Right-hand pattern · Film & wonder
Spinning lantern
Notes circle up through the chord and widen, like a spinning lantern. Musicians call it broken-chord ostinato 8-3-5.
Want to mix it with other hands?
How Spinning lantern 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.
Broken-chord figure: A right-hand figure circling the chord.
Songs with Spinning lantern
Each one opens with this pattern in its player.
Often comes next
The patterns songs move to after Spinning lantern, from verse to chorus.
More sparkling figures
All patternsQuestions about Spinning lantern
What is Spinning lantern on piano?
Notes circle up through the chord and widen, like a spinning lantern. Musicians call it broken-chord ostinato 8-3-5, one of the broken-chord figure patterns: a right-hand figure circling the chord.
How do I play broken-chord ostinato 8-3-5 with the right hand?
Over C major it is C5 (3), then E4 (1), then G4 (2), then C5 (3), then E5 (5), then G4 (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 Spinning lantern?
It is heard in 32 songs of the library, as the main groove of 2 songs, such as Bring Him Home, If I Loved You, Nobody Knows, And The Grass Won’t Pay No Mind.
Is Spinning lantern easy?
It is a medium pattern, in 4/4, usually around 100 beats a minute.