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

Album for the Young, Op. 68

Robert Schumann (1810–1856) · sheet music

  • Time 2/4
  • Levels 6–8
  • Passages 19

Your turn · both hands

 

 

Loading passage…

Preparing your passage…

Robert Schumann, German romantic (1810–1856). The reading release has 23 passages from this piece at levels 6–8; the reader above opens on the easiest, bars 13–16 for the right hand alone.

Practice the hard bars →

The hardest stretch is bars 1–12 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 Album for the Young, Op. 68.

  1. Right hand alone · bars 13–16 level 6
  2. Hands together · bars 1–8 level 7
  3. The hardest bars · bars 1–12 level 8

How to play Album for the Young, Op. 68

  1. Tempo:Let Schumann's character marks set the speed: Soldiers' March is marked briskly and energetically, and The Wild Rider is fast. Start slowly enough that the shortest notes stay clean.
  2. Right hand:In Soldiers' March the right hand plays chords in dotted rhythm; keep the short note crisp and light so the march does not stagger.
  3. Left hand:In the middle of The Wild Rider the tune moves to the left hand. Practice that hand alone, then keep the right-hand chords light above it.
  4. Hands together:Combine the hands in short chunks, listening for the places where both hands strike together on the beat.
  5. Rhythm:Dotted rhythms need exact counting. Say the short note on its own subdivision, and hold the long note its full value.
  6. Dynamics:Schumann writes small contrasts, such as a quiet answer after a loud phrase. Exaggerate them a little in practice so they survive in performance.
  7. Reading:Read ahead for slurs and staccato marks as well as pitches; in this collection the touch markings are part of the lesson.
  8. Practice:Finish one piece before starting another. Each is short enough to learn, memorize, and move on from.

Common mistakes

  • Playing every piece in the same mood. Fix: Read the title and the tempo marking, then decide whether the piece should sound playful, tender, or marching.
  • Ignoring slurs and staccato dots because the notes are easy. Fix: Practice the touch markings slowly, since they are a major part of what each piece teaches.
  • Rushing the dotted rhythms into even notes. Fix: Count in the shortest unit and tap the rhythm before playing.
  • Letting the left hand cover the tune. Fix: Practice the left hand softly and give the right-hand melody a clear voice.

Structure: collection of short character pieces

A set of 43 separate pieces that grow from tiny songs and dances into longer, more varied character pieces. Along the way Schumann includes studies in part-writing, such as a four-part chorale, a canon, and a little prelude and fugue.

Part I · For smaller children (Nos. 1-18)
Short pieces with clear tunes and simple accompaniment, including the Soldiers' March and The Wild Rider. They introduce dotted rhythms, chords, and crisp staccato.
Part II · For older children (Nos. 19-43)
Longer and more varied pieces, with contrasting moods inside a piece, trickier articulation, and denser part-writing.
Rules · Musical rules and maxims
A list of 68 short pieces of advice on learning music, printed with the second edition in December 1850.

About Album for the Young, Op. 68

Robert Schumann wrote the Album for the Young in 1848 for his three daughters. It was prompted by the seventh birthday of his eldest, Marie, on September 1, 1848, when he gave her a first batch of eight pieces; he kept writing until the collection reached 43. He first called it a Christmas album, and the final title was adopted on the publisher's advice.

The pieces run roughly from easy to harder. Nos. 1-18 form the first part, for smaller children, and the second part, from No. 19 on, is for older players. Unlike Kinderszenen, these pieces were made for children and beginners to play themselves.

The engravings on this page come from two of the best-known early numbers: No. 2, Soldiers' March in G major, a study in dotted rhythms and chords, and No. 8, The Wild Rider in A minor, whose middle section moves to F major and hands the tune to the left hand.

  • The first edition's cover was misprinted as 40 pieces, and the mistake stayed because reprinting the cover would have been costly.
  • Nordic Song, No. 41, is dedicated to Niels Gade and is built on the notes G, A, D, and E, which spell his name.
  • The Wild Rider was originally titled for a rider on a rocking horse, and the title page shows a child on one.
  • Tchaikovsky subtitled his own Children's Album 24 simple pieces à la Schumann.

Why the first passage is level 6

That passage is level 6 rather than 5 because a hand plays full chords, its chords go beyond simple triads.

This page draws on Soldiers' March (G major) and The Wild Rider (A minor), so check each passage's key signature and meter first, then the touch markings.

Questions about Album for the Young, Op. 68

How hard is Album for the Young, Op. 68 to play?
Its passages grade from level 6 to 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 1–12 at level 8.
Is there an easy part of Album for the Young, Op. 68 for beginners?
Its easiest passage is level 6, so it suits a reader past the beginner stage. Start with bars 13–16 for the right hand alone, the level-6 passage in the reader at the top of this page; it is level 6 because a hand plays full chords and its chords go beyond simple triads.
What key and time signature is Album for the Young, Op. 68 in?
The engraving on this page is in 2/4 time.
Who composed Album for the Young, Op. 68?
Robert Schumann, German romantic (1810–1856). Robert Schumann wrote the Album for the Young in 1848 for his three daughters.
Can I practice Album for the Young, Op. 68 online for free?
Yes. The reader on this page plays any of the 19 graded passages from Album for the Young, Op. 68 in your browser, with an on-screen keyboard or a MIDI keyboard, and marks every note as you play. No signup.
Who was the Album for the Young written for?
Schumann wrote it for his three daughters, starting with a birthday gift of pieces for his eldest, Marie, when she turned seven on September 1, 1848.
How many pieces are in Schumann's Album for the Young?
There are 43 numbered pieces. Henle's Urtext edition adds an appendix of pieces Schumann had intended for the album.
What level are Soldiers' March and The Wild Rider?
Henle rates Soldiers' March at level 2 and The Wild Rider at level 3 on its own difficulty scale, both in its easy band. That is the publisher's scale, not an exam board grade.
Is Album for the Young different from Kinderszenen?
Yes. Kinderszenen is music about childhood, while the Album for the Young was written for children and beginners to play.

Every passage, easiest first

The reading release grades 19 distinct passages of this piece. Open any of them in the reader:

Level 6
bars 13–16 right hand
Level 7
bars 1–8 both hands · bars 1–4 both hands · bars 1–12 both hands · bars 5–8 both hands · bars 9–12 both hands · bars 9–16 both hands · bars 11–22 both hands · bars 13–24 both hands · bars 13–16 both hands · bars 17–20 both hands · bars 17–24 both hands · bars 21–24 both hands
Level 8
bars 1–12 both hands · bars 9–12 both hands · bars 9–16 both hands · bars 13–24 both hands · bars 17–24 both hands · bars 21–24 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