Music library › Folk songs and rounds
Oh! Susanna
Stephen Foster, 1848. Excerpt, written out for reading practice.
- Music
- Stephen Foster
- Date
- 1848
- Key
- C major
- Time
- 4/4
- Clef
- Treble
- Level
- Beginner
- Length
- Excerpt
About the music
Stephen Foster, often called the father of American popular song, published “Oh! Susanna” in 1848. It became an anthem of the California Gold Rush the following year and is still one of the best-known American folk songs.
The verse is in C major and uses just six notes. Its two phrases are almost the same: the first ends on D, leaving you hanging, and the second ends on C, home.
Reading tips
- Two eighth notes act as a pickup on beat 4.
- The dotted quarter and eighth (G, A) appear in the second bar of each phrase.
- Compare the two phrases: only the last bar is different.
How to practice it
Read the piece through once without playing, naming the starting note and looking for patterns and repeats. Then press Play and follow the notes as they light up. When you are ready, choose Practice this piece: it opens in the practice tool, where you can slow it down, play along on the on-screen piano, a MIDI keyboard or your voice, and have every note checked.