First Songs — Level 5
A, E♭, E, or A♭ major, and D minor
High Trestle
The new figure is an eighth and then two sixteenths inside one beat — long, short, short, square on the count. A major climbs from A4 onto a stretch of high notes through the middle bars, and the B5 at the top needs the second octave key.
A Major · 4/4 · A4–B5 · whole notes, quarter notes, paired eighths, sixteenth runs, rests
Winter Glass
Two arches in E♭ major between A♭4 and B♭5: the first tops out on G5, the second climbs past it to B♭5, which needs the second octave key. E♭5 and F5 never touch at eighth speed here, so ordinary fingerings carry the whole tune.
E♭ Major · 4/4 · A♭4–B♭5 · whole notes, quarter notes, paired eighths, sixteenth runs, rests
Green Signal
E major at a brisk clip, with four sharps to keep straight — it opens on a falling fourth, like the signal itself dropping, and answers with a rising one in bar five. B5 arrives early, in bar two; after that the line unwinds, lifts once more to A5 in bar six, and settles back on E5.
E Major · 4/4 · A4–B5 · whole notes, quarter notes, paired eighths, sixteenth runs, rests
Gold Thread
One drawn-out line in A♭ major between G4 and a single C6 in bar five — every move in the tune is a step except one falling third near the end. B♭5 and C6 both need the second octave key, and E♭5 and F5 only ever meet each other as quarters.
A♭ Major · 4/4 · G4–C6 · whole notes, quarter notes, paired eighths, sixteenth runs, rests
Hollow Lane
Natural D minor between G4 and F5, sinking in two waves — from F5 at the start, from E5 again after the breath. Every interval is a step until the last turn, where B♭4 stretches up an augmented second into a raised C♯5: wider than any other step here, the one note outside the scale, and the sound that makes minor feel like minor.
D Minor · 3/4 · G4–F5 · dotted half notes, half notes, quarter notes, paired eighths, sixteenth runs, rests