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The Nutcracker for piano

Tchaikovsky's ballet The Nutcracker (1892) at the keyboard: the dances from his suite, Op. 71a, in Stepán Esipoff's piano arrangement published by Schirmer in 1922, and the Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy. Each piece has easier versions made from the score itself (the right-hand melody alone, then with left-hand roots), so you can print the version that fits your reading now and play it as written later.

Pieces

2

Levels

3 to 5

Key signatures

2 flats to 1 sharp

Length

32 to 52 bars

In the order of the ballet

1. Chinese Dance, from The Nutcracker Level 3
2. Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy Level 5

Level 3

Both hands busy, the hand moves around, a sharp or flat or two.

• Chinese Dance, from The Nutcracker
  Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky 2 flats, 4/4, 32 bars

Level 5

The edge of early intermediate: dense textures, fast passages and far keys.

• Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy
  Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky 1 sharp, 2/4, 52 bars

See also: Easy Christmas piano sheet music.

Open a piece to print any of its versions free, or to play it at your MIDI keyboard with every note marked. New to reading? The level 2 sight-reading exercises are a good warm-up.