# Suggest piano music for me to learn **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 20, 2003, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suggest-piano-music-for-me-to-learn/196451 "2003-08-20T15:02:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![moj34](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3bc359/32.png) [@moj34](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/moj34)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2003, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suggest-piano-music-for-me-to-learn/196451/1 "2003-08-20T15:02:44Z")
I’ve been teaching myself to play the piano for a couple of months now and starting to get my head round it. But, I haven’t listened to a lot of piano music so I’m kind of stuck for pieces to learn. Has anyone got any suggestions for stuff that is not too hard/ too long, sounds good and preferably in the public domain ( so I can find it on [www.sheetmusicarchive.net](http://www.sheetmusicarchive.net) ). Stuff that will improve my technique would be a bonus. At the moment I’m learning “fur elise” by beethoven; something of similar difficulty / length would be nice. TIA moj ---
**Author:** ![Skwerl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/258eb7/32.png) [@Skwerl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skwerl)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2003, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suggest-piano-music-for-me-to-learn/196451/2 "2003-08-20T16:43:07Z")
Mozart has a lot of easier pieces that are popular with beginners. Rondo alla Turca and his Sonata in C major, k. 545, are both pretty recognizable. Also, his variations of “Ah vous dirais-je, Maman,” aka Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, aren’t too terribly difficult. ---
**Author:** ![Briny\_Deep](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/briny_deep/32/17188_2.png) [@Briny\_Deep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Briny_Deep)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2003, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suggest-piano-music-for-me-to-learn/196451/3 "2003-08-20T18:39:56Z")
Try Bach’s Prelude #1 in C-Major. If this sounds familiar, it’s because Charles Gounod wrote a melody line on top of it and called it _Ave Maria_. That one prelude will teach you oodles about harmony and voice-leading; don’t be put off by the notation with all those tied notes. The whole thing is just a series of 5-note chords (played with 2 hands), arpeggiated or “strummed” twice in each measure. It’s quite easy. ---
**Author:** ![moj34](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3bc359/32.png) [@moj34](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/moj34)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2003, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suggest-piano-music-for-me-to-learn/196451/4 "2003-08-20T20:46:33Z")
Thanks for the replies. **mansonite** , the Prelude in C was actually the last piece I learned…I liked it a lot. I’m not familiar with the Charles Gounod piece though, I’ll have to check it out. I had a look at the fugue which goes with it, but it seemed to have some stretches in it that were (for me ) impossible. Maybe some more practice will change my opinion. ---
**Author:** ![moj34](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3bc359/32.png) [@moj34](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/moj34)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2003, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suggest-piano-music-for-me-to-learn/196451/5 "2003-08-20T20:56:23Z")
**skwerl** , I just downloaded both the pieces you suggested, and I do indeed recognise them both…Thanks ---
**Author:** ![av8rmike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/edb3f5/32.png) [@av8rmike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/av8rmike)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2003, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suggest-piano-music-for-me-to-learn/196451/6 "2003-08-20T21:35:16Z")
Just off the top of my head, I came up with plenty of Bach stuff: Two- and Three-Part Inventions (though the three-part are tricky) Goldberg Variations 6 French Suites/English Suites/Partitas for Keyboard the Anna Magdalena Notebook Also, the innumerable rags of Scott Joplin