Classical Piano Sheet Music -
In Bite-Size Pieces

Classical piano sheet music  - see what's new! 

Classical music can seem daunting and unapproachable to young piano students, and even older students!

Check out this growing collection of short excerpts from the piano literature.  They have been part of the "Note-reading" assignments in my studio. 

Letting them choose

Simply put, I might play 3 or 4 for my students and let them decide what they'd like to take home THIS WEEK.  (Next week or the week after, it will be a different piece!)  The music is different levels.

NO, this page is NOT finished yet!  Lots more music to come.

Allegro Burlesco

Please scroll down the page for the download links.

Allegro Burlesco is a stormy piece.  It's also fun, with its octave stretch and little grace notes.

*Listen to a recording of Allegro Burlesco*

Basic piano chords in root position and inversions in the left hand are a bonus!

Burgmuller's Arabesque

Here is part one of Burgmuller's "Arabesque" - the notes are double-time, but they are the original notes.  Easier reading! 

Please scroll down the page for the download links.

*Listen to a recording of Arabesque*

I love this little piece, even just page one, because the right hand is so easy, that students can concentrate on the left-hand chord inversions.  Often, they will have just gained some skill with these different chord shapes.

How am I using these short arrangements?

What am I doing with this music?  Well, that might change from month to month!

Right now, I'm handing it out, then my student uses a note-reading guide (if they need it) to write all the notes onto the sheet.  Essentially, it is a worksheet.

And - DOUBLE THE FUN - they get introduced to some REAL MUSIC!

Can-Can

A very recognizable piece of music - this is just part of Can-Can.

*Listen to a recording of this section of Can-Can*

Please scroll down the page for the download links.

This is a very fun section of the Can-Can music.

The famous Canon by Pachelbel

Here is the fun and well-known theme of the Pachelbel Canon, below.  Your beginners will have fun with this, playing it week after week and getting FASTER. 

If you wish to accompany them with the chords, they are C, G, Am, Em, F, C, F, G... or go to one of my Canon pages to read it for yourself.

Please scroll down the page for the download links.

Canon, the beautiful introduction

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Many of your students will be familiar with the introduction to the Canon already, and will be excited to start it.

*Listen to a recording of the Canon intro*

However, this intro will be much easier to tackle after your students have conquered the fingering in basic piano chord inversions.

Cello Suite

This is so incredibly beautiful, and recognizable, that there is a high desire to play it!  At least, the first four measures, which is what we have here, repeated twice to make it more satisfying.

Please scroll down the page for the download links.

Because both hands are set in bass clef, this music may make some of your students nervous.  Set them at ease with an AlphaNotes version:

Please scroll down the page for the download links.

If you are interested in a full transcription of Bach's Cello Suite, look on Musicnotes . com for the piano arrangement by Christina Petrando.  It's great!

Egyptian Dance

The following piece can be found in a 2-page version here...

Please scroll down the page for the download links.

Fur Elise, by Beethoven

This IS the REAL introduction to Fur Elise... but I'm using quarter notes instead of the regular timing (3/8) to encourage students.  

If your students would like to learn THE ENTIRE PIECE with quarter notes, every note written by Beethoven there, go have a look at this page.

Almost everyone has heard this famous little theme.  Just in case, here is a recording:

*Listen to a recording of the beginning of Fur Elise*

Please scroll down the page for the download links.

German Dance, by Beethoven

The German Dance below is actually supposed to be in the key of D.  For this purpose - note-writing and working on tucking under the fingers, I re-wrote it in the key of C.  The scale runs and finger replacement spots are good skills to practice in a short song.

*Listen to a recording of German Dance*

Please scroll down the page for the download links.

Very easy and obviously arranged for young beginners, this melody has a duet secondo on this page...

The Golden Wedding

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Some "tricky" notes in this little etude by Heller... ledger line notes are a challenge initially:

An etude by Heller

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A well-known orchestral piece, The Moldau

The Moldau, below, is a famous and beautiful piece.  

Visit one of my other Moldau pages for a long and full arrangement, or for a beginner version with lyrics.

*Listen to a recording of this short version of The Moldau*

Please scroll down the page for the download links.

