Danse Macabre is Saint-Saens’s waltz of skeletons dancing at midnight, and the interactive player below gets you started: hear Death’s fiddle tune at half speed, watch the notes and keys light up, and drag the score to loop any phrase. Sheet music, fingering, and a free printable PDF follow.
Learn it with the interactive player
- Slow it down: x0.5 or x0.75 while you learn the notes, back to x1 once they flow.
- Pause anywhere: the current keys stay lit so you can find them on your own piano.
- Drag the score left or right, or use the 15s buttons, to replay a phrase.
The sheet music, section by section
Take Section A at x0.5 on the player: this is Saint-Saens's own solo-violin waltz, moved up to A minor. After a pickup E4, long-short pairs slide down by half steps, A4-A4, G4-G4, F sharp 4-F sharp 4, F4-F4, under fingers 5, 4, 3, 2 while the thumb waits on E4, then the line turns E4-F sharp 4-A4, G sharp 4-F sharp 4-E4 and stops on G sharp 4.
Section B hides a treat: it quotes the medieval Dies Irae chant, C5-B4, C5-A4, B4-G4, A4, the same melody that opens this collection. Then the waltz returns forte with its sliding pairs, and a short ending written for this arrangement climbs E4-A4-C5 and falls B4-G sharp 4-E4 to a long E4 over a low A2. Open the hand for the quote: thumb on E4, pinky on C5.
The full score
Tempo di valse at 126 BPM is about 60 percent of the orchestra's speed and still one beat per measure in feel: keep the full score light and lilting, a dance for bones rather than boots.
Note by note: keys and fingering
- Right hand: The thumb stays on E4 for the whole piece. Death's waltz slides down by half steps in a chromatic five-finger position: A4 pinky (5), G4 and G sharp 4 ring (4), F sharp 4 middle (3), F4 index (2). For the Dies Irae quote and the last phrase the hand opens, thumb still on E4: F sharp 4 and G4 index (2), G sharp 4 and A4 middle (3), B4 ring (4), C5 pinky (5). The finger table shows the waltz fingering.
- Left hand: A waltz bass with single notes only: pinky (5) plays A2 on beat one, thumb (1) repeats E3 on beats two and three. In measures 6, 8, 11, 18 and 19 the thumb plays E3 on all three beats, and the piece ends on a held A2.
| Note | On the Staff | On the Keyboard | Finger |
|---|---|---|---|
| C5 | Third space of treble staff | White key left of the two black keys above middle C | RH Pinky (5) |
| B4 | Third line of treble staff | White key right of the three black keys | RH Ring (4) |
| A4 | Second space of treble staff | White key between the last two of three black keys | RH Pinky (5) |
| G#4 | Second line of treble staff, with a sharp sign | Middle black key of the three | RH Ring (4) |
| G4 | Second line of treble staff | White key between the first two of three black keys | RH Ring (4) |
| F#4 | First space of treble staff, with a sharp sign | First black key of the three | RH Middle (3) |
| F4 | First space of treble staff | White key left of the three black keys | RH Index (2) |
| E4 | First line of treble staff | White key right of the two black keys above middle C | RH Thumb (1) |
| A2 | First space of bass staff | White key between the last two of three black keys, two octaves down | LH Pinky (5) |
| E3 | Third space of bass staff | White key right of the two black keys below middle C | LH Thumb (1) |
Prefer a video? Watch the keys light up
Same color code as the player: green marks the right hand, blue the left hand, with the score and keyboard in one vertical video.
The story behind Danse Macabre
Camille Saint-Saens composed Danse Macabre in 1874 as a tone poem for orchestra, based on a poem by Henri Cazalis in which Death plays the fiddle at midnight and skeletons dance until the rooster crows at dawn. A solo violin, deliberately mistuned, plays Death's waltz, a xylophone rattles like bones, and about a third of the way in Saint-Saens slyly quotes the medieval Dies Irae chant in waltz time. Parisian audiences found it shocking in 1875; today it is the most beloved piece of Halloween concert music. Our arrangement plays the solo violin's waltz theme, moved from G minor up to A minor, adds a short Dies Irae quote, closes with a four-bar ending of its own, and keeps a strict single-note waltz bass.
Get the printable PDF
The printable PDF of this easy Danse Macabre theme - full score, hand positions, and a step-by-step practice guide - ships inside our free Halloween pack together with fourteen other spooky pieces.
Waltz bass patterns settle in faster when you sit at the right height, and an Adjustable Piano Bench with Back Support lets you match the bench to your keyboard before the skeletons start dancing.
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FAQ
How hard is Danse Macabre on piano?
The orchestral original and its virtuoso piano transcriptions are advanced repertoire. This theme arrangement belongs to Level 3 of our Halloween collection: Saint-Saens's real waltz melody at 126 BPM, with half-step slides that need sharps and naturals, an open-hand position for the Dies Irae quote, and a single-note waltz bass throughout.
How long does it take to learn Danse Macabre?
Around two to three weeks at this level. The thumb stays on E4 the whole time, so the sliding waltz comes quickly once each finger knows its key: 5, 4, 3, 2 down the half steps. Most of the practice time goes to reading the sharps and naturals and to keeping the left-hand waltz pattern steady under them.
What level is Danse Macabre?
Level 3 of our Halloween collection, the Midnight Classics. The piece asks for two hand positions around a fixed thumb, three accidentals (F sharp, G sharp and F natural after F sharp), and an independent oom-pah-pah bass - solid third-level skills.
What are the notes for Danse Macabre?
After a pickup E4, the waltz runs A4, A4, G4, G4, F sharp 4, F sharp 4, F4, F4, then E4, F sharp 4, A4, G sharp 4, F sharp 4, E4, F sharp 4, F sharp 4, G sharp 4. The Dies Irae quote runs C5, B4, C5, A4, B4, G4, A4, and the waltz returns with the slide before the closing bars climb E4, A4, C5 and end B4, G sharp 4, E4, G sharp 4, F sharp 4, E4. The left hand plays A2 on beat one and E3 on beats two and three. Full table above.