Free Keyboard Music
Brian Boru's March

Free keyboard music Brian Boru's March, an Irish piece, is a very beautiful piece of music, instantly likeable. I first heard this music played on the flute, used as a procession during the Shakespeare play "Midsummer Night's Dream," and the melody's whimsicality, melancholy, and feeling of forward motion suited well the slow advance of the leotard-wearing, ivy-bedecked players across the stage. A very pretty scene.

And pretty music! Just when the ear has become satiated with the drumbeat of the left hand dotted quarter notes, the accompaniment breaks away into a thrusting broken chord pattern, and the melody executes an octave leap at the end of its repeating motif, charging the music with excitement.

Left hand block chords in the beginning of the piece, and the same chords, long and broken, in the second half of the piece, make this Irish printable sheet music easy to memorize.





Download Free keyboard music Brian Boru's March

Starting in measure 11, there is a RH fingering I suggest that my students usually fight, initially, but which enables them to learn this part much faster and with less scrambling around, if they will just SUBMIT to the fingering! It involves simply an ordinary five-finger scale position, but with the thumb stretched to the left as if for a chord inversion during the broken C chord of the left hand. I tell them, "Put your fingers on an Am chord. Now, stretch your thumb to the left." It seems to be easier for them to see it this way, as if it is really an Am chord, just stretched for a moment.

Then, the thumb stays stretched as the chord changes to a G, while "2" and "4" fingers form the body of the G chord in the RH. Finger 5 just "hangs out."

Finally, it all comes together when the chord really does change to Am. The RH thumb retracts to an "A," and the RH chord is fingered with 1, 3, and 5 on the chord tones. This may seem obvious to your students, but mine tend to fight using 1, 2, and 4 on the G chord.

Page two of Brian Boru's March cannot be played well until a student's right hand can stretch and reach an octave (preferably with the eyes closed), and they are adept at playing left hand broken chords that cross over, and coordinate with the right hand.

This free keyboard music Brian Boru's March is one of those pieces I sometimes teach in two stages... page 1 is quite easy, except for the note-reading and fingering in part B, and parts A and B can make a satisfying piece without the second page, in my opinion, as long as you return to part A to finish it off. But the excitement of the second half of the piece is usually enough to get students motivated to work at the left hand/right hand coordination, really pushing themselves, and coming out on a new level!

Have a listen to these two fellows playing Brian Boru's March with an Irish tin whistle (or similar pipe) and guitar:

And to this slow, but lovely, version performed by a harp ensemble:




So who was Brian Boru? Brian Boru was the last king of Ireland.

I know your students will enjoy this free keyboard music!

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