How hard is Burlesque (Notebook for Wolfgang) to play?

Its passages grade from level 2 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 1–8 at level 9.

Is there an easy part of Burlesque (Notebook for Wolfgang) for beginners?

Yes. Start with bars 3–4 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 major third.

What key and time signature is Burlesque (Notebook for Wolfgang) in?

The engraving on this page is in 4/4 time.

Can I practice Burlesque (Notebook for Wolfgang) online for free?

Yes. The reader on this page plays any of the 11 graded passages from Burlesque (Notebook for Wolfgang) in your browser, with an on-screen keyboard or a MIDI keyboard, and marks every note as you play. No signup.

Is the Burlesque in the Notebook for Nannerl or the Notebook for Wolfgang?

It is in the Notebook for Wolfgang, where Hermann Abert's edition places it as the fourth piece of Suite XX.

Why is it in G major here but A major in the notebook?

The version on this page is an arrangement set a step lower and in 4/4; the notebook gives it in A major and 2/4.

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Burlesque (Notebook for Wolfgang)

Leopold Mozart (1719–1787) · sheet music

Time 4/4
Levels 2–9
Passages 11

Your turn · both hands

Preparing your passage…

Leopold Mozart, German baroque (1719–1787). The reading release has 11 passages from this piece at levels 2–9; the reader above opens on the easiest, bars 3–4 for the right hand alone.

Practice the hard bars →

The hardest stretch is bars 1–8 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 Burlesque (Notebook for Wolfgang).

How to play Burlesque (Notebook for Wolfgang)

Tempo:Aim for a bouncy, playful Allegro, not a rush. If the eighth notes start to blur, slow down until each note speaks.
Hands together:Join the hands in short pieces, two bars at a time. Stop on each long note so the hands arrive together.
Practice:Play it once with a light detached touch and once smoothly. Choose the version that suits the tune, then use the same touch every time.
Right hand:The tune climbs a scale in eighth notes and then repeats a note before stepping down; keep the repeated notes light so the line bounces rather than thumps.
Left hand:The left hand jumps between a low note and the same note an octave higher on every beat; practice the octave shift alone until the hand finds it by feel.
Rhythm:Count four even beats per bar and notice that each half-bar is either four quick eighths or a quarter and two eighths; clap the pattern before adding pitches.
Dynamics:A burlesque is a jesting piece, so keep the tone bright and light, and let the cadence notes at phrase ends sound slightly fuller.

Common mistakes

Missing the left-hand octave leaps and landing on the wrong note. Fix: Practice the left hand alone, looking ahead to the next bass note while the hand travels.
Dropping the F sharp that the key of G requires. Fix: Say the key signature aloud before starting and circle each F in the music.
Letting the left hand play at the same volume as the tune. Fix: Practice the left hand alone, then play it half as loud as the right hand when you combine them.

Structure: da capo (A-B-A)

In the notebook the Burlesque has a first part that ends at the word Fine, a contrasting second part, and then a return to the beginning, played through to Fine. The passages on this page come from the opening tune.

A · Opening tune (A major): A rising scale into a repeated-note figure, answered by falling steps to the home note, over a left hand that leaps in octaves.
B · Second part: A contrasting middle part with new phrases before the da capo.
A · Da capo: The opening tune returns and the piece ends at Fine.

About Burlesque (Notebook for Wolfgang)

The Burlesque comes from the Notebook for Wolfgang, a manuscript book of keyboard music long linked to Leopold Mozart and his son. Hermann Abert's 1922 edition arranges its 135 pieces into 25 suites of dances, arias and character pieces, and the Burlesque is the fourth piece of Suite XX, marked Allegro and labeled as an old folk tune.

Scholars now doubt the story behind the book. The dedication to Wolfgang dated October 1762 was shown by Wolfgang Plath to be a forgery, and IMSLP notes that the music is probably not by Leopold Mozart at all, so his name here is best read as a traditional label.

In the notebook the Burlesque is in A major and 2/4 time. The version on this page is set a step lower in G major and written in 4/4 with doubled note values, which makes the rhythm easier to read without changing how the tune goes.

Abert's preface singles out the Burlesque as one of the notebook's popular pieces built on an age-old German folk tune.
The Notebook for Wolfgang is a different book from the Notebook for Nannerl, even though both are tied to the Mozart family.
The piece ends with a da capo: after the second part, the player returns to the beginning and stops at the word Fine.

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 major third, it moves in eighth notes.

One sharp in the key signature, so every F is F-sharp. The tune moves by step and repeated notes in 4/4, while the left hand leaps in octaves on every beat.

Questions about Burlesque (Notebook for Wolfgang)

How hard is Burlesque (Notebook for Wolfgang) to play?: Its passages grade from level 2 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 1–8 at level 9.
Is there an easy part of Burlesque (Notebook for Wolfgang) for beginners?: Yes. Start with bars 3–4 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 major third.
What key and time signature is Burlesque (Notebook for Wolfgang) in?: The engraving on this page is in 4/4 time.
Who composed Burlesque (Notebook for Wolfgang)?: Leopold Mozart, German baroque (1719–1787). The Burlesque comes from the Notebook for Wolfgang, a manuscript book of keyboard music long linked to Leopold Mozart and his son.
Can I practice Burlesque (Notebook for Wolfgang) online for free?: Yes. The reader on this page plays any of the 11 graded passages from Burlesque (Notebook for Wolfgang) in your browser, with an on-screen keyboard or a MIDI keyboard, and marks every note as you play. No signup.
Is the Burlesque in the Notebook for Nannerl or the Notebook for Wolfgang?: It is in the Notebook for Wolfgang, where Hermann Abert's edition places it as the fourth piece of Suite XX.
Did Leopold Mozart really write the Burlesque?: Probably not. The book's dedication to Wolfgang was shown to be a forgery, and IMSLP notes that the music is probably not by Leopold Mozart, so the composer is unknown.
Why is it in G major here but A major in the notebook?: The version on this page is an arrangement set a step lower and in 4/4; the notebook gives it in A major and 2/4.

Every passage, easiest first

The reading release grades 11 distinct passages of this piece. Open any of them in the reader:

Level 2: bars 3–4 right hand
Level 3: bars 1–4 right hand · bars 1–8 right hand · bars 9–12 right hand · bars 9–16 right hand · bars 13–16 right hand
Level 8: bars 13–16 both hands
Level 9: bars 1–8 both hands · bars 1–4 both hands · bars 9–12 both hands · bars 9–16 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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