‘Twinkle, twinkle, little star’ becomes ‘Blinding cosmic explosion’ in only seven stages. Indulge in some incredibly impressive pianism.

There are seven increasingly complex arrangements of ‘Twinkle Twinkle Little Star’ that a musician has posted online.

The 28-year-old Japanese classical pianist Hayato Sumino was once known more as ‘Cateen’ on YouTube;

now, he’s a huge star in the concert world and is preparing to release his debut album this fall.
The pianist started playing

when she was three years old and has won numerous prizes since then,the most recent being the 2017 Gold Prize in Asia’s Chopin International Piano Competition.

Sumino starts at Level 0 in this popular video from a few years ago, and he’s already one step ahead of us.

He starts his musical journey with the basic melody of the nursery rhyme, a straightforward walking bass line, and a few tasteful twists in the right hand just to be safe.

The straightforward melody starts to use Mozartian flourishes at Level 1. The lullaby gets some lovely scrunchy harmonies underneath as we go to Level 2.

Keyboard work in ragtime is part of Level 3. As we get to Levels 4 and 5, ‘Twinkle twinkle’ receives a new

lease of life complete with virtuoso flourishes, bravura parts reminiscent of Liszt, and stunning arpeggios.

With total, unlimited access to all 88 keyboard notes and limitless chromatic lines when the melody first reaches the left hand, Level 6 is essentially a Chopin etude.