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So, I really adore the piano! But I haven't had one lesson yet...monday is my first. I've taught myself some small songs... you know, christmas songs and all, and canon in d, but I play it with a LOT of mistakes in it. It sounds horrible and choppy.

I need something that's easy but still beautiful. Please no or little flats and sharps.

cassie, from my experience, the easiest songs to play are the ones that you're absolutely wild about and really in love with, regardless of technical difficulty.

I agree with sid. A really easy, but good sounding piece (even the solo version) is Rob Dougan's "Clubbed to Death":
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=si-3h3w-8zA&mode=related&search=

That's probably true, Sid. The only problem here is that most of the pieces that I'm crazy for are by Chopin or Rachmaninov, the ones that take years of experiance. But, I'll get there some day!

Hi!

I actually started off, after haven't played for 10 years or so, with Mozart's Rondo alla Turca. Although by many considered to be very annoying (because it is played so often) it is still a very beautiful piece and VERY easy.
There are flats and such in it, but trust me, just memorize bit by bit and you'll pick it up! If you have any questions just ask.

Best of luck,

willem

The Chopin C maj. mazurka op. 24 no. 2 is
easy. This is supposed to be played allegro,
but you could play it slower and it would
still sound good. The middle slow section
of the Fantasie Impromptu is also
easy. If you want to try reading a concerto,
the 3rd movement of the Tchaikovsky Concerto
No. 1 op. 23 is the easiest movement to
read of all the famous Romantic Era concertos
--or just about any concerto, for that matter.
Even an intermediate player of modest
ability should be able to read this
at less than full tempo without too much
trouble. Of course playing it at speed
would be something else altogether, but
that famous concerto theme pervades every
measure of the movement, so even at less
than full tempo it will still sound
nice. (Use the 4-hands version, and play
the 2nd piano part where necessary to
create a piano solo.)

I looked through my early piano books, but my dad had marked them all up and now it's hard to tell what I studied...

Nevertheless, I remember a Beethoven Bagatelle that was fun. And I had a thing for Scarlatti for a while. He's pretty accessible. As well as shorter pieces by Mozart or Haydn.

Until I was doing more serious work, most of my studies were in the "Classics to Moderns" series. I didn't check -- anyone know if they're still in print? Those were nice anthologies.

-- susi

Bach prelude in C.

I don't find the broken octaves around measure 100 to be that easy to play.

Hi cassie, it's just a thought but perhaps you may get some ideas from the ABRSM syllabuses:-

http://www.abrsm.org/?page=exams/gradedMusicExams/latestSyllabuses.html

You can probably find sound files for a lot of the pieces on http://www.classicalarchives.com/ and Amazon etc.

My children played a great piece called "Winter Wind" by David Carr Glover (I think). It was almost all arpeggios up and down, and it sounded very impressive for the first year of piano study.

Nancy

This was what I was going to offer. First thing I took up 4 months ago when I started lessons. Simple to play, a little bit hard to memorize, and a little bit hard to "get right," but a nice easy piece. Full title of the piece is Well Tempered Clavier, Book 1, Prelude 1, BWV 846a.

For me, it was the first "real" piece I ever took up (minus the turns): Paderewski's Minuet in G.

I read this too fast the first time and thought you were taking about Chopin's Winter Wind Etude (Op. 25, 11) :rolleyes:

Matt

"Chopin" and "easy" do not belong in the same sentence, I'm sorry to say, regardless of which of his 129 works is being discussed. You need to acquire very basic technique first.

I'd start with Suzuki Book I. Learn to play every piece in it perfectly (there are a dozen or so, of graduating difficulty), dynamics and all, beginning with Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. Make sure your chords are unified. Ensure you can play both hands in "Allegretto" perfectly in-sync. The idea is to identify your weaknesses and work on them.

THEN... move on to the fun stuff.

I think you are quite motivated and will be able to acquire this technique quickly. Trust me, the patience will pay off in the long run.

"Chopin" and "easy" do not belong in the same sentence, I'm sorry to say, regardless of which of his 129 works is being discussed. You need to acquire very basic technique first.

Amen Gerg. It is simply a misrepresentation to refer to any of his works as easy. While learning the notes to some of his pieces is a relatively easy thing, developing the technique to play them musically is altogether different and takes time and patience to learn, sorry to say. His works are not for early beginners unless one is working with a teacher and very committed to learning them properly and then only a few of the waltzes, preludes and mazurkas.

Mozart's Rondo Alla Turk is easy? Well Amade, maybe after playing for 10 years it is but certainly this is no beginner piece either. Again, much of Mozart requires good technique and perfect timing to pull off. This piece may be overplayed and annoying to some but I still enjoy hearing it played well.

For classical it is best to start with simpler pieces like Bach's Prelude in C as noted by Signa. Also the Anna Magdelena Notebook collection by Bach, not too many sharps and flats. There are also collections by the masters. One is "The Joy of First Classics" edited by Denes Agay. This is a good place to start with simpler works by Bach, Mozart, Handel, Beethoven and others. Highly recommended for the early beginner.

Cassie don't worry about the sharps and flats its all part of the deal, besides you'll get used to them soon enough! You can't play everything in C major.

Childrens Albums are a good source of material (my teacher uses them a lot). And if you go for the more modern composers it can be a bit more interesting too; e.g:-

Prokofiev Op 65
Kabalevsky Op 27 and Op 39
Shostakovich Op 69

Some great tunes in the Kabalevsky books.

I would ask your teacher before starting any Piano Sonatas or anything by Chopin. I'm a bit surprised by people saying any of these would be easy for a beginner. I'll second LaValse's suggestion above about Children's Albums. There are several others:

Tchaikovsky
Schumann (my personal favorite)
Debussy
Bartok (called microcosmos, and this is in 6 volumes, volume 1 being the easiest and 6 being the hardest)

Also there are tons of collections out there that are organized so that the easiest pieces are in the front of the book, and the harder ones toward the back. Ask your teacher, I'm sure there are a couple that he/she uses.

There are also piano courses like Alfred's basic piano course (or adult piano course) that have the same type of thing--they start with easy pieces that teach you technique, and progress to harder pieces that teach you more advanced technique.

Cage's 4'33''
or
Arvo Pärt's Für Alina.