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Ave Maria (Schubert, easy) — piano notes with letters
The opening of Schubert's Ave Maria, moved from B♭ major to C major and simplified to a single melodic line: the long held note, the turn that follows it, and the first “gratia plena” phrase with its two chromatic notes.
Franz Schubert, 1825 · C major · 4/4 · public domain · arranged and labeled by Notalo
Hear it. A MIDI file of exactly these notes at 60 BPM — open it in any music app, or slow it down to practice.
Download MIDIAbout the song
Schubert wrote this in 1825 as “Ellens dritter Gesang”, the third of Ellen's songs from Walter Scott's The Lady of the Lake, in a German translation; the Latin prayer text that is usually sung to it today was fitted on later. Its opening — a single long note followed by a gentle turn — has made it a fixture of weddings and funerals for two centuries. The original is in B♭ major with a flowing six-note accompaniment; we have moved it to C major and kept only the melody with one plain chord per bar.
How to play it, phrase by phrase
Bar 1 is a G held for three full beats and then the turn A G. Bar 2 continues F E D E and rests on F, with G as the pickup into bar 3, which repeats the turn a step higher: A G F E D, then A B. Bar 4 is a long A. Bar 5 is the chromatic bar: G♯ E G F E G A B♭ — every note a step from the last. Bars 6 to 8 come home: G E F A, G G D, then B D and a long C. Keep the left hand very soft and let every right-hand note connect to the next.
Letter notes, bar by bar (right hand)
Read left to right; a | is a bar line. Chord symbols are for the left hand or a guitar.
| Bar | Chord | Right-hand letters |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Am7 | G A G |
| 2 | G7 | F E D E F |
| 3 | Am7 | G A G F E D |
| 4 | F | A B A |
| 5 | C7 | G♯ E G F E G A B♭ |
| 6 | Fmaj7 | G E F A |
| 7 | G | G G D |
| 8 | Cmaj7 | B D C |
Three things to watch
- Bar 1 is one long G — count all three beats before the turn starts.
- Bar 5 has a G♯ and a B♭ in the same bar: both are black keys, both are passing notes back to the white keys either side.
- Play everything legato and very slowly; the piece is a prayer, not a march.
Have a different version, or a different song? Upload your own sheet music — a photo or PDF — and Notalo writes the letters under every note the same way, plus chords and a MIDI file.
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Frequently asked questions
Is this sheet music free to print and use?
Yes. Ave Maria (Schubert, easy) is in the public domain and this arrangement was written and rendered by Notalo. Print it, share it, use it in lessons.
What do the colors mean?
Red letters are the right hand (treble clef), blue letters are the left hand (bass clef), green is the chord for the bar. This is the same output Notalo gives for any sheet music you upload.
Can I get it with Do Re Mi or numbers instead of letters?
Yes — download the image above, upload it to Notalo, and pick solfège (Do Re Mi), German letters, or numbers (1 2 3) as the label style.