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How to Practice the “Moonlight” Sonata

Question:Question: Albert,

I am very impressed with this website. It is sure to help many people as it has helped myself. I am going to be

playing the “Moonlight” Sonata in 22 days at my high school for a talent show and I would like to know an effici

way to practice it—aspects such as how might time I should spend each day on it.

Also, I have recognized that it is to be played in a C# minor chord. I have no idea what a chord really is; literally,

know about it is that it is just some long list of notes on a staff and if they are sharps or flats. Could you clarify

what a chord is?

Sincerely,

— Caleb (Bellevue, Washington,

bert’s reply:bert’s reply: Chords make up the entire essence of the “Moonlight” Sonata (../moonlight-sonata-sheet-music.h

sume you’re referring to the first movement, although this also applies to the virtuosic third movement.)

r starters, make sure you don’t confuse chords (../piano-chord-chart.html) with keys (../key-signature-chart.htm

e explain the difference. I’ll get somewhat technical here, but don’t worry since I’ll clarify all the details step by st

en I’ll show you the most effective way to practice the “Moonlight” Sonata based on what you’ve learned about c

What’s the Difference Between a Chord and a Key?

chordchord is three or more notes that belong together harmonically. A keykey is the harmonic basis for a set of chords.

her words, each key has a set of chords associated with it—chords that the ear comes to expect.

chord can be described either absolutely  or relatively . The description “C-sharp minor chord” (also called C-shar

nor triad) is an absolute description of this chord. It refers to the notes C-sharp, E and G-sharp (just like in the fir

easure of the “Moonlight” Sonata). When you refer to the C-sharp minor chord, you’re not simultaneously referr

even implying a key. You’re referring only  to the notes C-sharp, E and G-sharp sounding together as a chord, no

hat key the music happens to be in. (The music might even be atonal —without any key at all—yet these notes can

und together as a chord.)

he “Moonlight” Sonata happens to be in the key  of C-sharp minor. This means that the key (also called the tonalitonalit

ilt on the note C-sharp. This note is called the toni cton ic—the first note of a key. The key is built on the notes C-sharp

arp, E, F-sharp, G-sharp, A and B. If you play them in this order, you will have played a C-sh ar p na tu ral mi no r sC-sharp natural minor s

other words, the key consists of the notes of the scale.

he tonic chord  in the key of C-sharp minor is the C-sharp minor triad. Here, the notes C-sharp, E and G-sharp are

st, third and fifth notes of the C-sharp minor scale, also called scale degreessca le deg ree s 1, 3 and 5:

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he standard notation for scale degrees is a number with a caret sign (^) above it.)

this case, since we’ve defined a key (C-sharp minor), we can make a relative reference  to the tonic chord. We do

mply by referring to the scale degree on which the chord is built. Since the tonic chord is built on scale degree 1 (

st note of the scale), we call this the i chord (pronounced “one chord”). A lowercase “i” is used because the qualit

is chord is minor (it’s called a C-sharp minor  chord, after all). For major chords, uppercase Roman numerals are u

is chord can be used in other keys. If the music were in the key of G-sharp minor, for example, the notes C-sharp

sharp still appear in that key. This time, however, they are scale degrees 4, 6 and 1, respectively:

a C-sharp minor chord were used in the key of G-sharp minor, it would be referred to relatively as a iv chord

ronounced “four chord”) because it is built on the fourth note of the G-sharp minor scale. In other words, C-shar

ale degree 4 in the scale of G-sharp minor, so the C-sharp minor chord is a iv chord (lowercase because the chornor, and iv because it’s built on scale degree 4).

an you see that this is actually easier than it appears at first glance?

How to Practice the “Moonlight” Sonata

his leads us back to the “Moonlight” Sonata. Now that you understand what a chord is, you should be able to reco

em in the music you play. In the case of the “Moonlight” Sonata, the most effective practice strategy for learning

ece (especially for memorizing it) is to practice bl oc k ch or dsblock chords:

hat is, instead of always practicing the arpeggios  written by Beethoven, in which the notes of the chord are playe

a time, play the chords that the groups of notes form.

ou should at least know the absolute chord names in the music you play, even if you don’t always understand thei

nctions within the key. In this piece, the first chord, in measure 1, is a C-sharp minor chord. (We’ll ignore measure

cause the B in the bass is what’s called a pass ing to nepassing tone; it has no harmonic function and isn’t actually a part of th

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ord.)

easure 3 contains an A major chord (A, C-sharp, E), and then a D major chord (D, F-sharp A). Note that the D maj

ord is invertedinverted:

his means that the rootro ot of the chord (D—the note on which the chord is built) is not the bass (bottom) note. Inste

ext  note, F-sharp, is the bass note, making this the firs t invers io nfirst invers ion. (See the lessons on chord inversions (../chord

versions.html) for more detail.)

y understanding the chords and practicing them in this way you will learn much faster!

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