Moonlight Sonata:
How to Play It If You are a Progressing Student
Moonlight Sonata: How to play this difficult piece full of BLACK KEYS? So hard, but so beautiful! This is one of those pieces that every serious young player needs to get under their belt at some point.
See what tricks my students have been using for a couple of years now, to thrash their way through the dense thicket of sharps, triplets, and very low notes which intrepid players encounter as they navigate the original Beethoven Moonlight Sonata first movement!
Number 1: large notes
You can see for yourself how large the notes are!
Two measures per line ensures that the triplets have "breathing room." You know how it is when you wish to add comments or marks to your student's music, and before long it's looking cluttered and messy.
Number 2: lots of white space
Very clean; the separated notes make them easily discernable.
Number 3: letters in the note heads
If your talented student plays better than they read notes, then this is a good solution for them!
Instead of struggling at home and making the same note-reading errors over and over, this easy-to-read music can mean the difference between tears of frustration, and joy!
How to prepare for the key of C# minor
I like for my students to be able to play the pertinent scales, chords, chord inversions, and arpeggios for the music they are working on. In the case of Moonlight Sonata, that means the key of C# minor, the scale and chords of which can be found on this page, and the relative major key, E major, which is hosted on this page of major keys.
As with much classical music, Beethoven develops the phrases of this piece in both modalities.
More of the standard notation version
More of the AlphaNotes arrangement
Below is one of the trickiest right-hand passages near the beginning of the piece:
There is plenty of room for a teacher to add fingering.
The climbing central section of the Moonlight Sonata sheet music
These 2 editions, each 9 pages long, are for sale, $5.99 for the two of them. You have permission to make unlimited copies for your students.
- So why should you buy this music from me, aside from the fact that music stores on and off-line will charge more for just one copy (not counting postage or sales tax!), while I am only charging $5.99 for the right to print unlimited copies of TWO versions of the Moonlight Sonata original sheet music (for your students only)?
- It is available immediately as a digital download onto your computer.
- You don't have to download any new software into your computer in order to download this PDF. I don't know about you, but I hate clogging up my computer with yet another program I didn't know I needed. You just need a version of Adobe Acrobat or another PDF reader, which all computers come with. If you DON'T have Adobe Acrobat or a similar program, then you couldn't download any of my other PDFs either.
- Write and make notes all over these copies, in red and other colors, without feeling you are spoiling your music for posterity. I dislike messing up my music books, but learning the piece is always the first priority. These printouts will make great working copies.
- Do you need a letter of permission in order to use this music at a competition? Write me through the Contact Me form, and I will email you a personal letter.
- I give you permission to make unlimited copies legally. When you need music, you usually need it NOW.
- PayPal, the payment system I use, is a secure and recognized payment system. You can pay by credit or debit card, or your bank account. E-Junkie delivers the PDF document, working as a partner with PayPal... your purchase is guaranteed.
- Problems downloading? Write me personally through the Contact Me link, and I will take care of it promptly.
Buy 2 editions of Moonlight Sonata, $5.99
Dianna:
Your website is a light in the darkness. THANK YOU for all you do in helping to spread the love of music. It matters!
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All the first-year material I give my beginner students.
Piano keyboard sheets, scales, chords, note-reading exercises, and over 256 pages of music!
This beautiful song book for piano & voice "Esther, For Such a Time as This", available as a digital download, tells the riveting story of the time when Jews in ancient Persia faced a foe named Haman, and how a brave young queen risked her life to save her people.
A good choice for a singing story-teller, an operatic group, a short theater production, or a class of children!
This book is also available from Amazon as a paperback.
This book is available as a digital download from this site. Visit this page to see some free examples from the book.
It is also available from Amazon as a paperback!
This is the perfect easy start for little pianists.
And when they start reading white-key notes on the staff, this is a fun easy resource to say each week, "Choose a new black-key song at home this week and figure it out to show me next lesson!" They will be spending more time at the piano.
A perfect read aloud storybook
for little boys or girls.
The Adventures of Tonsta highlight the travels of a very young boy with a good heart, who goes about helping folk in trouble.
With a red cap on his head and a sack of tools slung over his shoulder, Tonsta seems to meet people in distress wherever he goes.
Lots of trolls in this book - including one who gives him a Christmas gift!
About the Author
Hi, I'm Dana! (Say that like "Anna".) I'm the owner of Music-for-Music-Teachers.com, and a newer site, SingTheBibleStory.com.
Like some of you, I've been playing the piano since early childhood, and have added a few other instruments along the way, plus an interest in arranging and composing music.
You can find out more about me and the reason for this website at my About Me page.
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Moonlight Sonata: How to Play Beethoven's Lovely Piece
Moonlight Sonata: How to play this beautiful but difficult piece full of black keys & triplets? With larger-than-usual notes, & letters inside the note heads! -
Classical Piano Sheet Music: a Set of Introductions
Classical piano sheet music - Fun, mostly one-page intros! Bach, Beethoven, Mozart & more - see what's new!