| How to Play Fur Elise |
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Learn how to play an abridged version of Fur Elise, Beethoven's
famous piano piece, without reading standard music notation.
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Introduction.
Welcome! This web page will teach you how to play a shortened version of
the beautiful piano piece called Fur Elise, by Ludwig Van Beethoven. This is
for people who have very little or zero experience playing the piano (or any
other instrument) and zero experience reading music.
A page like this is obviously no substitute for piano lessons (I'm a piano
teacher by profession)-- but I really hope this material will help you learn to
play this piece!
More on how this works.
The graphic music notation I’ve used here gives you the basic information;
that is, what notes to play, and in what order. To get more detail (such as
the rhythm), you can view our YouTube video (link below). Once you have
a basic idea of the rhythm and overall sound of the piece, the picture
notation may be all you need in front of you at the piano.
This version of Fur Elise is not technically demanding on your fingers. Your
ear, your musical intuition, and this material might be enough for you to
coax a nice version of this piece from your piano.
Let’s get started.
The piano notes for Fur Elise are shown on this page as a series of pictures.
Sample of the Notation:
Figure 1. Sample notation.
Each row above is a picture that represents a complete 88-key piano
keyboard. (If your keyboard has less than 88 keys, don’t worry -- the
principles are exactly the same.) In a nutshell, every time you see a mark
on one of the pictured keys, that is the note you will play (by striking that
key). Exactly how you will do this (interpret the pictures) is explained in
detail below.
Getting Oriented at the Keyboard.
To play Fur Elise using the pictorial notation used in this book, you may
first need to get oriented to the piano keyboard. There's no need to learn the
names of the piano keys, or to read music, but you will need to find your
way around visually on your piano, using the pictures. Basically, this will
be like reading a map.
Fig. 2 below shows all the keys of a full 88-key piano. (Remember, if your
keyboard is shorter, having less than 88 keys, the principles are the same.)
Figure 2. The full 88-key piano keyboard.
At first glance, it may seem intimidating that there are so many keys! But
on closer examination, you will see that there is a simple “repeating order”
in the way the keyboard is arranged. Notice that the black keys have a
repeating pattern: two black keys together, then three black keys together;
then 2, then 3, then 2, then 3, and so on (see Fig. 3 immediately below).
This pattern makes it easy to find your way around.
To get oriented at your keyboard, you’ll start with your main point of
reference, which is a key on your piano called “middle C.” “Middle C” is
the only piano key whose name you will need to know. To quickly locate
“middle C” on your piano keyboard, sit down directly facing your piano
keys, and situate yourself so that you’re midway between the far left (low-
pitched keys) and the far right (high-pitched keys) of the keyboard. Next,
find the pair of black keys which is closest to the middle of your
keyboard.
Now, “middle C” is the white key immediately to the left of those two black
keys (see Fig’s 4 and 5 below). Fig. 4 shows a bird’s eye view of “Middle
C,” and Fig. 5 shows a close-up.
^
Middle C
Figure 4. The piano keyboard, with “Middle C" labeled.
Figure 5. “Middle C” close up, marked with “X”. (As described above,
Middle C is “immediately to the left of a pair of black keys, closest to the
middle of your keyboard.”)
How to Read the Notation.
Ok, you’re now done with your keyboard orientation. Let’s look now at
how to read the pictured music on this page.. Once this is clear to you,
you are ready to print out the learn Fur Elise.
Let’s start with the first few notes of the piece. (We will discuss which
fingers to use in a moment.)
Figure 6. The first several notes of Fur Elise, in graphic notation.
You will notice that each row above is a picture of a piano keyboard. In
each row, there is a pair of black keys that looks shorter than the other
black keys. This represents the pair of black keys next to Middle C (as
described in the section above titled “Finding Middle C.”)
The first note of the piece is represented by the black dot on the first row.
This is the first piano key you will hit. Here’s the process in more detail:
(1) Locate the black dot on the first row. This is the first note to be played.
(2) Find the indicated key on your piano, and hit that key.
To play the next note, simply find the black dot in the second row from the
top and hit that key. In other words, each “musical event” is depicted in a
single row, and the rows are read from the top down. (A “musical event”
in this context is either (1) a single note being played or (2) more than one
note being played at the same time.)
Right Hand and Left Hand.
Notes which are best played with the right hand are indicated by a black
dot. Notes best played with the left hand are indicated with a small square
(see the last row of Fig.1). You will notice that two notes are shown in this
row, which means they will be played at the same time. In this case, one is
played with the right hand, and the other is played in the left hand. More on
that topic immediately below.
Playing two notes together (at the same time).
Notice that in the last picture (last row) of Fig. 1, two separate piano keys
are indicated. This means that you will press both of those keys together,
at the same time.
“What fingers should I use?”
Play the first few notes of the piece with your right hand, using your pinky
and your “ring finger.” For the left hand, notes that are to the far left can
be played with your pinky.
There are not set rules here. Following the basic fingering guidelines above,
use whatever fingers are comfortable for you. Just remember -- assuming
you have the use of all five fingers on both hands -- you should avoid “two-
finger typing.”
The Sustain Pedal.
If you are familiar with using the sustain pedal of the piano, there are
markings at the left side of each picture below, suggesting when to press
the sustain pedal, and when to lift it up. You can get by without this, but it
does make the piece sound better!
Extended Notes.
Certain notes (piano keys) in the piece will sound best if they are held down
while playing the next few notes (which are then played with your free
hand). Such an extended note is indicated by a vertical line extending
downward from the note. (If you use the sustain pedal, such notes will be
extended automatically.)
In Summary
- First get yourself oriented: The pair of black keys which looks
smaller (in the picture) than the other pairs of black keys are used to
locate “Middle C.”
- Black dots are played with the right hand.
- White squares are played with the left hand.
- Read the pictures from top to bottom. Each picture is a “musical
event”. This usually means “playing a single note.”
- Notes appearing in the same row (that is, in the same picture) are
played at the same time.
The PDF file below contains the full picture-based notation for Fur Elise.
Please print all the pages bring them with you to the piano. I welcome any
feedback or questions you may have.
Watch the Reference Video (on You Tube)
Fur Elise Notes -- printable graphic notation (PDF)
Questions or Feedback? Please email Kent Smith:
kentds.190@gmail.com
Music lessons serving the area of Downey, California.
International Copyright 2007, 2009 Kent Smith Music
All Rights Reserved
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| If you want to try learning Fur Elise right away, without reading the complete instructions below, you might try this: (1) Watch our You Tube video, which gives you the sound and feel of the piece, and illustrates the keys being played (You Tube link below). (2) Read the section titled “In Summary.” This summarizes how to work with the picture-based notation. (3) Print the graphic notation pages (link below). Bring these pages to your piano, and use them to learn Fur Elise. (4) If the above steps leave you unsure, please read the detailed instructions below. |
