The best easy classical piano pieces for beginners
The best first pieces are the ones you actually want to play. Motivation carries you through the slow weeks far better than any exercise book. The good news is that a lot of great classical music is genuinely easy, and much of the rest exists in simplified arrangements that keep the tune and drop the hard parts.
Every piece below is in the PianoKite library and has its own page, where you can try the first 20 seconds on a falling-notes player in your browser, even play along on a MIDI keyboard. Never played before? The beginner lessons get you to Ode to Joy, the Minuet in G and the opening of Für Elise step by step. The level badges use our five-level scale, from Beginner to Expert. Several pieces come in more than one version: start with the easiest and come back for the next one later.
Your first weeks (level 1)
These have a single melody in the right hand, short phrases and little or no left hand. If you've never played before, start here.
Ode to Joy – Beethoven Beginner–Easy
The tune from Beethoven's Ninth Symphony moves almost entirely by step, so your fingers barely need to leave a five-note position. It's the classic first piece for a reason: it sounds like real music from the very first bar. The library has it as the hymn Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee, with three beginner versions and one easy one.
Canon in D – Pachelbel Beginner–Easy
The real Canon is a piece for strings over a repeating bass line. Its harmony repeats every few bars, so once you know the first phrase you know the shape of the whole piece, and the left hand has the same pattern over and over while the right hand changes. Start with the short beginner version; three easy versions, the longest about two minutes, go further into the piece.
Swan Lake – Tchaikovsky Beginner
The swan theme from Tchaikovsky's ballet is slow and minor, and its simplified version is one of the most popular pieces in our library. Slow pieces are good early on: they give you time to find each key and to listen to the sound you're making.
Für Elise – Beethoven Beginner–Intermediate
Everyone wants to play Für Elise, and the short beginner version (under a minute) lets you play its famous opening in your first months: the E–D♯ rocking figure and the broken chords that answer it. The full piece is level 3; it's a great goal for the end of your first year or two.
Melody, Op. 68 No. 1 – Schumann Beginner
The first piece in Schumann's Album for the Young, written for his daughters. A simple tune in the right hand over a gentle left-hand line: an original composition, not an arrangement, and a beautiful one. Its neighbour, Soldiers' March, is a crisp contrast.
Minuet in G major – Bach (Petzold) Beginner–Easy
The most famous piece in the Notebook for Anna Magdalena Bach, now believed to be by Christian Petzold, though it's still listed under Bach. It's in three-four time with a right-hand melody and a left hand that has its own line, so it's an ideal first taste of Baroque music. The library has two beginner versions and an easy one. Its companion pieces Minuet in G minor and Minuet in A minor are just as approachable.
La Candeur (Candor) – Burgmüller Beginner
The first of Burgmüller's 25 studies, Op. 100: a smooth right-hand melody over a left hand of broken chords. It teaches legato, playing notes connected without gaps, which is one of the most important skills on the piano.
Morning Prayer – Tchaikovsky Beginner
The opening of Tchaikovsky's own Album for the Young. Slow, chorale-like and in several parts, it's good practice for holding some notes while others move.
When both hands are working (level 2)
Level 2 pieces use both hands fully, with more movement around the keyboard and more varied rhythms. Learn each hand on its own before you put them together.
Gymnopédie No. 1 – Satie Easy
Slow, calm and instantly recognisable. The left hand alternates a low bass note with a chord, which takes some getting used to, but the tempo is so relaxed that you have time to find every jump. Use the sustain pedal to join the sound.
Prelude in E minor, Op. 28 No. 4 – Chopin Easy
One of the few pieces by Chopin that a beginner can really play. The right hand sings a simple, sad melody while the left hand repeats chords that shift by a single note at a time. The challenge isn't speed but control: keeping the chords soft and even under the melody. The Prelude in A major is shorter still.
The Happy Farmer – Schumann Easy
A cheerful piece where the melody is in the left hand and the right hand accompanies. Most beginners' left hands lag behind; this piece fixes that while being fun to play. The Wild Horseman and First Loss are from the same album.
Sonatina in C major, Op. 36 No. 1 – Clementi Easy–Intermediate
Generations of pianists learned Classical style from this sonatina: scales, broken chords and clear phrases in a short first movement. It's the natural step towards Mozart and Haydn sonatas.
Aria from the Notebook for Anna Magdalena Bach – Bach Easy
A short aria in D minor from the notebook Bach kept for his wife, in an easy arrangement. It's slow and expressive, a good piece for learning to shape a melody.
Musette in D major – Bach Easy
A bright, bouncy piece over a drone bass that imitates bagpipes, with left-hand octave jumps that are good practice for moving around the keyboard.
Åse's Death – Grieg Easy
From the Peer Gynt music: slow, chordal and deeply sad. It's mainly about playing chords evenly and softly, which makes it a good contrast to the lively pieces above.
Brahms' Lullaby – Brahms Beginner–Easy
Everyone knows this melody, and it fits under the hands very naturally. It comes in a beginner and an easy version, so it works both as a first piece and as a first piece with a proper left-hand part.
The Entertainer – Joplin Easy–Intermediate
Ragtime is usually hard, but the easy version of Joplin's most famous rag is a shorter arrangement, under two minutes, that keeps the syncopated tune. The full four-minute version is there for later.
What to aim for next (level 3)
After a year or so of steady practice, these are realistic goals. They're the pieces people often name when asked what they want to play.
- Prelude in C major from the Well-Tempered Clavier: one broken-chord pattern from start to finish, so it's mostly about learning the harmonies and keeping the pattern even.
- Moonlight Sonata, 1st movement: slow triplets under a quiet melody. Easier to play the notes than to play it well.
- Sonata Facile K. 545, Allegro: Mozart called it a sonata for beginners; it's a step up from Clementi.
- The full Für Elise, including its two contrasting middle sections.
How to choose
- Pick what you love first. A piece you enjoy at the edge of your level beats an easier one you don't care about.
- Mix moods. Alternate a slow piece (for tone and control) with a lively one (for rhythm and finger speed).
- Use the versions. When a piece comes in several levels, learn the easy one completely before starting the next. The notes you already know make the harder version quicker to learn.
- Don't stay too long. If a piece is at 80–90% and the last bars won't improve, move on and come back in a month. You'll find it easier.
For more, browse the full lists of easy classical piano pieces, beginner Bach and pieces for young players, and read how to practise a new piece.