Piano songs · Intermediate
Wedding March on piano
Mendelssohn's Wedding March is the joyful one played as the couple walks back down the aisle: a trumpet fanfare on one repeated note, then a grand, swinging tune. Here's the fanfare and the first phrase.
this song
About the piece
Felix Mendelssohn wrote it in 1842 as part of his music for Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream. It became a wedding favourite after Princess Victoria, Queen Victoria's daughter, walked out to it in 1858. (The "Here comes the bride" tune is a different piece, by Wagner.)
The notes
The letters above are the tune, played by your right hand: C C C C C C C C; C C C E E E E E; E E E G G G G G; C B F♯ A G; F D C B C D; G D E C E G. Longer boxes are longer notes. Press Play and follow along, slow it down with the speed slider, or turn on Wait for me and play each note yourself.
How to learn it
- The fanfare: quick triplets on C (three notes in the time of one) and then a long C. Keep the triplets crisp and even.
- It builds: the fanfare climbs, C, then E, then G, as more voices join.
- The tune: a big leap up to high C, then down through B, F♯ and A. Play it broadly.
- Chords: it was written for orchestra and arranged for organ; on piano, keep the left hand's chords full but not heavy.
Learning Wedding March on a real piano? Ivory listens to you play and tells you what's off: a note that's missing, a hand that lands late, a rhythm that runs away. Then it shows you how it should go.
Questions people ask
Is the Wedding March played at the start or the end of a wedding?
Mendelssohn's Wedding March is traditionally the recessional, for walking out. "Here Comes the Bride" (Wagner's Bridal Chorus) is the processional.
Who wrote the Wedding March?
Felix Mendelssohn, in 1842, for A Midsummer Night's Dream.
More songs to play
Notes checked against the public-domain Mutopia Project edition (mutopiaproject.org), from its organ arrangement. Piano sound: Salamander Grand Piano by Alexander Holm, CC BY 3.0.