Moonlight Sonata, first movement

About this piece

Beethoven asked for the whole movement to be played very delicately and without dampers, which on a modern piano means keeping the pedal down and changing it with the harmony. The right hand does two jobs at once: steady triplets underneath and a slow melody on top, played by the little finger. The left hand plays deep octaves.

What it practices

• triplets
• melody and accompaniment in one hand
• pedal
• very soft playing

Where the notes come from

Mutopia Project edition (Stewart Holmes, from the 1908 Berners edition edited by A. Winterberger; the typesetting is CC BY-SA 2.5, the music public domain), compared with this file note by note by our checking script. We read the source twice, from its A4 and letter files, and the notes agree. That edition writes some triplets on the lower staff; here every triplet is on the upper staff, played by the right hand. Fingering from that edition. Dates and the meaning of “senza sordino” 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).