Dark Eyes

What you get, immediately after purchase
📄 The sheet music as a PDF, printable and readable on a tablet
🎧 The MP3 audio recording, to learn the piece by ear
✉️ A download link by email, with no account to create

Dark Eyes (Ochi Chornye) is a Russian romance: Yevhen Hrebinka's poem appeared in 1843, and the music, adapted from a waltz by Florian Hermann, made it a favourite of the Gypsy choirs of Moscow and Saint Petersburg. Russian musicians who went into exile after 1917 carried it to Paris, where Django Reinhardt turned it into a gypsy jazz standard.

On the accordion, everything rests on the minor character of the melody: long notes that have to sing on the bellows and, in the Gypsy tradition, repeats that speed up and make you hold then release the tempo. The left hand works on basses and minor chords, an excellent exercise for finding your way around that part of the bass keyboard. This level 2/5 score keeps the colour of the piece while staying within reach of a beginner, and it is one of those tunes that always go down well with an audience.