This is Super
Simple Piano color dark blue right hand tutorial and calming bedtime
play along classical alphabet tune to
introduce a child to a piano and practice piano play of Twinkle Twinkle
Little Star classical Nursery Rhyme song by Mozart with just one right
hand [1].
Piano introduction
For
beginners, the layout of piano keys can be difficult to understand
if you’re not familiar with the piano keyboard. However, it is super
simple, as keys are organized in a distinctive 12-note pattern that
repeats across the entire piano key layout. As you can see onscreen,
simplified melody arrangement of ABC song takes just one octave,
so, you can play
it preferably with right hand any octave of any toy keyboard. Software
PC on-screen piano keyboard can be used as an instant alternative [2].
Melody used for this song is a slow tempo Piano play of Twelve
Variations on Ah vous dirai-je, Maman, K. 265/300e, a piano composition
by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, also widely known as ABC song, Alphabet
song or Twinkle Twinkle Little Star [1, 3, 4].
Twinkle Twinkle Little Star
The
English lyrics were first published as a poem with the title "The Star"
by sisters Ann and Jane Taylor (1783–1824) in Rhymes for the Nursery in
London in 1806. The poem was written by Jane.
Song lyrics of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star follows [3]:
Twinkle Twinkle Little Star Lyrics
Twinkle, twinkle, little star,
How I wonder what you are.
Up above the world so high,
Like a diamond in the sky.
When the blazing sun is gone,
When he nothing shines upon,
Then you show your little light,
Twinkle, twinkle, all the night.
Then the traveller in the dark,
Thanks you for your tiny spark,
He could not see which way to go,
If you did not twinkle so.
In the dark blue sky you keep,
And often through my curtains peep,
For you never shut your eye,
Till the sun is in the sky.
As your bright and tiny spark,
Lights the traveller in the dark.
Though I know not what you are,
Twinkle, twinkle, little star.
Twinkle, twinkle, little star.
How I wonder what you are.
Up above the world so high,
Like a diamond in the sky.
Twinkle, twinkle, little star.
How I wonder what you are.
How I wonder what you are.
Appearences of Melody
Many songs in various languages have been based on the "Ah! vous
dirai-je, Maman" melody. In English, "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star", the
"Alphabet Song", and a variant of it is used for "Baa, Baa, Black
Sheep". It is also the basis of the Scots song Coulter's Candy.[4]
The German Christmas carol "Morgen kommt der Weihnachtsmann", with
words by Hoffmann von Fallersleben, also uses the melody, as does the
Hungarian Christmas carol "Hull a pelyhes fehér hó", the Dutch "Altijd
is Kortjakje ziek", and the Spanish "Campanita del Lugar".
Several classical compositions have been inspired by the tune:
Johann Christoph Friedrich Bach, Variations on "Ah
vous dirai-je Maman" in G major (Wf XII: 2) (BR A 45) (1st publ. ca.
1880)
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Variations on "Ah vous dirai-je, Maman" (K. 265 / K. 300e) (1781 or 1782)
Franz Joseph Haydn, The Surprise Symphony[5] (1791)
Camille Saint-Saëns, Carnival of the Animals (1886), 12th movement (Fossiles) quotes the tune
Ernő Dohnányi, Variations on a Nursery Tune, op.25 (1914)
Erwin Schulhoff, Ten Variations on 'Ah! vous dirai-je, Maman' and Fugue
John Corigliano, The Mannheim Rocket
Franz Liszt, Album Leaf: "Ah! vous dirai-je, Maman" (1833) (S.163b)
Theodor von Schacht, 3rd movement (Allegretto con variazioni) of his clarinet concerto in B flat major
Johann Christian Heinrich Rinck, Variations and
finale for organ on "Ah! vous dirai-je, Maman", op. 90 (pub. 1828)
Jean-Baptiste Cardon (1760–1803), Variations for harp on "Ah! vous dirai-je, Maman"
First appearances of the melody and the original French text version
The original French rhyme Ah! vous dirai-je, Maman, was far from a
children's rhyme. Apparently it originated in the first half of the
18th century. As there was no published version of the text before
1774, several slightly differing versions of what could have been the
"original" version exist:
Ah! vous dirai-je Maman?, as published in the early
20th century in a collection of French songs by Jean Gilleguin.
