Brahms' Lullaby on Piano — Letter Notes & Play Online

Notes27, 7 pitches
RangeD4–C5
Key hereC major
Tempo92 bpm · about 16 s
LevelIntermediate

Can a piano play Brahms' Lullaby?

Yes — every size on this page plays it. The check is made note by note against what each one can actually sound. Where the tune does not fit as the library writes it, another key or octave is tried, and the table says which; where nothing fits, it names the notes that are missing.

49 keys✓ Plays as writtenIn C major, D4–C5 · load it
61 keys✓ Plays as writtenIn C major, D4–C5 · loaded above
88 keys✓ Plays as writtenIn C major, D4–C5 · load it

Brahms' Lullaby: piano letter notes

The large line is the key’s letter; a dot over it is the octave above middle C’s, a dot under it the octave below; the small line under it is the same note in do-re-mi. A dash holds the note another beat, an underline is half a beat, and a dot beside a note makes it half as long again. Each line is one phrase.

▶ Play it above

Brahms' Lullaby — piano letter notes (61 keys) · tonalics.com

EMiEMiGSol–EMiEMiGSol–

EMiGSolC•DoBSiALaALaGSolDReEMiFFaDReDReEMiFFa–

DReFFaBSiALaGSolBSiC•Do––

Brahms' Lullaby letter notes as text

The same notes as plain text, one phrase to a line, to copy into a message or a document. A letter on its own is in the octave that starts on middle C (C4). A letter with a number is in that numbered octave: C5 is the C above middle C. A comma marks a long note.

E E G, E E G
E G C5, B, A A, G, D E F, D, D E F
D F B A G, B, C5

Is there a both-hands version?

Not of Brahms' Lullaby, on this page. The left hand here is made by rule — three chords, one hand position — and it is only offered where that rule can be checked against a published harmonisation and agrees with it on most bars. This melody has no barred score in its sources to hang the chords on. The right hand above is the whole tune.

The 7 notes it uses

Lowest to highest, with how many times each is played. Learn these 7 and you can play the whole tune.

DRe×4
EMi×7
FFa×3
GSol×5
ALa×3
BSi×3
C•Do×2

What to expect on a piano

It runs from D4 to C5, a minor seventh, using 7 different notes. That leaves 26 semitones unused below and 24 above.
54% of its moves are a step or a repeated note. The widest is a tritone, F4 to B4, at note 23.
It is played on the white keys only.
It covers 7 white keys, more than the five a hand rests on, so the right hand has to move or stretch — by a key or two.

About the tune

Brahms published it in 1868 as “Wiegenlied”, Op. 49 No. 4, written for his friend Bertha Faber on the birth of her second son. It is the tune most music boxes play.

Johannes Brahms, "Wiegenlied", Op. 49 No. 4, 1868. Public domain. The first half of the melody. More about Brahms' Lullaby →

Brahms' Lullaby on other instruments

The same melody, in each instrument’s own notation. It is not offered for the guzheng or handpan, which do not have the notes.

More songs for the piano

All 36 piano songs · Christmas songs for piano · The online piano on its own