Beethoven's famous Moonlight Sonata

Okay, so the Moonlight Sonata below is an ARRANGEMENT, not the real thing. 

Wait - it IS the real thing, but moved down a half step!  Now it is (relatively) easy to play, and still VERY BEAUTIFUL.  Get out the Note-Reading Worksheets for those super low notes:

Please scroll down the page for the download links.

One page of the original

What's this? The actual notes from the original Moonlight Sonata - but without the key signature.  

This is a good way to introduce ambitious students to this wonderful composition, and to judge if they are ready for the whole piece!

The full arrangement

If you are interested in reading and playing ALL of Moonlight Sonata with big notes and even with note names in the note heads, find those full 9-page versions on this page, Moonlight Sonata: How to Play It.

Please scroll down the page for the download links.

Edvard Grieg's lovely Morning Song

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This arrangement is two pages.

A theory lesson from Bach

Sixteenth notes are often confusing to young students.  Prepare them for this series of broken chords and inversions by going through a sheet showing the three main chords in the key of C minor...

*Listen to a recording of Bach's Little Prelude in C Minor*

Please scroll down the page for the download links.

"Solfeggietto" by one of J.S. Bach's sons, Carl Philipp Emanuel, is fun and energetic, even a bit stormy!

Here are just the beginning few measures, with the key signature removed.

Please scroll down the page for the download links.

Mozart's familiar Sonata

Mozart's "easy sonata" (Sonata facile) in C, is a crowd-pleaser, and sure to please your students.  There are some challenges to reading and playing this 8-measure intro:

• A clef change in the left hand
• A trill in the right hand
• Long scales which involve careful fingering

*Listen to a recording of the introduction to Mozart's Sonata in C*

Please scroll down the page for the download links.

Clementi's piano music can be so cute!

Clementi's "little" sonatas, or sonatinas, are pretty fun to play, and spotting the hidden chords and scales is fairly easy detective work for your students.  Aside from the theory aspect, the scale and chord work are important for technique.  

The following excerpt has energy and an engaging melody!

*Listen to a recording of this excerpt from Clementi's Sonatina*

Please scroll down the page for the download links.

Music by Joseph Haydn

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Spring, from Vivaldi's Four Seasons

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Ballet music by Tchaikovsky, slow & pretty

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Symphony 6 Theme, by Beethoven

Now, the theme from Beethoven's 6th symphony, below, is not a piano piece, of course, but it is such a lovely and energetic theme that it is a joy to play!

Finding the original pieces in their full form

A wonderful site for public domain classical sheet music is known as IMSLP - the International Music Score Library Project.  (It is also known as the Petrucci Music Library.)

Not only can you find multiple uploads of classical music there, but you may also upload your own transcription or scanned copy of old sheet music.  Downloading pdfs to your own computer is FREE, though they do ask for a small donation, which is worth considering!

Recordings & Sheet Music are both featured

Some of the uploads are obviously just for posterity, and will not be useful!  Compare two versions of Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata... the top one is just interesting historically!  The second one is at least legible, and there are many more options available.

Yikes!  Here is Moonlight Sonata!

Most of IMSLP's sheets are legible

The links for the classical piano sheet music excerpts:

Though Swan Lake sounds difficult, the right hand never has to lift in this part of the piece, and the left hand uses the same two broken chords over and over again.  

Beth D:
Just wanted to say thank you so much for your huge resource of piano pieces! I greatly appreciate your work! I use your music with my students often. Ode to Joy (alpha note version) helped one of my students who was struggling with reading it. I love seeing them reading/playing something they wouldn't been able to do yet. Thank you for letting me/others have it for free. :) Hope you have a wonderful evening! God bless!

Alicia:
I just wanted to say THANK YOU!!!

I started teaching my kids music and am now teaching others. This is exactly what I was looking for!! Thank you!!

Cat:
Thank you so much for these resources - I have a small music studio in Johannesburg, South Africa.

My kids love playing these tunes.

Cathy:
I recently purchased your arrangement of The Moldau (a longtime favorite of mine).

I wasn't sure if any of my students would be interested in it, but to my amazement 3 of my students LOVE it. Thank you so much for making your great arrangement.