Real Sight Reader
Piano sound
Browser piano

Play your MIDI keyboard through this device’s audio output. Plug headphones into this device and turn down your piano’s own speakers.

← All pieces

12 Valses nobles, D. 969

Franz Schubert (1797–1828) · sheet music

  • Time 3/4
  • Levels 8–10
  • Passages 11

Your turn · both hands

 

 

Loading passage…

Preparing your passage…

Franz Schubert, Austrian romantic (1797–1828). The reading release has 11 passages from this piece at levels 8–10; the reader above opens on the easiest, bars 33–36 for both hands together.

Practice the hard bars →

The hardest stretch is bars 1–16 at level 10.

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 12 Valses nobles, D. 969.

  1. Hands together · bars 33–36 level 8
  2. The hardest bars · bars 1–16 level 10

How to play 12 Valses nobles, D. 969

  1. Tempo:Each waltz suggests its own tempo, but keep one gentle beat to the bar and avoid rushing. Let the dance lilt rather than drive.
  2. Left hand:The left hand plays a low bass note on the first beat and chords on the other two. Practice the jump between bass note and chord alone until it lands without looking.
  3. Right hand:Shape each melody in short phrases with a small lift at the end. Let the longer notes sing, and treat the faster notes as graceful connectors.
  4. Hands together:Make the bass note slightly stronger and the chords lighter so the dance lilts. Listen to the melody over the left hand and keep it on top.
  5. Pedal:Change the pedal on each bass note so the harmony stays clear. Use half-pedal or none for the lightest waltzes.
  6. Dynamics:Contrast the repeat with the first time through, perhaps playing it a little softer or more delicately. The set is built on small, constant shifts of mood.
  7. Reading:Check the key signature and any accidentals before you start each waltz, since the keys change from one to the next. Mark leaps and accidentals in pencil.
  8. Practice:Learn one waltz at a time, hands separately, then together at half speed. Play the repeats and decide on one small change for the second time.

Common mistakes

  • Playing the bass and chords at equal strength so the waltz sounds square. Fix: Practice the left hand alone and lean gently on the bass note.
  • Missing the left-hand jump because the eyes stay on the melody. Fix: Practice the jump slowly with eyes on the left hand.
  • Pedaling through harmony changes and blurring the dance. Fix: Change the pedal with every bass note and listen for a clean break.
  • Ignoring accidentals when the key changes from one waltz to the next. Fix: Name the key and mark the accidentals before playing each waltz.

Structure: set of twelve short waltzes

The twelve waltzes are independent small dances that follow one another like a string of postcards. Each has its own tune, and they are built in simple binary or ternary shapes. Major and minor keys alternate across the set, so it trains quick shifts of mood.

1 · First waltz (C major)
The opening waltz in C major sets the three-beat pulse of the set, with the left hand alternating bass notes and chords.
2-8 · Middle waltzes
A run of contrasting dances, each asking for a different touch. The reading challenge is the change of key and accidentals from one to the next.
9 · Ninth waltz (A minor)
A turn to A minor, a darker waltz that offers a change of color.
10-12 · Closing waltzes
The last three waltzes round off the set, each again a self-contained dance in its own key.

About 12 Valses nobles, D. 969

Franz Schubert wrote about a hundred waltzes for solo piano, and two titled collections stand out: the 34 Valses sentimentales and the 12 Valses nobles. The Valses nobles are believed to date from 1827, the year before he died, though the manuscript carries no date, and they were published that same year as Op. 77.

The twelve dances are short and self-contained, built in simple two- and three-part forms. They move through a range of keys, from the C major of the first waltz to the A minor of the ninth.

Almost a century later Maurice Ravel named his own Valses nobles et sentimentales (1911) after Schubert's two sets, saying the title showed his intention to write a series of waltzes in imitation of Schubert. One modern analyst argues that Ravel's cycle actually owes more to Schumann.

  • Schubert wrote roughly a hundred waltzes for piano in all.
  • One scholar hears the loud opening of Ravel's first noble and sentimental waltz as an echo of the first waltz of Schubert's D. 969.
  • Ravel's Valses nobles et sentimentales, composed in 1911, borrows its title from both of Schubert's named waltz sets.
  • Within the set, the first waltz is in C major and the ninth in A minor.

Why the first passage is level 8

That passage is level 8 rather than 7 because a hand plays several notes at once, it leaps a whole step plus an octave, its chords go beyond simple triads.

The passages on this page are in three-four with no sharps or flats, built from octaves and full chords in both hands with wide leaps in the bass. Read each chord as one shape, and the bass note and the chord that follows as two separate targets.

Questions about 12 Valses nobles, D. 969

How hard is 12 Valses nobles, D. 969 to play?
Its passages grade from level 8 to level 10 on Real Sight Reader's ten-level reading scale, so the full piece is intermediate to advanced reading. The hardest stretch is bars 1–16 at level 10.
Is there an easy part of 12 Valses nobles, D. 969 for beginners?
Its easiest passage is level 8, so it suits a reader past the beginner stage. Start with bars 33–36 for both hands together, the level-8 passage in the reader at the top of this page; it is level 8 because a hand plays several notes at once and it leaps a whole step plus an octave.
What key and time signature is 12 Valses nobles, D. 969 in?
The engraving on this page is in 3/4 time.
Who composed 12 Valses nobles, D. 969?
Franz Schubert, Austrian romantic (1797–1828). Franz Schubert wrote about a hundred waltzes for solo piano, and two titled collections stand out: the 34 Valses sentimentales and the 12 Valses nobles.
Can I practice 12 Valses nobles, D. 969 online for free?
Yes. The reader on this page plays any of the 11 graded passages from 12 Valses nobles, D. 969 in your browser, with an on-screen keyboard or a MIDI keyboard, and marks every note as you play. No signup.
How are Schubert's Valses nobles connected to Ravel?
Ravel named his 1911 cycle Valses nobles et sentimentales after Schubert's Valses nobles and Valses sentimentales, and said the title signaled waltzes written in imitation of Schubert.
Are the Valses nobles meant to be played all at once?
They are twelve separate waltzes, so you can play one or a group. The set is also performed as a whole.
When did Schubert write the Valses nobles?
They are believed to date from 1827, the year before Schubert's death, though the manuscript is undated. They were published in 1827 as Op. 77.

Every passage, easiest first

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

Level 8
bars 33–36 both hands
Level 9
bars 1–4 both hands · bars 1–8 both hands · bars 5–8 both hands · bars 9–12 both hands · bars 21–24 both hands
Level 10
bars 1–16 both hands · bars 9–16 both hands · bars 13–16 both hands · bars 17–20 both hands · bars 17–24 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.

Keep training on your phone Practice with your own pieces — free on the App Store