Short classical piano pieces
Pieces you can finish in one sitting: each plays for a minute or less as written, so a whole piece fits in a short practice and you hear it end to end from the first week. Here are 43, among them Grieg's Morning Mood, from Peer Gynt; Strauss's The Blue Danube (theme); and Vivaldi's Spring, from The Four Seasons (simple arrangement). Each has easier versions made from the score itself.
- Pieces
- 43
- Levels
- 2 to 7
- Key signatures
- 4 flats to 3 sharps
- Length
- 12 to 82 bars
How these were chosen: every piece in the library that plays for a minute or less at its score's speed (its printed metronome mark, or the speed we suggest where it prints none, as its page says), without numbered exercises (on the studies page) or carols, hymns and traditional tunes (on pages of their own). The library has 182 of them; this page shows up to 10 at each level, the famous pieces and the ones adult beginners ask for first, then the ones that sound most.
Level 2
A tune over a simple left hand, mostly in one hand position.
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Allegro in C, K. 1b
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart no sharps or flats, 2/4, 12 bars
about 10 seconds as written, 12 bars -
Ode to Joy
Ludwig van Beethoven no sharps or flats, 4/4, 16 bars
about 35 seconds as written, 16 bars -
Theme from the Sonata in A, K. 331
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart no sharps or flats, 3/4, 16 bars
about 25 seconds as written, 16 bars -
Oh! Susanna
Stephen Foster 2 sharps, 4/4, 17 bars
about 35 seconds as written, 17 bars -
Papageno's Aria, from The Magic Flute
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart no sharps or flats, 4/4, 23 bars
about 40 seconds as written, 23 bars -
Theme from the Surprise Symphony
Joseph Haydn no sharps or flats, 4/4, 24 bars
about 55 seconds as written, 24 bars -
Spring, from The Four Seasons (simple arrangement)
Antonio Vivaldi 3 sharps, 4/4, 27 bars
about 60 seconds as written, 27 bars -
Air from Little Russia, Op. 107 No. 3
Ludwig van Beethoven 1 sharp, 2/4, 32 bars
about 25 seconds as written, 32 bars -
Minuet in F
Leopold Mozart 1 flat, 3/4, 32 bars
about 50 seconds as written, 32 bars -
The Blue Danube (theme)
Johann Strauss II no sharps or flats, 3/4, 32 bars
about 55 seconds as written, 32 bars
Level 3
Both hands busy, the hand moves around, a sharp or flat or two.
-
Wiegenlied (Lullaby)
Bernhard Flies 1 flat, 6/8, 16 bars
about 35 seconds as written, 16 bars -
The Happy Farmer, Op. 68 No. 10
Robert Schumann 1 flat, 4/4, 21 bars
about 40 seconds as written, 21 bars -
Innocence, Op. 100 No. 5
Friedrich Burgmüller 1 flat, 3/4, 32 bars
about 50 seconds as written, 32 bars -
Presto, from the Sonata in A minor
Georg Benda no sharps or flats, 6/8, 36 bars
about 35 seconds as written, 36 bars -
Waltz, D. 969 No. 9
Franz Schubert no sharps or flats, 3/4, 37 bars
about 40 seconds as written, 37 bars -
Morning Mood, from Peer Gynt
Edvard Grieg no sharps or flats, 6/8, 38 bars, shortened
about 50 seconds as written, 38 bars -
Musette in D, BWV Anh. 126
Anonymous (Notebook for Anna Magdalena Bach) 2 sharps, 2/4, 40 bars
about 50 seconds as written, 40 bars -
Ah vous dirai-je, Maman: Variation I
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart no sharps or flats, 2/4, 48 bars
about 55 seconds as written, 48 bars -
Allegro scherzando in F
Joseph Haydn 1 flat, 2/4, 54 bars
about 55 seconds as written, 54 bars -
Norwegian Melody, Op. 12 No. 6
Edvard Grieg 2 sharps, 3/4, 56 bars
about 55 seconds as written, 56 bars
Level 4
Real independence between the hands and more accidentals.
-
Prelude in A, Op. 28 No. 7
Frédéric Chopin 3 sharps, 3/4, 17 bars
about 35 seconds as written, 17 bars -
Little Romance, Op. 68 No. 19
Robert Schumann no sharps or flats, 4/4, 21 bars
about 35 seconds as written, 21 bars -
Invention No. 7 in E minor, BWV 778
Johann Sebastian Bach 1 sharp, 4/4, 23 bars
about 55 seconds as written, 23 bars -
An Important Event, from Kinderszenen
Robert Schumann 3 sharps, 3/4, 25 bars
about 35 seconds as written, 25 bars -
Grace, Op. 100 No. 8
Friedrich Burgmüller 1 flat, 3/4, 32 bars
about 50 seconds as written, 32 bars -
Invention No. 8 in F, BWV 779
Johann Sebastian Bach 1 flat, 3/4, 34 bars
about 50 seconds as written, 34 bars -
Sonatina in F, Op. 36 No. 4: II
Muzio Clementi 2 flats, 2/4, 46 bars
about 60 seconds as written, 46 bars -
The Return, Op. 100 No. 23
Friedrich Burgmüller 3 flats, 6/8, 62 bars
about 60 seconds as written, 62 bars -
Scherzo in A
Johann Nepomuk Hummel 3 sharps, 3/8, 74 bars
about 55 seconds as written, 74 bars -
Sonatina in G, Op. 36 No. 5: II
Muzio Clementi no sharps or flats, 3/8, 82 bars
about 55 seconds as written, 82 bars
Level 5
The edge of early intermediate: dense textures, fast passages and far keys.
-
For Children No. 17
Béla Bartók no sharps or flats, 2/4, 19 bars
about 30 seconds as written, 19 bars -
A Terrible Event, Op. 98 No. 11
Alexander Gretchaninov 3 flats, 4/4, 21 bars
about 40 seconds as written, 21 bars -
Arietta, Op. 12 No. 1
Edvard Grieg 3 flats, 2/4, 23 bars
about 30 seconds as written, 23 bars -
Happy Enough, from Kinderszenen
Robert Schumann 2 sharps, 2/4, 25 bars
about 30 seconds as written, 25 bars -
Album Leaf
Alexander Scriabin 3 flats, 3/4, 27 bars
about 55 seconds as written, 27 bars -
Blind Man's Buff, from Kinderszenen
Robert Schumann 2 sharps, 2/4, 32 bars
about 35 seconds as written, 32 bars -
Child Falling Asleep, from Kinderszenen
Robert Schumann 1 sharp, 2/4, 32 bars
about 50 seconds as written, 32 bars -
Invention No. 9 in F minor, BWV 780
Johann Sebastian Bach 4 flats, 3/4, 34 bars
about 55 seconds as written, 34 bars -
Prelude in D, Op. 28 No. 5
Frédéric Chopin 2 sharps, 3/8, 39 bars
about 25 seconds as written, 39 bars -
The Nurse's Tale, Op. 39 No. 19
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky no sharps or flats, 2/4, 48 bars
about 50 seconds as written, 48 bars
Level 6
Intermediate: the notes of level 5 at concert speed, held even from the first bar to the last.
Level 7
Advanced: études and impromptus, fast and even in both hands for pages at a time, with cross-rhythms.
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.
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