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La Babillarde (The Chatterbox), Op. 100 No. 17

Friedrich Burgmüller (1806–1874) · sheet music

  • Time 3/8
  • Levels 8
  • Passages 3

Your turn · both hands

 

 

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Friedrich Burgmüller, German-French romantic (1806–1874). The reading release has 3 passages from this piece at level 8; the reader above opens on the easiest, bars 9–16 for both hands together.

Practice the hard bars →

The hardest stretch is bars 9–16 at level 8.

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 La Babillarde (The Chatterbox), Op. 100 No. 17.

  1. Hands together · bars 9–16 level 8

How to play La Babillarde (The Chatterbox), Op. 100 No. 17

  1. Tempo:Allegro moderato in 3/8 should feel like one pulse per bar; start at a speed where you can count in one without the repeated notes blurring.
  2. Right hand:Use the printed changing fingers on each group of three repeated notes, keep the key travel tiny, and let the slurred jump that follows release into a light staccato.
  3. Left hand:In the main theme the left hand plays short chords on the first and third eighths of each bar; in the middle section it plays repeated sixteenths, so practice that passage with the same changing-finger idea.
  4. Hands together:Line up the left-hand chord with the staccato landing of each right-hand figure, and keep the left hand softer so the chatter stays on top.
  5. Rhythm:Count one-and-a in each bar, feeling only the first eighth as the beat, so the figures ripple instead of marching.
  6. Dynamics:Keep most of the piece piano, with small crescendos where marked, and save the forte for the final rising coda.
  7. Practice:Practice the repeated-note figures at half speed with a loose wrist, then speed up in small steps, and stop the moment the forearm tightens.
  8. Reading:Read where each group's repeated note sits and where the slur leaps to, since those two notes define the whole figure.

Common mistakes

  • Tensing the hand and forearm in the repeated-note groups. Fix: Slow down, loosen the wrist, and let the changing fingers do the small motion.
  • Playing all three repeated notes with the same finger, which makes them uneven. Fix: Use the printed 3-2-1 fingering and practice it slowly on a single key first.
  • Counting three heavy beats in each bar and sounding stiff. Fix: Count one pulse per bar and let the three eighths ripple inside it.
  • Letting the left-hand chords sound louder than the right-hand chatter. Fix: Play the left hand alone at half volume, then add the right hand slightly louder.

Structure: rounded binary with introduction and coda

A short introduction of held double notes over a bouncing bass leads to the repeated chatter theme. The second half opens with a smoother contrasting passage, brings the chatter back, and ends with a short rising coda that finishes forte.

Intro · Introduction (F major)
Held double notes in the right hand over a left hand that jumps up the keyboard, setting up the key and the one-in-a-bar pulse.
A · Chatter theme (F major)
Three repeated sixteenth notes, a slurred leap, and a staccato landing, over light chords in the left hand.
B · Smooth contrast (F major)
The right hand plays slurred double notes in a long-short rhythm while the left hand takes over the repeated sixteenths; a small chromatic run leads back.
A' · Return and coda (F major)
The chatter theme returns, then the repeated-note figure climbs through the F major chord to a forte ending.

About La Babillarde (The Chatterbox), Op. 100 No. 17

La babillarde, the chatterbox, is the seventeenth of the 25 Études faciles et progressives, Op. 100, which Friedrich Burgmüller published in Paris in 1851. Piano Street gives the English title Chatterbox.

The music acts out the title. The main figure is three quick repeated notes followed by a slurred jump and a short staccato note, over left-hand chords that tap on the first and last eighth of each bar. It is marked Allegro moderato in 3/8, so each bar is felt as one quick pulse.

For a student, the study is about light, fast fingers rather than reach. The Litolff-based edition fingers the repeated notes with changing fingers, a basic technique for playing repeated notes quickly and evenly.

  • In the Litolff-based edition, the repeated-note groups are fingered 3-2-1, so each repetition uses a different finger.
  • In the middle section the chatter moves to the left hand, which plays repeated sixteenth notes under slurred double notes in the right hand.
  • The Op. 100 set was registered in the Bibliographie de la France on 27 December 1851, according to IMSLP.

Why the first passage is level 8

That passage is level 8 rather than 7 because it leaps a major third plus an octave, its chords go beyond simple triads.

The right-hand figure always starts with three repeated notes, so read where the repeated note sits and where the leap goes; the left hand repeats a simple chord pattern that can be read by shape.

Questions about La Babillarde (The Chatterbox), Op. 100 No. 17

How hard is La Babillarde (The Chatterbox), Op. 100 No. 17 to play?
Its passages grade from level 8 on Real Sight Reader's ten-level reading scale, so the full piece is intermediate to advanced reading. The hardest stretch is bars 9–16 at level 8.
Is there an easy part of La Babillarde (The Chatterbox), Op. 100 No. 17 for beginners?
Its easiest passage is level 8, so it suits a reader past the beginner stage. Start with bars 9–16 for both hands together, the level-8 passage in the reader at the top of this page; it is level 8 because it leaps a major third plus an octave and its chords go beyond simple triads.
What key and time signature is La Babillarde (The Chatterbox), Op. 100 No. 17 in?
The engraving on this page is in 3/8 time.
Who composed La Babillarde (The Chatterbox), Op. 100 No. 17?
Friedrich Burgmüller, German-French romantic (1806–1874). La babillarde, the chatterbox, is the seventeenth of the 25 Études faciles et progressives, Op.
Can I practice La Babillarde (The Chatterbox), Op. 100 No. 17 online for free?
Yes. The reader on this page plays any of the 3 graded passages from La Babillarde (The Chatterbox), Op. 100 No. 17 in your browser, with an on-screen keyboard or a MIDI keyboard, and marks every note as you play. No signup.
What does La babillarde mean?
It is French for a chatterbox, someone who babbles on; Piano Street calls the piece Chatterbox.
How do you play the repeated notes in La babillarde quickly and evenly?
Change fingers on each repetition as the edition shows, keep the key travel small and the wrist relaxed, and build speed gradually with a metronome.
Which studies come before and after La babillarde in Op. 100?
It follows Douce plainte (No. 16) and comes before Inquiétude (No. 18).

Every passage, easiest first

The reading release grades 3 distinct passages of this piece. Open any of them in the reader:

Level 8
bars 9–16 both hands · bars 17–24 both hands · bars 25–32 both hands

More pieces to sight-read

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

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