The shape moves

Lesson 3 · about 12 minutes · Moonlight bar 3, then bars 1–3 joined

For two bars your right hand has played one shape. In bar 3 it changes twice. In the original the right hand plays A C♯ E, then A D F♯, while the bass steps down to A and then F♯.Bar 3 of the 1908 Winterberger edition, from the note-by-note source at the Mutopia Project. Compare with the scans on IMSLP. In our E-minor version that's C E G over a low C, then C F A over an A. All white keys. The black keys wait until bar 4.

Today's win: play bars 1–3 of the Moonlight Sonata with both hands, three clean runs in a row.

1 · Warm-up: bars 1–2 from memory

Before reading anything new, play bars 1–2 with both hands, Show next key off. Left hand E, then D. If one note won't come back, use the hint once, then play it again without the hint.

2 · What changes in bar 3

Read it as two halves of six notes each. The bass changes halfway, on beat three.

	Beats 1–2	Beats 3–4
Right hand	C E G ×2 · fingers 1 2 4	C F A ×2 · fingers 1 3 5
Left hand	low C · finger 5	A · finger 1

Right hand. From bar 2, your thumb steps up one key, from B to the third C. Halfway through the bar, the thumb stays put and the other two fingers each step up one key: E to F, G to A.These are the fingerings printed in the 1908 edition: 1–2–4, then 1–3–5. Switching fingers means each finger only moves one key.

Left hand. Your pinky has been waiting over the low C since lesson 2. Now it plays. Then the thumb plays the A, nine keys up, counting black ones.

That A is the one place we change Beethoven. His bass keeps going down to an A, but your lowest key is that C, so we take the A above it. The right hand plays the same notes either way, so the harmony is the same. On a full piano you'd play the low one.

Tinted: left hand C and A, right hand C, E, F, G, A.

3 · Practise the change on its own

Right hand only. Two rounds of C E G, then two of C F A, three times through. As the hand changes, say "thumb stays".

4 · Bar 3, both hands

Same three rules as lesson 2. Land together: bass and thumb on the same beat. Hold: keep the C down for six notes. Switch: the A lands together with the seventh note, the thumb's C. Press ▶ Hear it first.

5 · Bars 1–3

Now join them. The step that catches people is between bars 2 and 3, where both hands move at once: the bass goes D to C (finger 4 to 5) and the thumb goes B to C. Count "one-and-a, two-and-a…" for each bar.

When you hit three clean runs, play it once with your eyes off the screen, softly.

6 · Check yourself

From memory. Some questions go back to earlier lessons. That's on purpose.

7 · The next three days

Tomorrow: bars 1–3, three clean runs. Start with the drill hints off.
Day after: bars 1–3 away from the screen, 5 times, counting out loud. Then the lesson 1 name drill once, with labels off, to keep note-finding sharp.
Day 3: bars 1–3 very softly. Then lesson 4: black-key names, and bar 4, which uses the first black key, D♯.

Primary source: read the score Open the first-movement score on IMSLP and find bar 3. Even if you don't read sheet music well, you can see the bass splitting into two half notes and the triplets changing shape halfway. It's in C♯ minor there: same pattern, three keys lower.

Is the left-hand jump to A awkward, is the switch between bars 2 and 3 tripping you up, or is the drill not hearing you? Ask me. I'm your teacher, and that's what I'm here for.

Previous: Lesson 2 · Reference: Keyboard map · Glossary · Next: Lesson 4 (black keys and bar 4).