I am working on O Sole Mio on Page 79 of Alfred's Level One, Basic Adult. He introduces arpeggiated chords on both the bass and treble cleff at the same time. My question is, the bass is a triad and the treble is broken. What would be the fingering progression?

Bass: e, b,c.

Trebble: b, g.

It is played in the scale of F, with the b flatted.

I've tried playing both cleffs separately and together and neither sounds right.

Thank you.

You start with the pinky (5) of your left hand on D, then roll to 2 on Bb and 1 on C, then 1 of the right hand on Bb and 5 on G with the pedal held down.

Since you played the exact same chord (unarpeggiated) in measures 5 and 7, it should sound right. The high G is the critical melody note. It's a step from the tonic that leaves you hanging until the F chord resolution in the final measure.

Thanks Bob, your responses are always helpful and appreciated.

I believe there is a typo error in your reply, I believe the first key played would be E rather than D. Anyway, I think the message is that each of the five keys is played consecutively but each note is held down until the two chords have been played in full. I was hitting one key, releasing it and then playing the next. I saw (heard) the difference when I compared it to the two measures you referred me to. Although the sequence is different in the treble cleff, I get the sound.

Thank you.

Oops, you're right, E, not D. Yes, you play an arpeggiated chord exactly the same way as a regular chord, just that you roll the notes from the bottom to the top, holding them down just like a regular chord.

The notes are exactly the same in all three measures, it's just that in the penultimate measure, the G in the treble is boosted an octave the provide a climax before the tonic ending. Cigarettes are optional.

I finished this piece last month. I could not get the melody right until I realized that the tune is the same one used for that song "It's Now or Never". Once I could sing along with it, the timing fell into place. I'm glad I'm done with it now, though. I find that if I don't have a lot of interest in a piece (even a method piece), I can't wait to get it over with and move on to something else.