A character piece by the Spanish composer Martín Sánchez Allú, often featuring graceful figures meant for the domestic salon. It captures the lighthearted charm of the mid-19th-century Spanish piano style.
At Henle 3 this is a late-beginner piece — comfortable hands-together playing is assumed, and musical shaping starts to matter. The main demands: precise articulation — the difference between crisp and blurred is the piece; a left hand with real melodic or rhythmic responsibility of its own; and Alberti-bass accompaniment kept quiet and even under the melody.
Focus on clarity of articulation in the right hand against a light, subordinate left-hand accompaniment.
Comparable difficulty and character — good candidates for what to learn next.
A level or two down with the same spirit — ideal if this piece is still out of reach.
Where this piece's skills lead: slightly harder works making similar technical demands.
Lesser-known works by the same hand, at a comparable level.
El buen tono is rated Henle level 3 of 9 — late beginner repertoire, roughly ABRSM grades 4–5. In the RCM system it corresponds to about level 3.
You should be comfortable at Henle level 3 — meaning you can already play level 2–3 pieces cleanly. Learning it one level early is possible as a stretch piece, but more than that usually leads to months of frustration.
A typical performance of El buen tono lasts about 3 minutes.
El buen tono is available as free public-domain sheet music on IMSLP — the score is linked directly from this page.
Pieces at a comparable difficulty and character include El peregrino by Martín Sánchez Allú, El pimpollito by Martín Sánchez Allú, El jitano by Martín Sánchez Allú — see the full similar-pieces list on this page.