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Could someone please tell me how the left hand for the final bar of this piece is played. The time signature is 3/4 and the piece begins with an anacrusis.

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  • Is this for piano?
    – Neil Meyer
    Commented Mar 20, 2020 at 10:32

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Both notes are played together on beat 1. The composer is thinking in terms of two instruments. If there was e.g. a cello and a double bass, the cello could play the half-note A, the double bass the two quarter-note ones. On piano, FEEL that, but all you can actually do is play the A once.

Don't over-think this! There are still only two beats in that bar - matching up with the one beat anacrusis in the first. You play the higher A on beat 1, the lower one on beat 2. This sort of 'part writing' is common in piano music.

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  • Thanks Laurance, throughout the piece it feels like the phrases generally begin with the anacrusis. Do you think the composer is suggesting a break in this pattern for the last bar?
    – user30510
    Commented Mar 20, 2020 at 2:07
  • Also, I should add that this is from the ameb piano syllabus. So there are definitely no other instruments involved
    – user30510
    Commented Mar 20, 2020 at 3:27
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    @ArtyTwist the first quarter note could be replaced with a quarter rest, in which case you would play the piece exactly the same.
    – phoog
    Commented Mar 20, 2020 at 6:50
  • @ArtyTwist - definitely not. The pattern is designed to continue with that one beat anacrusis. There's a repeat, so that last bar will have only the two beats in it, so it can loop round, back to te very beginning. I dare say there isn't a repeat sign at the very beginning, meaning that first anacrusis will re-start the piece. To do that, the last bar only needs two beats in it, otherwise it goes out of time.
    – Tim
    Commented Mar 20, 2020 at 7:53
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    I think we're missing the key point here, which is that the higher A should be held down for the full 2 beats while the lower one only comes in on beat 2. Without that doubled note, you'd release the high A when playing the low A.
    – Darrel Hoffman
    Commented Mar 20, 2020 at 15:57
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You would usually keep two fingers in the case of a unison. The one finger would hold the top A note while the second finger would move to the octave below.

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