Puccini: "O Mio Babbino Caro" - Easy Piano Arrangement

Puccini: "O Mio Babbino Caro" ("Oh, my dearest father") from Gianni Schicchi

PDF Sheet music, piano solo
Simple Solutions piano arrangement by Henrik Kilhamn

Approximate Grade: 3
Scale 1 - 8: Beginner - Advanced

Key: Easy key G major + Original key A-flat major included

This aria is understandably among many sopranos’ favourites. In the short opera Gianni Schicchi, Lauretta pleads to her dearest father (“mio babbino caro”) to let her be with Rinuccio whom she loves, and if he doesn’t, she will throw herself in the river! The aria is not that explicitly dramatic, but Puccini captures some of the most tender love in his writing. Normally the piano accompaniment part has big arpeggios in LH, and RH follows the melody with orchestral chords (so it would actually work as an advanced solo rendition as is). Here instead RH plays only the single melodic line and the LH arpeggios are compressed but maintain their driving quality up and down. Thanks to the simplicity of both melody and harmony, the difficulty is kept to a low level while the setup still feels full.

This arrangement is included in Simple Solutions Volume 5 - A Burning Desire (Intermediate ~ Grade 3-5)

KEY SIGNATURE

The arrangement comes in two versions: both transposed to an easier key signature as well as kept in the original key. The "Easy Key" transposed version is recommended for the most comfortable Simple Solutions experience. It's easier to read notes without many sharps or flats, which frees up a lot of attention for all other musical aspects only at a cost if you have perfect pitch. The version in Original Key serves the purpose of constituting a stepping stone if you wish to continue with the original version or more advanced transcriptions in some capacity later on.

ABOUT SIMPLE SOLUTIONS

The Simple Solutions series came from the idea that even not-professionally trained pianists should be able to enjoy the feeling of playing great music from the piano repertoire with their own hands. This is possible with some clever rearranging of the musical material: reducing the range of independent voices and jumps while preserving core ideas of melody and rhythm. In this easier setting, you will instead have enough time on your hands (literally!) to bring the music to life and care about those aspect that often otherwise come second: phrasing, articulation, dynamics, and balance. This will help you develop your over-all musicality, which will be of great value in all other pieces as well.

In the end, if you feel ready for a challenge and want to go forward with proper piano studies that requires years of practice – you can always move on to more advanced arrangements or original piano compositions. They will always be there. In the meantime, these arrangements will bring you close to the same enjoyment as the full versions, because all musical ideas are carefully conserved.

They are just a little bit easier.