Turkish March (Rondo alla Turca) sheet music (easy)

How to play Turkish March (Rondo alla Turca) (Easy)

A march with a twist, literally: a four-note turn that keeps climbing. Get the turn under your fingers and half the piece is yours.

Where your hands go

Right hand: the piece starts below middle C, on B3. The turn is four quick notes: step down, step down again, then step back up, like B3, A3, G♯3, A3.

Left hand: two quarter notes a bar, such as E2 then B2. Little finger on the lower note, thumb on the upper.

The piece is in A minor and 2/4, two beats a bar.

The tricky bars

Bars 1–4

The same turn shape climbs: on A3 in bar 1, on C4 in bar 2, on E4 in bar 3, then twice in a row on A4 in bar 4.

Bars 6–8

B4, A4, G4, A4 twice with a plain G, then B4, A4, G4, F♯4. These bars use G natural, not G♯.

Bars 13–17

The ending: down from C5 to A3, with a dotted rhythm in bar 16. The left hand ends on A2 and E3.

Your practice plan

1. Right hand: play the turn on A3 ten times. Then on C4, then on E4.
2. Right hand alone, bars 1 to 8, at half speed with the Speed control.
3. Left hand alone, steady quarter notes.
4. Hands together, four bars at a time. Bars 9 to 12 are almost the same as bars 1 to 4.
5. Play the whole piece with Listen on.

Watch out for

• Mixing up G and G♯. The turns use G♯ (bars 1, 4, 9, 12 and 14); bars 6 to 8 use G natural.
• Forgetting D♯4 in the turn of bars 3 and 11.
• Playing the turn unevenly. All four notes are the same length.
• Starting bar 9 like bar 1. Bar 9 begins on E4, a quarter note, instead of a rest.

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.