Johann Strauss II (1825-1899) 1866 D major 3/4 Easy 0:19 Both hands
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The Blue Danube is the waltz everyone recognises from its first three notes: D, F#, A, rising gently, then two pairs of high notes that answer like an echo. This page arranges the first waltz theme for piano in D major, Strauss's own key, with the tune in the right hand and one bass note per bar in the left. To keep it playable with one hand, the long note under the high answers is shortened, so the hand is free to reach up. The piece is all about the three-beat swing: press Listen, count "one two three" with it, then go to Practice and learn the jumps at your own pace.
Bar 1 is D-F#-A above middle C. In bar 2 the A lasts two beats, and on beat 3 the hand jumps up an octave for the high A, which repeats on the next downbeat; then comes high F#. Bars 5 to 8 do the same with high A and G, bars 9 to 16 start on C# and climb to B.
One note per bar, held for three beats: D below middle C for bars 1 to 5, A for bars 6 to 14, D again for bars 15 and 16.
The jumps: from A up to high A in bar 2, from high G down to C# at the end of bar 8, from B up to high B in bar 10. Look at the next note before you jump, and keep counting through the rests on beat 2.
Bar 1: D-F#-A with 1-3-5. Bar 9: C#-E-B with 1-2-5. Take the high answering notes with 4 or 5 after the jump, and reset the thumb for each new three-note climb.
The right-hand melody of this version, bar by bar, in letter names and in Do Ré Mi. Sharps are written #, flats b; a note held across a bar line is written once.
Melody: D F# A A A A F# F# D D F# A A A A G G C# C# E B B B B …
| Bar | Notes | Do Ré Mi |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | D F# A | Ré Fa# La |
| 2 | A A | La La |
| 3 | A F# | La Fa# |
| 4 | F# D | Fa# Ré |
| 5 | D F# A | Ré Fa# La |
| 6 | A A | La La |
| 7 | A G | La Sol |
| 8 | G C# | Sol Do# |
| 9 | C# E B | Do# Mi Si |
| 10 | B B | Si Si |
| 11 | B G | Si Sol |
| 12 | G C# | Sol Do# |
| 13 | C# E B | Do# Mi Si |
| 14 | B B | Si Si |
| 15 | B F# | Si Fa# |
| 16 | F# | Fa# |
The chords this arrangement holds for at least two bars, read from the score with the root in the bass. Each one opens its page: the notes, every inversion and the fingering, playable on a piano.
The piece is in D major: all the chords of the key
Johann Strauss II composed The Blue Danube (An der schönen blauen Donau), Op. 314, in 1866. It was first performed on 15 February 1867 at a concert of the Vienna Men's Choral Association, with words added by the association's poet, Joseph Weyl. That first performance was only a mild success; the purely orchestral version Strauss prepared for the Paris World's Fair later in 1867 made it famous.
The first waltz theme, the one on this page, rises through a D major chord in the cellos and horns, with the beat accented at the end of each three-note phrase. When Strauss's stepdaughter asked Johannes Brahms to sign her fan, he wrote down its opening bars and added "Leider nicht von Johannes Brahms" - unfortunately not by Johannes Brahms.
This transcription: Johann Strauss II, An der schönen blauen Donau, Op. 314: Waltz No. 1, bars 1-16, read from a piano solo edition (New York: Carl Fischer, 1901); simplified to one line in the right hand, left hand by GOONS Studio. Transcribed by GOONS Studio from the original work, which is in the public domain.
Easy Version · G major
Easy Version, Galop Chorus · G major
Easy Version, First Theme · G major
Easy Version · C majorThe full piano studio opens this score with your MIDI keyboard and sustain pedal, records what you play and exports it as a MIDI file. It comes with the GOONS Studio subscription - start with the 7-day free trial, no card required.
In D major: D F# A, A, then high A A and F# F#; D F# A, A, high A A, G G; then C# E B, B, high B B, G G - Ré Fa# La, La, La La, Fa# Fa#; Ré Fa# La, La, La La, Sol Sol; Do# Mi Si, Si, Si Si, Sol Sol. Every bar is in the Notes section.
This version is level 2 of 5: slow-moving notes and a left hand with one note per bar. The jumps up to the high answering notes are the part to practise.
Johann Strauss II, the Viennese "Waltz King", in 1866. It was first performed in Vienna in February 1867.