Sur le pont d'Avignon (On the Bridge of Avignon)

About this arrangement

The French dancing song, refrain, verse and refrain again, in 2/4 with two beats to a bar. The refrain runs up the five fingers, E F G, and then dips below middle C on “l’on y dan-se” in bar 4: B, then the G below, which the thumb reaches down for, as in Frère Jacques. The verse (bars 9 to 12), where the fine gentlemen bow “comme ci” and “comme ça”, is just C and D. The left hand alternates C and G7, one chord a bar.

Practice tip: Say “Sur le pont d’A-vi-gnon” in rhythm: two quick notes and a long one, twice. In bar 4 play the low G with the thumb and bring it straight back to middle C.

The words

Sur le pont d’Avignon, l’on y danse, l’on y danse, sur le pont d’Avignon, l’on y danse tous en rond. Les beaux messieurs font comme ci, et puis encore comme ça. Sur le pont d’Avignon, l’on y danse, l’on y danse, sur le pont d’Avignon, l’on y danse tous en rond.

A short history

The song is about the Pont Saint-Bénézet, the medieval bridge across the Rhône at Avignon in the south of France, built in the twelfth century. Floods carried away most of it, and today only four of its original twenty-two arches stand. The words say people dance “sur” (on) the bridge; it is often pointed out that they more likely danced “sous” (under) it, on the island beneath the arches, where there were taverns.

A song about the bridge was known in the fifteenth century, but the tune sung today was made popular by the composer Adolphe Adam, who used it in his comic opera Le Sourd ou l’Auberge pleine in 1853.

Each verse names someone who dances in their own way, the gentlemen, the ladies, the soldiers, and everyone copies them, which is why it has stayed a playground favourite.

Quick facts

Tune

Traditional (French, 15th century)

Key

C major

Time signature

2/4

Length

20 bars

Tempo

Dancing, crotchet = 112

Difficulty

Level 3: Notes below middle C (piece 42 of 201)

Type

Folk song

Hands

Both: melody in the right hand, chords in the left

Copyright

Public domain tune; arrangement by Digital Greenhouse, free for personal and classroom use

Questions and answers