Piano chords · Old-time stride

How to play Dance Of The Sugar Plum Fairy on piano

By Pyotr Il'yich Tchaikovsky

Tuning the piano…

Learn it

Learn Dance Of The Sugar Plum Fairy in 5 steps

The chords first, then one hand at a time. Each step plays in the player above.

1
Chords: Em – Em7 – Em
How it goes
Dance Of The Sugar Plum Fairy sits in E minor: E is home, where the song ends. It goes round 3 chords: Em is E, G and B; Em7 is E, G, B and D. Play each one as a block with your right hand until the changes feel easy.
EmiEm7i7Emi
- EmE · G · B
- Em7E · G · B · D
2
Left hand: Ragtime bounce
How it goes
Quick bass-chord-bass-chord: the bouncy left hand of ragtime. Musicians call it boom-chick (2/4) (stride & boom-chick), a medium pattern heard in 137 songs of the library.
Ragtime bounceStride & boom-chick · StrideLeft handMedium
3
Right hand: Polka-hop chords
How it goes
Chords only on the “ands” in a quick two-beat bar: the “pah” of a polka. It moves with the chords, so it fits every bar of the loop.
Polka-hop chordsOffbeat chords · StrideRight handEasy
4
Both hands at 60 BPM
How it goes
Put the two hands together over the loop. Start at half speed with the player's speed control, and bring it up once every change is easy.
5
Ending: C – D – Em
How it goes
The last chords are bVI – bVII – i, then one chord rolled from the bottom up, left to ring.
CDEm
- CC · E · G
- DD · F# · A

What chords are in Dance Of The Sugar Plum Fairy?

The loop is Em – Em7 – Em (i – i7 – i) in E minor, and the song ends on C – D – Em.

What key is Dance Of The Sugar Plum Fairy in?

E minor, at about 60 beats a minute in 2/4.

What does the left hand play in Dance Of The Sugar Plum Fairy?

Ragtime bounce: boom-chick (2/4), a medium pattern. It follows the chords, so the same shape works for every bar.

Is Dance Of The Sugar Plum Fairy easy to play on piano?

It is a medium one: learn the 3 chords as blocks first, then add the left hand, then the right, slowly.

Can I hear the real melody of Dance Of The Sugar Plum Fairy?

Yes: "The part you know" plays the main tune of the song from a score, with both hands.

Made from 4 arrangements of this song: the left and right hands are the patterns these scores repeat most.