Music Shorts

Little Etude Nº6: Ventricular Ectopics

Nº6 of seven Little Etudes for beginner and intermediate piano players based on different cardiac electrophysiology aberrations for day 6 of WHRW2020: World Heart Rhythm Week (1-7 June 2020). Like Little Etude Nº3, Little Etude Nº6 is based on Ventricular Ectopics (VEs), except these have compensatory pauses. VEs are early beats that derail the heart’s normal rhythm. Each early beat is followed by a pause, during which the heart fills up more than normal, causing the next beat to be more forceful.

When a VE is followed by a fully compensatory pause, it means that the intervals before and after the VE sum up to two normal heartbeats. This rhythm is embedded in Dave Brubeck’s Blue Rondo à la Turk, on which this little etude is based. Little Etude Nº6 is also known as À la Bru Rondo Turk.

Little Etudes for piano


Here is the original Blue Rondo à la Turk performed by the Dave Brubeck Quartet: