Humming Song was written by German composer and pianist Robert Schumann during the Romantic era.

This piece would suit piano learners of about grade 2 standard, and is a useful study in part playing and legato. In the middle section, the right hand plays both melody notes and accompaniment notes at the same time. You need to ensure that the highest notes played by the right hand are connected to each other so that they overlap the lowest parts played by the right hand, which are part of the accompaniment. The melody notes also need to sing out above the accompaniment parts, so that they can clearly be distinguished as a separate part from the accompaniment. The melody needs to dominate. Imagine that the melody notes are being played by one instrument, such as a flute, and the accompaniment notes in the right hand are being played by another instrument, such as a violin. This can help to separate them in your mind and get more sense of independence of these parts when playing them.

Aim for a generally calm, gentle and flowing character in this piece.

You can listen to a more advanced piece by Schumann here: Romance No. 2

You might also like one of my own compositions (improvised):

Listen to another improvisation of mine that uses contemporary and Romantic influences – Mirror Tetraptych – modal improvisation in Dorian, Mixolydian♭6 and Phrygian modes

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