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Moonlight Sonata

Nonstop triplets over slow bass octaves, the pedal held down, and one dark chord that makes everything sink: inside the first movement of Beethoven's Sonata No. 14, from the falling bass to the Neapolitan chord and the dominant that pulls it home.

In this lesson you'll

  • Play the constant triplet arpeggio (G# C# E over a C# octave, or E A C over an A octave in A minor) and feel three notes to every beat.
  • Follow the sinking bass of the opening, C#m - C#m/B - A - D/F# - G#7 - C#m, and play it in A minor: Am - Am/G - F - Bb/D - E7 - Am.
  • Recognise the Neapolitan chord, a major chord on the lowered second degree, and hear how it differs from the plain iv chord.

Music in this lesson

  • Piano Sonata No. 14 in C# minor, Op. 27 No. 2 ("Moonlight"), first movementLudwig van Beethoven · 1801

Remember

The texture never stops: triplets in the right hand, slow bass octaves in the left, the pedal held so the notes blur into a mist, and a melody that floats on top like a voice.

The Neapolitan (D major in C# minor, Bb major in A minor) sits a half step above the tonic, so it leans down with a dark, sinking colour; against plain iv only one note changes.

The dominant seventh (G#7) carries the leading tone B#, a half step below C#, and pulls the music straight home.