Nocturnes, Op. 9
Frédéric Chopin (1810–1849) · sheet music
- Time 6/8
- Levels 6–9
- Passages 5
Your turn · both hands
Preparing your passage…
Frédéric Chopin, Polish-French romantic (1810–1849). The reading release has 5 passages from this piece at levels 6–9; the reader above opens on the easiest, bars 1–4 for the right hand alone.
The hardest stretch is bars 1–4 at level 9.
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 Nocturnes, Op. 9.
- Right hand alone · bars 1–4 level 6
- Hands together · bars 1–4 level 9
How to play Nocturnes, Op. 9
- Feel the bar in large, slow beats, one per group of three eighths, rather than counting every eighth note; the melody should flow like a voice.
- In the left hand, play the bass note slightly deeper and the following chord notes lighter, and change the pedal with each new bass note so the harmonies do not blur.
- When a long run of small notes in the right hand falls against a few left-hand notes, mark where each bass note lands and divide the run into groups between those points.
- Practice the left hand alone with pedal until the leaps are secure without looking, then add the right hand slowly, letting the left hand set the time.
Structure
The set contains No. 1 in B-flat minor, with a calmer middle section in D-flat major; No. 2 in E-flat major; and No. 3 in B major, which has a stormy, agitated middle section. In No. 2, the main melody keeps returning, each time more richly decorated, with a contrasting phrase between the returns. Near the end it builds to a forceful climax and a glittering run before a hushed close, all in about four or five minutes.
About Nocturnes, Op. 9
Chopin published his three Nocturnes, Op. 9, in the early 1830s, shortly after settling in Paris, and dedicated them to the pianist Marie Pleyel. He built on the nocturne style invented by the Irish composer John Field, and the second nocturne quickly became one of the best-loved Romantic piano pieces.
Why the first passage is level 6
That passage is level 6 rather than 5 because it is in 6/8, not 4/4.
Chopin's three Nocturnes, Op. 9, include the famous E-flat nocturne, No. 2. The left hand plays a wide broken-chord accompaniment while the right hand sings a decorated melody, so the reading challenge is keeping the left hand's leaps steady under ornaments. Read the melody's ornaments as decorations of a simpler tune.
Questions about Nocturnes, Op. 9
- How hard is Nocturnes, Op. 9 to play?
- Its passages grade from level 6 to level 9 on Real Sight Reader's ten-level reading scale, so the full piece is intermediate to advanced reading. The hardest stretch is bars 1–4 at level 9.
- Is there an easy part of Nocturnes, Op. 9 for beginners?
- Its easiest passage is level 6, so it suits a reader past the beginner stage. Start with bars 1–4 for the right hand alone, the level-6 passage in the reader at the top of this page; it is level 6 because it is in 6/8, not 4/4.
- What key and time signature is Nocturnes, Op. 9 in?
- The engraving on this page is in 6/8 time.
- Who composed Nocturnes, Op. 9?
- Frédéric Chopin, Polish-French romantic (1810–1849). Chopin published his three Nocturnes, Op.
- Can I practice Nocturnes, Op. 9 online for free?
- Yes. The reader on this page plays any of the 5 graded passages from Nocturnes, Op. 9 in your browser, with an on-screen keyboard or a MIDI keyboard, and marks every note as you play. No signup.
Every passage, easiest first
The reading release grades 5 distinct passages of this piece. Open any of them in the reader:
- Level 6
- bars 1–4 right hand · bars 9–10 right hand · bars 11–12 right hand
- Level 9
- bars 1–4 both hands · bars 11–14 both hands
More pieces to sight-read
Score: public-domain engraving from the corpus (pdmx), graded by the piano-reading-v2-20261001-mutopia-ly reading release.