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Songs Without Words

Felix Mendelssohn (1809–1847) · sheet music

  • Time 6/8
  • Levels 8
  • Passages 1

Your turn · both hands

 

 

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Felix Mendelssohn, German romantic (1809–1847). The reading release has 1 passage from this piece at level 8; the reader above opens on the easiest, bars 17–20 for both hands together.

Practice the hard bars →

The hardest stretch is bars 17–20 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 Songs Without Words.

  1. Hands together · bars 17–20 level 8

How to play Songs Without Words

  1. Tempo:Read the tempo marking and let it set the mood. On this page the passage is in a lilting six-eight, so feel two big beats per bar, each a group of three.
  2. Right hand:Treat the top line like a vocal part. Aim each phrase toward its highest note, let it breathe at the end, and play the inner notes of the right hand softer than the melody.
  3. Left hand:Keep the left-hand accompaniment even and quiet. Broken chords should flow like a harp, with the bass note slightly heavier than the notes above it.
  4. Hands together:Balance is the whole game. Play the accompaniment at a volume where the melody can stay full without being pushed.
  5. Pedal:Change the pedal with each harmony, usually once per beat group, and listen for the old chord clearing before the new one sounds.
  6. Dynamics:Shape each phrase with a small swell toward its peak and a relaxed release. The dynamic range is modest, so the shape matters more than the volume.
  7. Reading:The harmonies in the passage on this page go beyond plain triads. Name the chord at the start of each bar, then see how the broken notes outline it.
  8. Practice:Sing or hum the tune, then play the right hand alone. Add the left hand only once the right hand's phrases feel natural.

Common mistakes

  • Letting the accompaniment grow as loud as the melody. Fix: Practice the accompaniment alone at a whisper, then add the tune.
  • Squaring off the six-eight so that each beat is accented and the music sounds like a march. Fix: Count two big beats and feel the three small notes as one swing.
  • Holding the pedal through chord changes and blurring the harmony. Fix: Change the pedal exactly as the chord changes, and listen for a clean break.
  • Treating a nickname such as Spring Song as Mendelssohn's own title and playing it with a fixed story. Fix: Use the marked tempo and character as the guide, as Mendelssohn intended.

Structure: collection of 48 song-like character pieces

Each piece is a self-contained short work built around one lyrical melody with a supporting accompaniment. Tempo markings run from calm Andante to Presto. There are no fixed forms across the set, so the best preparation is to look at the tempo marking, the key and the texture before you begin.

Books 1-2 · Opp. 19b and 30 (1829-34)
The earliest books open with a calm Andante con moto in E major and close each book with a Venetian gondola song, in G minor and then F-sharp minor. Expect a singing top line over a steady accompaniment.
Books 3-4 · Opp. 38 and 53 (1836-41)
Here you find the Duetto in A-flat major, where Mendelssohn wrote two melodies to stand for two singers, and the A minor Folk Song. The reading skill to build is following two melodic lines at once.
Books 5-6 · Opp. 62 and 67 (1842-45)
These books hold the Spring Song in A major and the Spinning Song in C major, marked Presto, whose busy accompaniment earned it the nickname Bee's Wedding. They ask for light, even fingerwork under a clear tune.
Books 7-8 · Opp. 85 and 102 (posthumous)
The last two books were published after Mendelssohn's death. They mix lyrical Andantes with agitated and Presto pieces in the same song-over-accompaniment layout.

About Songs Without Words

Felix Mendelssohn wrote his Songs Without Words between 1829 and 1845, in eight books of six pieces. The first book appeared in London in 1832 under the title Original Melodies for the Pianoforte, and the later books carried the name Songs Without Words. That phrase appears to have been Mendelssohn's own invention.

His sister Fanny wrote similar pieces and described in an 1828 letter a song without words that Felix had given her for her album, so she may have helped inspire the idea. Each piece is a short, song-like melody over an accompaniment that supports the tune like a pianist accompanying a singer.

Mendelssohn did not want listeners to attach stories to the music. When a friend tried to set words to the pieces, he answered that the music he loved was not too vague for words but too exact to put into them.

  • Three of the songs are Venetian gondola songs (Venetianisches Gondellied), one each in Books 1, 2 and 5, in G minor, F-sharp minor and A minor.
  • The famous Spring Song, Op. 62 No. 6, was nicknamed Camberwell Green in England.
  • Book 6 includes the Spinning Song, Op. 67 No. 4, also nicknamed the Bee's Wedding for its buzzing accompaniment.
  • Only a few titles, such as Duetto, came from Mendelssohn; many other nicknames were added later by publishers and carry no authority from him.

Why the first passage is level 8

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

The passage on this page is in six-eight and includes a leap of about an octave in one hand and chords more varied than plain triads. Read the chord changes first, then treat the leap as a single shape.

Questions about Songs Without Words

How hard is Songs Without Words 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 17–20 at level 8.
Is there an easy part of Songs Without Words for beginners?
Its easiest passage is level 8, so it suits a reader past the beginner stage. Start with bars 17–20 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 Songs Without Words in?
The engraving on this page is in 6/8 time.
Who composed Songs Without Words?
Felix Mendelssohn, German romantic (1809–1847). Felix Mendelssohn wrote his Songs Without Words between 1829 and 1845, in eight books of six pieces.
Can I practice Songs Without Words online for free?
Yes. The reader on this page plays any of the one graded passage from Songs Without Words in your browser, with an on-screen keyboard or a MIDI keyboard, and marks every note as you play. No signup.
How many Songs Without Words did Mendelssohn write?
He wrote 48 in eight books of six: six books published during his lifetime (Op. 19b, 30, 38, 53, 62 and 67) and two published after his death (Op. 85 and Op. 102).
Why are they called Songs Without Words?
The title seems to have been Mendelssohn's own invention. It describes piano pieces with a vocal-style melody and an accompaniment, but no text; his sister Fanny was already writing similar pieces and may have helped inspire the idea.
Which Song Without Words has the nickname Spring Song?
It is Op. 62 No. 6, in A major, from Book 5. Its marking is Allegretto grazioso.

Every passage, easiest first

The reading release grades one passage of this piece. Open any of them in the reader:

Level 8
bars 17–20 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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