In what order do you play these notes? And how? [duplicate]

Question

I'm a beginner with reading sheet music, and i just can't figure out how you play these notes on the bass clef. Do you need to play then separate or together? Is it a chord or not?

Answer 1

As there are eighth notes through out the piece you have to play each note right there where its written. To hold the whole notes you need a sustain pedal, or you can simply ignore the lower octave.

Like Tim says in a comment, this piece seems to be quite difficult for a beginner - especially the rhythmical challenge of triplets and 8th notes. You can make a simplification by playing block chords in the left hand.

Answer 2

The whole notes in the bass clef are just held. In the second section, it's best to think of the bass clef as two essentially independent lines. The upper notes are played with one finger and the lower with another. At measure 11, the whole notes are played and held with the sustain pedal on a piano. If no sustain is available, the notes are played and let go as fingers are needed for the upper notes; this could happen if playing on a harpsichord. The notation indicates the harmony; one does the best possible with the instrument being played. On an American-built (or styled) grand piano, the whole notes can be held with the middle pedal; the notes are played then the middle pedal pressed and these notes will be held but other notes will not. (Many European pianos do not have such a pedal. One can half-pedal by depressing the damper pedal halfway down after playing the notes. This can work similarly.)

Answer 3

Notes that are aligned vertically (on the same staff or system of staves) are to be played simultaneously. If the distance between the notes is greater than you are able to span with your hand, play the lower note first and then as quickly as possible play the upper note or notes. Use of the pedal as described by ttw can help with this.

Measures 1 through 8: play the two notes simultaneously with your thumb and little finger (1 and 5).

Measures 9 and 10: play the A and B simultaneously. Then play the upper A, then the lower A, then play the two Gs simultaneously. I assume that you understand rhythm notation, so I won't describe the precise rhythm in detail, but I will add that the G comes midway between the E in the right hand and the subsequent A.

Measure 11: see ttw's answer. Play the first two notes simultaneously, then play the rest of the notes consecutively. (The suggestion by Albrecht Hügli to ignore the lowest note is also a reasonable solution here.)

Measure 18: play A, E, and B simultaneously. Then play A, E, and A simultaneously. Then release the upper A (a detail that you can probably ignore, because it won't likely be audible, but I mention it in the name of being thorough). Then play E, A, and E consecutively.

I will close by saying that the rhythmic material here is rather complex for a beginner. Don't be too hard on yourself if you have a hard time mastering it. It appears to be a piano transcription that was made with too little consideration given to actual playability by a pianist. Measure 11 can't be played as written by anyone; it's physically impossible. Such figures are found in very advanced piano music from the 19th century and later, but it is customary to show explicitly which of several possible "cheats" is intended by the composer or arranger. That is, there ought to be some indication that you should use the pedal, or a grace note to show which of the lower notes you would play a bit earlier, and so on. The lack of such an indication detracts from the quality of the arrangement.