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Preparatory School, Op. 101 No. 57

Ferdinand Beyer (1803–1863) · sheet music

  • Time 3/4
  • Levels 3–5
  • Passages 7

Your turn · both hands

 

 

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Ferdinand Beyer, German romantic (1803–1863). The reading release has 7 passages from this piece at levels 3–5; the reader above opens on the easiest, bars 1–4 for the right hand alone.

Practice the hard bars →

The hardest stretch is bars 1–8 at level 5.

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. 57.

  1. Right hand alone · bars 1–8 level 3
  2. Left hand alone · bars 5–8 level 3
  3. Hands together · bars 5–8 level 4
  4. The hardest bars · bars 1–8 level 5

How to play Preparatory School, Op. 101 No. 57

  1. Tempo:Count three quarter beats per bar and pick a speed at which the right hand's two eighths are relaxed, not snatched.
  2. Right hand:Each bar is the same shape: two eighths and a half note, climbing through the chord. Hold the half note for both of its beats so the bar does not sound empty.
  3. Left hand:The left hand plays each chord from the bottom note up in even quarters. Keep the hand over all three notes so it does not move between beats.
  4. Hands together:On beat one both hands play G together. Then the right hand plays its second eighth halfway through the beat and reaches its half note just as the left hand plays beat two.
  5. Reading:Read each bar as a chord name, C or G, rather than six separate notes. Once you see the chord, both hands' notes follow.
  6. Practice:First play each bar as a block chord in both hands. Then break it into the written rhythms, one hand at a time, before combining them.

Common mistakes

  • Lining up the right hand's second eighth with the left hand's second quarter. Fix: Tap the rhythm on a table: left hand on every beat, right hand twice inside beat one, then hold.
  • Letting go of the right-hand half note when the left hand plays beat three. Fix: Keep the right-hand key down until the next bar and listen for the overlap.
  • Hurrying the final turn in eighths. Fix: Practice the turn alone, slowly, with a metronome, then put it back in place.

Structure: short study on alternating chords

A single phrase alternates between a C chord and a G chord, then holds on G before a short turn and a cadence. The left hand keeps its quarter-note chords until the last bars, where it slows to a half note and then breaks the final G chord in eighths.

A · Alternating chords (G major)
Bars swing between C, E and G and G, B and D in both hands. In these bars the right hand's eighth pair always starts on G.
B · Held G chord
The G chord repeats for a few bars, giving the hands time to settle before the ending.
C · Turn and cadence (G major)
The right hand plays a quick turn of eighths around A while the left hand moves to C and D, and both land on G.

About Preparatory School, Op. 101 No. 57

No. 57 follows directly on No. 56 and shares its home note, G, while still using only white keys. Where No. 56 rocks in eighths, this number is about chords: each bar spells a C chord or a G chord, and both hands play the same three notes.

The left hand lays the chord out in three even quarter notes from the bottom up. The right hand takes the same notes an octave higher but in a different rhythm, two quick eighths that lead into a held half note. Reading the two hands against each other is the lesson: same pitches, different timing.

Beyer's Vorschule im Klavierspiel, published by Schott in 1850 and dedicated to the mothers of families, is made of 106 short studies arranged in two stages.

  • In most bars of No. 57, the right hand plays exactly the notes of the left hand's chord, an octave higher.
  • At the end of the phrase the right hand breaks into a little turn of running eighths around A before settling on G.
  • Beyer died in Mainz in 1863, a little over a decade after the Vorschule first appeared.

Why the first passage is level 3

That passage is level 3 rather than 2 because a hand covers more than one position, it leaps a fifth, the line roams across the staff, it leaves the five-finger position.

These passages range from each hand alone to both hands together. Learn the left-hand chord pattern first, then the right hand's eighth-and-half rhythm, and combine them slowly.

Questions about Preparatory School, Op. 101 No. 57

How hard is Preparatory School, Op. 101 No. 57 to play?
Its passages grade from level 3 to level 5 on Real Sight Reader's ten-level reading scale, so the full piece sits around early intermediate. The hardest stretch is bars 1–8 at level 5.
Is there an easy part of Preparatory School, Op. 101 No. 57 for beginners?
Yes. Start with bars 1–4 for the right hand alone, the level-3 passage in the reader at the top of this page; it is level 3 because a hand covers more than one position and it leaps a fifth.
What key and time signature is Preparatory School, Op. 101 No. 57 in?
The engraving on this page is in 3/4 time.
Who composed Preparatory School, Op. 101 No. 57?
Ferdinand Beyer, German romantic (1803–1863). No.
Can I practice Preparatory School, Op. 101 No. 57 online for free?
Yes. The reader on this page plays any of the 7 graded passages from Preparatory School, Op. 101 No. 57 in your browser, with an on-screen keyboard or a MIDI keyboard, and marks every note as you play. No signup.
Does Beyer No. 57 have a teacher's part?
No. Beyer gave duet parts to the opening numbers and a handful of later ones; No. 57 is a solo for the pupil's two hands.
Where can I find the full score of Beyer No. 57?
The Vorschule im Klavierspiel is in the public domain, and IMSLP lists several historical editions of the whole book.

Every passage, easiest first

The reading release grades 7 distinct passages of this piece. Open any of them in the reader:

Level 3
bars 1–8 right hand · bars 1–4 right hand · bars 5–8 left hand · bars 5–8 right hand
Level 4
bars 5–8 both hands
Level 5
bars 1–8 both hands · bars 1–4 both hands

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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