El Capitan
by John Philip Sousa (1854–1932) · Early modern · Advanced
Versions
| Version | Level | Key | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| Advanced · Level 4 | 4 of 5 | A minor | 1:38 |
The player above plays the first 20 seconds. Learn all 1:38 of El Capitan in the PianoKite app: every version, both hands or one at a time, Wait mode on every bar, play-along at 50, 75 or 100% and per-bar feedback. Get early access.
- Era
- Early modern (1890–1930)
- Mood
- Dramatic · fast, in a minor key
- Versions
- 1
About this piece
John Philip Sousa (1854–1932) is the composer of El Capitan, an early-20th-century piece that is fast and in a minor key, with plenty of drive. The version here is level 4 of 5 (advanced), in A minor and about 1:38 long.
About John Philip Sousa (1854–1932): American composer and bandmaster known as the March King, the composer of The Stars and Stripes Forever (1896).
How to play El Capitan on piano
- Expect weeks, not days. Learn it section by section and keep a list of the hardest passages to practise first in every session.
- Slow practice is the fastest way forward: loop the difficult bars at 50% until they are clean, then 75%, then full speed.
- Decide on fingering early for fast passages and write it down; changing fingering later costs more time than it saves.
- It's a fast piece. Resist playing it at full tempo until it's accurate at a slower one; speed built on wrong notes doesn't last.
- Short daily sessions beat one long weekly one. Ten focused minutes a day is enough to make steady progress.
In the PianoKite app you can learn it with your own digital piano over Bluetooth or USB, or with any piano through the microphone: the score scrolls past a playhead, the keys light up, and every bar gets a score so you can see what's learned. See how it works. New to the piano? Start with the beginner lessons. Get early access.
License and credits
Typeset by Benjamin Bloomfield for the Mutopia Project. License: Public Domain. Source: Mutopia Project.
Both the composition and the source file are in the public domain.
Text events such as lyrics were removed; the notes are as published. The player on this page plays the first 20 seconds.
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