Waltzes for piano
17 waltzes to read and learn at your keyboard, levels 2 to 7, easiest first, each with easier versions made from the score itself.
What a waltz is
A turning dance for couples from Austria and southern Germany, grown from the country Ländler in the late 18th century. Vienna danced it all through the 19th, and composers wrote waltzes for the piano to be played, not danced: Schubert's are short and plain, Chopin's are concert pieces.
How it goes
Three beats in a bar, the first one strong. One bar is felt as one swing, so a fast waltz is counted in ones. Usually written in 3/4.
What to read for
The left hand plays a bass note on beat 1 and a chord on beats 2 and 3, jumping between them every bar. Read the bass note first: it carries the harmony, and the chord above it usually stays near where it was.
What the library's 17 waltzes print
Time signatures: all 17 in 3/4. Tempo words at the start: Allegretto (3), Vivace (2), Allegro (2), and Moderato (2); 8 print none. Keys: 10 major and 6 minor, most often A minor (4), A major (3), and C major (1).
By Frédéric Chopin (6), Enrique Granados (2), Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (2), Louis Gobbaerts, Carl Czerny, Franz Schubert, Edvard Grieg, Alexander Gretchaninov, Johannes Brahms, and Franz Liszt.
- Pieces
- 17
- Levels
- 2 to 7
- Key signatures
- 5 flats to 4 sharps
- Length
- 32 to 389 bars
Level 2
A tune over a simple left hand, mostly in one hand position.
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.
-
Valses poéticos No. 5
Enrique Granados 2 flats, 3/4, 68 bars Community source -
Valses poéticos No. 7
Enrique Granados 3 sharps, 3/4, 48 bars Community source -
Waltz, Op. 123 No. 6
Alexander Gretchaninov 3 sharps, 3/4, 80 bars Checked against the edition -
Waltz in A minor, B. 150
Frédéric Chopin no sharps or flats, 3/4, 81 bars Community source -
Waltz, Op. 39 No. 8
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky 3 flats, 3/4, 85 bars Two sources agree -
Waltz in A flat, Op. 69 No. 1
Frédéric Chopin 4 flats, 3/4, 161 bars Checked against the edition -
Waltz in B minor, Op. 69 No. 2
Frédéric Chopin 2 sharps, 3/4, 177 bars Community source -
Waltz of the Flowers, from The Nutcracker
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky 2 sharps, 3/4, 389 bars Checked against the edition
Level 5
The edge of early intermediate: dense textures, fast passages and far keys.
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.
A piece is listed here when its title calls it a waltz, in English, German, French or Italian.
Other forms
Every form five or more library pieces are named for.
Learning with someone? Send them this page by email