Comparing two versions of "La Confidence" with the nursery rhyme version
In these versions a girl confides a secret to her mother: that she has
been seduced by "Silvandre". Only in one version cited above did the
girl apparently make a narrow escape ("Je m'échappai par bonheur"), in
the other versions the girl appears to have been "beaten" by L'Amour
("Love").
As for the history of the melody and the non-nursery rhyme version(s) of the French text:
1761: first publication of the music (without
lyrics) of Ah! vous dirai-je, Maman in "Les Amusements d'une Heure et
Demy" by Mr. Bouin (Paris), p. 1.
Around 1765, the words and music appear in a
manuscript entitled "Recueil de Chansons" under the title "Le Faux
Pas", p. 43.
1774: earliest known printed publication of the
lyrics together with the music in volume two of "Recueil de Romances"
by M.D.L. (De Lusse) published in Brussels, under the title "La
Confidence – Naive" (p. 75).
Around 1780 (Paris): the words and music appear in sheet music under the title "Les Amours de Silvandre".
1785: First publication of Mozart's Ah! vous dirai-je, Maman variations.
As for the composition date of Mozart's Variations, for a time the
variations were thought to have been composed in 1778, while Mozart
stayed in Paris from April to September in that year, the assumption
being that the melody of a French song could only have been picked up
by Mozart while residing in France. For this presumed composition date,
in the chronological catalogue of Mozart's compositions the composition
was renumbered from K. 265 to K. 300e. Later analysis of Mozart's
manuscript of the composition by Wolfgang Plath rather indicated
1781-1782 as the probable composition date.
French nursery rhyme version of Twinkle Twinkle Little star tune
While origin is unknown, the French "nursery rhyme" version also appears with slight variations:
Below French lyrics verse is followed by English translation
Ah! vous dirai-je, Maman,
Ce qui cause mon tourment.
Papa veut que je demande
De la soupe et de la viande...
Moi, je dis que les bonbons
Valent mieux que les mignons.
Ah! I will tell you, Mother,
What causes my torment.
Father wants me to ask
For soup and for meat
I say that candy
Is better than (filets) mignons.
Another variation:
Ah! vous dirai-je, Maman,
Ce qui cause mon tourment
Papa veut que je retienne
Des verbes la longue antienne [3]...
Moi, je dis que les bonbons
valent mieux que les leçons.
Ah! I shall tell you, Mother,
What causes my torment.
Father wants me to remember
This catalogue of verbs conjugations [3]
I say that candy
is better than lessons.
A third version
Quand trois poules vont aux champs,
La première va devant.
La deuxième suit la première,
La troisième vient la dernière.
Quand trois poules vont aux champs,
La première va devant.
When three hens go to the fields,
The first one goes in front.
The second one follows the first one,
The third one comes last.
When three hens go to the fields,
The first one goes in front.
The lyrics from "The Star" were first published with the tune in The Singing Master: First Class Tune Book in 1838
Lullaby song
A lullaby is a soothing song, usually sung to young children before
they go to sleep, with the intention of speeding that process. As a
result they are often simple and repetitive. Lullabies can be found in
every culture and since the ancient period [5].
Typically a lullaby is in triple metre, or in a compound metre like
6/8. Tonally, most lullabies are simple, often merely alternating tonic
and dominant harmonies: Because the intended effect is to put someone
to sleep, wild chromaticism would be somewhat out of character.
References:
1 Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart,
Variations on "Ah vous dirai-je, Maman", ABC song or Twinkle Twinkle
Little Star (1781 or 1782) Wikipedia article 2 Hermann Seib. On-screen GM General MIDI piano keyboard software instrument. [Detailed info and free download]
3 Twinkle Twinkle Little Star Wikipedia article 4 Play along piano tutorial ABC song by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Super Simple Songs Journal, Vol 1, Video 3 (2012) Free publication text and video 5 Lullaby Wikipedia article
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THINGS TO LEARN SSSJ VOL 1, VIDEO 6
1. Practice piano by playing along using video piano keyboard tutorial. 2.
Practice by singing along Mozart ABCs Song (or Twinkle Twinkle Little
Star, sharing the tune with ABC song) using songs' lyrics at
publication length 3. Learn Colors of blue palette
4. Introduce your child to a referenced scholar article with citations
To
cite this publication, use: Super Simple Songs video 6 vol 1 Nursery
Rhyme Piano flash card tutorial Mozart, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.
Super Simple Songs Journal, Volume 1, Video
publication 6 (2012) http://supersimplesongs.org/1/6/
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