minor third, it is in 3/4, not 4/4, it has dotted rhythms, it moves in eighth notes.
Six eighths to a measure, but only two note names in most of them: read each rocking measure as a pair, and the sweep as a short scale up to G and back.
Questions about Preparatory School, Op. 101 No. 50
- How hard is Preparatory School, Op. 101 No. 50 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 9–16 at level 3.
- Is there an easy part of Preparatory School, Op. 101 No. 50 for beginners?
- Yes. Start with bars 1–8 for the right hand alone, the level-2 passage in the reader at the top of this page; it is level 2 because notes come faster than one per beat and it leaps a minor third.
- What key and time signature is Preparatory School, Op. 101 No. 50 in?
- The engraving on this page is in 3/4 time.
- Who composed Preparatory School, Op. 101 No. 50?
- Ferdinand Beyer, German romantic (1803–1863). No.
- Can I practice Preparatory School, Op. 101 No. 50 online for free?
- Yes. The reader on this page plays any of the 6 graded passages from Preparatory School, Op. 101 No. 50 in your browser, with an on-screen keyboard or a MIDI keyboard, and marks every note as you play. No signup.
- Why are there no dynamic marks in No. 50?
- According to Alfred's edition, Beyer introduces dynamics only at No. 53; some modern editions add editorial ones to earlier pieces.
- How long does No. 50 take to play?
- PTNA gives about 40 seconds.
Every passage, easiest first
The reading release grades 6 distinct passages of this piece. Open any of them in the reader:
- Level 2
- bars 1–4 right hand · bars 1–8 right hand · bars 5–8 right hand · bars 9–12 right hand · bars 17–20 right hand
- Level 3
- 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.