Richard Wagner (1813-1883) 1850 C major 2/4 Easy 0:28 Both hands
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"Here Comes the Bride" is the Bridal Chorus from Wagner's opera Lohengrin, and it is one of the easiest famous tunes to learn: slow, regular and built from short phrases that repeat. This page arranges the first sixteen bars of the chorus for piano, moved from B-flat major to C major, with the melody in the right hand and one or two bass notes per bar in the left. Every phrase starts the same way, on a G that leads up to C. Press Listen to hear the stately pace, then learn it in Practice mode, phrase by phrase. It is a lovely piece to have ready if someone asks you to play at a wedding.
Start with the thumb on the G above middle C and the second finger on C. Bars 1 to 4 and 9 to 12 are the same two phrases: G C C C, then G D B C. Bars 5 to 8 climb to F and step back down; bars 13 to 16 reach up to the high G and come home to C.
Mostly a C below middle C, held for the whole bar. Change to G in bars 3, 8 and 11; in bar 7 play D then G, and in bar 15 F then G, one beat each.
The dotted rhythm in almost every other bar: a dotted eighth note and a quick sixteenth, "long-short", then the next beat. Keep the short note short. Bars 2, 4, 8, 10 and 12 end with a small rest - breathe there, as the singers do. Bar 6 has a tiny rest before the D.
Bar 1: 1-2-2-2 (G with the thumb, C with 2). Bar 3: G D B with 1-3-2. Bars 5 to 7: G C F with 1-2-5, F E D with 5-4-3, C B C with 2-1-2. Bar 14: G E C with 5-3-1 after moving the hand up.
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: G C C C G D B C G C F F E D C B C D G C C C G D …
| Bar | Notes | Do Ré Mi |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | G C C | Sol Do Do |
| 2 | C | Do |
| 3 | G D B | Sol Ré Si |
| 4 | C | Do |
| 5 | G C F | Sol Do Fa |
| 6 | F E D | Fa Mi Ré |
| 7 | C B C | Do Si Do |
| 8 | D | Ré |
| 9 | G C C | Sol Do Do |
| 10 | C | Do |
| 11 | G D B | Sol Ré Si |
| 12 | C | Do |
| 13 | G C E | Sol Do Mi |
| 14 | G E C | Sol Mi Do |
| 15 | A D E | La Ré Mi |
| 16 | C | Do |
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 C major: all the chords of the key
Richard Wagner wrote both the words and the music of Lohengrin, first staged in Weimar in 1850. The Bridal Chorus ("Treulich geführt", faithfully guided) opens the third act: after the wedding, the women of the wedding party sing it as they lead Elsa to the bridal chamber. In English-speaking countries it is known as "Here Comes the Bride".
It became a wedding favourite in Britain and the United States after it was played at royal weddings, among them the marriage of Victoria, the Princess Royal, to Prince Frederick William of Prussia in 1858. Today it usually accompanies the bride's entrance, while Mendelssohn's Wedding March is played for the couple's exit.
This transcription: Wagner, Lohengrin (1850), Act 3, "Treulich geführt": bars 1-16 of the soprano line, read from the vocal score (New York: G. Schirmer, 1897); transposed to C major, left hand by GOONS Studio. Transcribed by GOONS Studio from the original work, which is in the public domain.
Main Theme · C major
Easy Version · C major
Easy Version, Main Theme · C 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 C major: G C C C, G D B C, G C F F E D C B C D - Sol Do Do Do, Sol Ré Si Do, Sol Do Fa Fa Mi Ré Do Si Do Ré. Every bar is in the Notes section.
"Here Comes the Bride" is Wagner's Bridal Chorus from Lohengrin, usually played as the bride walks in. Mendelssohn's Wedding March, from A Midsummer Night's Dream, is the triumphant piece usually played at the end of the ceremony.
Wagner wrote it in B-flat major, with two flats. In C major the melody uses only white keys, which makes it easier to learn quickly.
Yes, this version is level 2 of 5: a slow melody, short repeated phrases and a calm left hand. The dotted rhythm is the main thing to get right.