Auld Lang Syne sheet music (easy)

Traditional Scottish (words Robert Burns, 1788), Level 2 · Beginner, 0:44

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Auld Lang Syne (Easy), keyboard staff, page 1 of 2Auld Lang Syne (Easy)Traditional Scottish (words Robert Burns, 1788). Regular keyboard staff. Print at 100%, not fit-to-page.CCDDEFFGGAABBold red line: C4 · Solid line: other Cs, D F G A · Dotted grey line: E | F and B | CC344CFFFAGFGAFCC3C53FFACDDCAAFFB♭FC3C56GFGAFDDCFDCB♭CFC3C59CAAFGFGDCAACFCFC3C512DDCAAFGFGAB♭FCSource: Site-owned easy edition. Melody: Auld Lang Syne (traditional Scottish tune, words by Robert Burns), Traditional Scottish (1799 (tune as sung today, George Thomson, Edinburgh); 1788 (words)), public domain, rightschecked against Wikipedia: Auld Lang Syne (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auld_Lang_Syne). Left hand written for this site.Auld Lang Syne (Easy) · Page 1 of 2
Auld Lang Syne (Easy), keyboard staff, page 2 of 2C315FDDCFB♭CFSource: Site-owned easy edition. Melody: Auld Lang Syne (traditional Scottish tune, words by Robert Burns), Traditional Scottish (1799 (tune as sung today, George Thomson, Edinburgh); 1788 (words)), public domain, rightschecked against Wikipedia: Auld Lang Syne (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auld_Lang_Syne). Left hand written for this site.Auld Lang Syne (Easy) · Page 2 of 2
The keys this piece uses, Bb2 to D5. A line runs from each black key in its range; the bold one is C♯4.

Key facts

Level
Level 2 · Beginner. Estimated from the notes (0 of 8 on our difficulty score)
Time signature
4/4
Key signature
1 flat
Length
17 bars, 2 pages
Playing time
0:44
Notes
74
Range
Bb2 to D5

Source and licence

Licence of the source: Public domain melody.

Source: Site-owned easy edition. Melody: Auld Lang Syne (traditional Scottish tune, words by Robert Burns), Traditional Scottish (1799 (tune as sung today, George Thomson, Edinburgh); 1788 (words)), public domain, rights checked against Wikipedia: Auld Lang Syne. Left hand written for this site.

Source: Wikipedia, from the edition George Thomson, Select Songs of Scotland, Edinburgh, 1799. Written out for this site and checked against the score on Wikipedia..

Playback sounds: Salamander Grand Piano by Alexander Holm (CC BY 3.0); Upright Piano KW by Gonzalo and Roberto of FreePats (CC0 1.0); Fluid R3 GM by Frank Wen and contributors (CC BY 3.0). Full sound credits.

How to play Auld Lang Syne (Easy)

The song for the stroke of midnight on New Year's Eve. A gentle, swaying tune with a little dotted lilt.

Where your hands go

Right hand: the tune starts on C4 and lives between C4 and D5. Thumb on C4 to begin.

Left hand: one note for each chord, from B♭2 up to F3. B♭2 is the black key in bars 4, 7, 12 and 15.

It is in F major and 4/4. Bar 0 is the one-beat pickup.

The tricky bars

Bars 1–2
F4 dotted, a quick F4, then F4 and A4. The dotted quarter and eighth give the swing; say "long-short" as you play.
Bars 3–4
F4, F4, A4, C5, then D5 held for three beats and D5 again. The jump from A4 to D5 is the highest point of the first half.
Bars 7–8
F4, D4, D4, C4, then home on F4. Your hand drops below F4 here.
Bars 10–11
In the second half bar 10 ends on a high D5, not A4, and bar 11 is C5, A4, A4, C5.

Your practice plan

  1. Count "4" for the pickup and play C4 on it, then bar 1.
  2. Right hand alone, bars 0 to 8, saying "long-short" for each dotted pair.
  3. Right hand alone, bars 8 to 16.
  4. Left hand alone, then hands together slowly.
  5. Play it all with Listen on, then sing along.

Watch out for

  • Evening out the dotted rhythm. The first note is long, the second short.
  • Playing bar 10 like bar 2. Bar 10 ends on D5.
  • Starting the tune on beat 1. It starts with the pickup C4 in bar 0.

Power-up: press Loop, tap the first and last of the tricky bars, and they repeat until they feel easy. Hands in Options lets you practise one hand at a time. New to the notation? Start with how to read keyboard staff, then how to practise piano.