Für Elise (first section)

About this piece

This is the famous opening section, with both of its repeats. The whole piece is a rondo that keeps coming back to this music, and our version ends the way the piece ends. The hands take turns: the left hand plays a quick rising chord, then the right hand answers. Keep the E and D-sharp light, like a question.

What it practices

• 3/8 time
• pickup notes
• sharps and naturals
• hands taking turns
• repeats with first and second endings

Where the notes come from

Mutopia Project edition (Stelios Samelis, from Breitkopf & Härtel, 1888; public domain), compared with this file note by note by our checking script. We stop after the second time through bars 10 to 22 and finish with the piece’s last bar. Dates and form from Wikipedia.

How to practice with it

1. Listen first. Press Play and follow the moving line with your eyes. The lit notes and keys show what sounds right now: blue is the right hand, orange the left.
2. Slow it down. Use − and + to set the tempo. 60% is a good place to start.
3. One hand at a time. Choose Right or Left, learn that hand, then put them together.
4. Wait for me. Turn it on and press Start. The lit keys show what to play, and the music waits until you play them, on the screen, on your computer keyboard or on a MIDI keyboard.
5. Loop the hard part. Turn on Loop, pick the bars, and play them a few times in a row.

Click a bar in the music to start from there. Space plays and pauses. The computer keys A S D F G H J K play C D E F G A B C (press ⌨ Computer keys under the music to see them on the piano).