Left-hand pattern · Classical salon
Music-box murmur
Low, high, middle, high in quick notes, tinkling like a music box. Musicians call it alberti bass 8-12-10-12.
Want to mix it with other hands?
How Music-box murmur goes
One bar over a C chord: a row for each key, a column for each step, the finger on each note. Over another chord, move the same shape to its root.
Alberti bass: Low, high, middle, high: the Mozart left hand.
Songs with Music-box murmur
Each one opens with this pattern in its player.
Often comes next
The patterns songs move to after Music-box murmur, from verse to chorus.
More murmur & thunder
All patternsQuestions about Music-box murmur
What is Music-box murmur on piano?
Low, high, middle, high in quick notes, tinkling like a music box. Musicians call it alberti bass 8-12-10-12, one of the alberti bass patterns: low, high, middle, high: the mozart left hand.
How do I play alberti bass 8-12-10-12 with the left hand?
Over C major it is C4 (3), then G4 (1), then E4 (2), then G4 (1), then G3 (5), then E4 (2), and so on; the number after each note is the finger (1 is the thumb). Over any other chord, move the same shape to that chord's root.
What songs use Music-box murmur?
It is heard in 48 songs of the library, as the main groove of 10 songs, such as Down By The Salley Gardens, Etude In F Major, Op. 10, No. 3 (originally E Major).
Is Music-box murmur easy?
It is a medium pattern, in 4/4, usually around 108 beats a minute.