Alouette is a popular French cooking song! It is all about plucking the feathers from a skylark. It has a jaunty feel and is great fun to play on the piano. Here are the lyrics:
“Al-ou-et-te gentille al-ou-et-te. Al-ou-et-te je te plumerai.
Je te plu-me-rai la tete, Je te plu-me-rai la tete,
Et la tete, et la tete, al-ou-ette, al-ou-ette.
Al-ou-et-te gentille al-ou-et-te. Al-ou-et-te je te plumerai.”
This roughly translates as:
“Skylark, gentle skylark. Skylark, I am going to pluck your feathers!
I am going to pluck the feathers on your head. I am going to pluck the feathers on your head.
And your head, and your head, skylark, skylark.
Skylark, gentle skylark. Skylark, I am going to pluck your feathers!”
The words do not translate well to fit with each note of the song.
The notes you are going to use for this song are mainly played in the right hand. Place your thumb on Middle C and each finger on the following notes D E F G. The left hand is only going to play one note. This is the G directly below Middle C. For this note, you will see G written in lower case – g.
To start the piece off, place both thumbs on Middle C. The right hand begins. When you see g, this is played by the ring finger of your left hand. Here are the notes of Alouette:
C D E E D C D E C g
C D E E D C D E C
C C C C C E G, G G G F E D C
G G G, g g g, G G G, g g g
C D E E D C D E C g
C D E E D C D E C