Für Elise sheet music (easy)

Ludwig van Beethoven (1770–1827), Level 3 · Beginner, 0:21

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Für Elise (Easy), keyboard staff, page 1 of 1Für Elise (Easy)Ludwig van Beethoven (1770–1827). Regular keyboard staff. Print at 100%, not fit-to-page.CCDDEFFGGAABBold red line: C4 · Solid line: other Cs, D F G A · Dotted grey line: E | F and B | CC2C3C534ED♯ED♯EBDCACEAAC2C3C53BEG♯BCEED♯ED♯EBDCEAC2C3C56ACEABECBAAEASource: Site-owned easy edition. Melody: Für Elise, WoO 59 (opening theme, note values doubled), Ludwig van Beethoven (1867), public domain, checked against Wikipedia: Für Elise(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/F%C3%BCr_Elise). Left hand written for this site.Für Elise (Easy) · Page 1 of 1
Painted portrait of Beethoven holding a pen and a manuscript
Ludwig van Beethoven with the score of the Missa solemnis. Joseph Karl Stieler, 1820. Wikimedia Commons, Public domain.

Key facts

Level
Level 3 · Beginner. Estimated from the notes (0 of 8 on our difficulty score)
Time signature
3/4
Key signature
No sharps or flats
Length
9 bars, 1 page
Playing time
0:21
Notes
41
Range
E2 to E5

Source and licence

Licence of the source: Public domain melody.

Source: Site-owned easy edition. Melody: Für Elise, WoO 59 (opening theme, note values doubled), Ludwig van Beethoven (1867), public domain, checked against Wikipedia: Für Elise. Left hand written for this site.

Source: Wikipedia.

Playback sounds: Salamander Grand Piano by Alexander Holm (CC BY 3.0); Upright Piano KW by Gonzalo and Roberto of FreePats (CC0 1.0); Fluid R3 GM by Frank Wen and contributors (CC BY 3.0). Full sound credits.

How to play Für Elise (Easy)

Nine short bars and one of the most famous openings ever written. This version keeps the tune and gives the left hand just two notes, so you can win it in an evening.

Where your hands go

Right hand: the piece opens on E5, the E an octave and a third above middle C. Put your thumb on A4 and let fingers 2 to 5 rest on B4, C5, D5 and E5. Your 4th finger also covers D♯5, the black key just below E5.

Left hand: it plays only A2 and E2, one note held for a whole bar. Thumb on A2 and little finger on E2, and you never need to move.

The tricky bars

Bars 0–1
The famous E5, D♯5 shuffle. Bar 1 has both D♯5 and a plain D5, one black key and one white key a step apart, so watch which one each note is.
Bars 2–3
After the quarter note comes an eighth rest, then three notes climbing from low in the hand: C4, E4, A4 in bar 2, then E4, G♯4, B4 in bar 3. Let your hand drop down for them and come back up.
Bar 4
The jump: E4 straight up to E5, an octave, then D♯5 to lead back into the opening. Find the high E5 with your eyes before you play the low E4.
Bars 7–8
The ending. Bar 7 goes E4, C5, B4 instead of the E4, G♯4, B4 of bar 3, and lands on A4 in bar 8.

Your practice plan

  1. Right hand alone, bars 0 and 1, five times slowly. This is the hook, so make it feel easy first.
  2. Right hand, bars 2 to 4. Say "one, two, rest, and" out loud so the eighth rest gets its full value.
  3. Left hand alone, the whole piece, counting three beats on every held note.
  4. Hands together at half speed with the Speed control, two bars at a time.
  5. Play it through with Listen on and try to turn every note green in one go.

Watch out for

  • Playing D♯ where the score has a plain D (the fifth note of bars 1 and 5), or the other way round.
  • Cutting the eighth rest short in bars 2, 3, 4, 6 and 7, which makes the piece hurry.
  • Letting the left hand go before the bar is over. Each left-hand note lasts all three beats.
  • Copying bar 3 into bar 7. Bar 7 ends E4, C5, B4.

Power-up: press Loop, tap the first and last of the tricky bars, and they repeat until they feel easy. Hands in Options lets you practise one hand at a time. New to the notation? Start with how to read keyboard staff, then how to practise piano.