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Étude enfantine, Op. 37 No. 27

Henry Lemoine (1786–1854) · sheet music

  • Time 2/4
  • Levels 8–9
  • Passages 5

Your turn · both hands

 

 

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Henry Lemoine, French romantic (1786–1854). The reading release has 5 passages from this piece at levels 8–9; the reader above opens on the easiest, bars 21–24 for both hands together.

Practice the hard bars →

The hardest stretch is bars 25–32 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 Étude enfantine, Op. 37 No. 27.

  1. Hands together · bars 21–24 level 8
  2. The hardest bars · bars 25–32 level 9

How to play Étude enfantine, Op. 37 No. 27

  1. Tempo:Choose a moderate tempo where you can play every sixteenth note evenly. These studies are about clean habits, so speed is a distant goal.
  2. Right hand:Keep the fingers close to the keys and curve your hand over the pattern. Move the whole hand with the music when the pattern changes position.
  3. Left hand:In the middle section the left hand first repeats short chords, then suddenly runs up a scale in sixteenths. Practice that scale on its own so the switch from chords to running notes does not throw off the beat.
  4. Hands together:Put the hands together at a slow pace and check that chords sound at the same moment. Stop and fix any place where the hands split.
  5. Reading:The key signature has one sharp, but the middle section is full of F naturals as the music moves to C major. Mark the first F natural and expect it to stay until the opening returns.
  6. Dynamics:Play softly to start, then add a small crescendo up to the high point of each phrase. Even in a study, a shaped phrase sounds better than a flat one.
  7. Practice:Learn the middle section first, since it holds the harder passages, then add the opening and play the whole study with its da capo. Repeat it over a few days, aiming for a little more evenness each time.

Common mistakes

  • Playing F sharp from the key signature in the C major middle section. Fix: Circle the F naturals and say 'F natural' aloud on the first slow passes.
  • Looking at the hands during leaps and losing your place in the music. Fix: Practice the leaps with eyes on the page until the distance feels natural.
  • Rushing the easy-looking sixteenth notes. Fix: Count two beats per measure and subdivide aloud.

Structure: ternary (A-B-A, da capo)

No. 27 opens with a repeated section in G major that ends at a Fine marking. A contrasting middle section in C major follows, and a da capo instruction sends you back to the opening, which closes the study.

A · Opening dance (G major)
A soft, graceful tune in the right hand, built from short slurred figures and light staccato notes, over a simple left hand. Both halves are repeated.
B · Middle section (C major)
The right hand breaks G major chords into quick sixteenth-note pairs over repeated left-hand chords with F naturals, leading into C major. Then the roles flip: the right hand holds two-note chords while the left hand runs up a scale in sixteenths.
A · Opening returns (da capo) (G major)
The opening section is played again up to the Fine, a chance to bring back its lighter touch after the busier middle.

About Étude enfantine, Op. 37 No. 27

Henry Lemoine (1786-1854) was born and died in Paris. He studied with Anton Reicha, worked as a piano teacher and composer, and in 1816 took over the music publishing house his father Antoine Marcel Lemoine had founded in 1772. Blind by 1850, he handed the firm to his son, and it still exists today as Éditions Henry Lemoine.

Lemoine wrote études at every level, and his Études enfantines, Op. 37, a set of fifty short studies, outlived most of his other music. His own firm printed them in Paris, and G. Schirmer of New York issued an edition in 1893 revised and fingered by William Scharfenberg, which is still freely available.

No. 27, the study on this page, is a light Allegretto in G major. Its outer section is a dainty two-voice dance; the middle section, which the passages here come from, turns to C major and adds broken chords, running bass scales, and fuller harmony before the opening returns.

  • Lemoine's publishing house, founded by his father in 1772, still operates as Éditions Henry Lemoine.
  • As a publisher, Lemoine issued works by Chopin and, in 1844, Berlioz's Treatise on Orchestration.
  • Lemoine was blind by 1850, the year he handed the family business to his son.

Why the first passage is level 8

That passage is level 8 rather than 7 because its chords go beyond simple triads.

Five graded passages here run at levels 8 and 9, in 2/4 with one sharp, all from the C major middle section of No. 27. F naturals, broken chords in sixteenths, and a running left-hand scale set the level, so read by chord shape.

Questions about Étude enfantine, Op. 37 No. 27

How hard is Étude enfantine, Op. 37 No. 27 to play?
Its passages grade from level 8 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 25–32 at level 9.
Is there an easy part of Étude enfantine, Op. 37 No. 27 for beginners?
Its easiest passage is level 8, so it suits a reader past the beginner stage. Start with bars 21–24 for both hands together, the level-8 passage in the reader at the top of this page; it is level 8 because its chords go beyond simple triads.
What key and time signature is Étude enfantine, Op. 37 No. 27 in?
The engraving on this page is in 2/4 time.
Who composed Étude enfantine, Op. 37 No. 27?
Henry Lemoine, French romantic (1786–1854). Henry Lemoine (1786-1854) was born and died in Paris.
Can I practice Étude enfantine, Op. 37 No. 27 online for free?
Yes. The reader on this page plays any of the 5 graded passages from Étude enfantine, Op. 37 No. 27 in your browser, with an on-screen keyboard or a MIDI keyboard, and marks every note as you play. No signup.
Who was Henry Lemoine?
He was a Parisian pianist, composer, and music publisher (1786-1854) who ran his family's publishing house from 1816 and published music by Chopin as well as Berlioz's treatise on orchestration.
How many studies are in Op. 37?
Fifty. This page draws its passages from No. 27, an Allegretto in G major.
Are these studies for beginners?
They were written as children's studies and progress gradually, but No. 27 sits in the middle of the set, and the passages on this page come from its busier middle section.

Every passage, easiest first

The reading release grades 5 distinct passages of this piece. Open any of them in the reader:

Level 8
bars 21–24 both hands
Level 9
bars 25–32 both hands · bars 25–28 both hands · bars 29–32 both hands · bars 33–36 both hands

More pieces to sight-read

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

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