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Polonaises for piano

6 polonaises to read and learn at your keyboard, levels 3 to 4, easiest first, each with easier versions made from the score itself.

What a polonaise is

A Polish walking dance that opened balls, led by the host in a stately procession. German composers wrote small ones in the 18th century, like the polonaises in Bach's notebook for Anna Magdalena; Chopin made it the proud national dance of his concert music.

How it goes

Three beats in a bar at a stately walking pace, never a waltz's swing. Usually written in 3/4.

What to read for

Phrases that often end on the second beat of the bar rather than the first, and in the later ones a bar that opens with an eighth and two sixteenths. Give the first beat its weight without hurrying the short notes.

What the library's 6 polonaises print

Time signatures: all 6 in 3/4. None prints a tempo word at the start. Keys: 2 major and 4 minor, most often G minor (3), F major (1), and D minor (1).

By Anonymous (3), Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach (2), and Johann Adolf Hasse.

Pieces
6
Levels
3 to 4
Key signatures
2 flats to 1 sharp
Length
32 to 56 bars

Level 3

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

Level 4

Real independence between the hands and more accidentals.

A piece is listed here when its title calls it a polonaise, in English, German, French or Italian.

Other forms

Every form five or more library pieces are named for.

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