Every serious piano student, over a period of time, has to build a good repertoire of songs, in addition to building up a library of music, books, sheet music, which can be used for regular practice. You get better by playing as many songs as possible and that too in different styles.
Here are popular piano songs to learn on the piano, suitable for children as well as adults. We start with the easy songs and have also suggested songs for intermediate/advanced players.
You can learn at your own pace and move onto the challenging songs as you improve. Some of the songs are repeated across levels, and though the melody will be the same across levels, the piano techniques to be used and harmonization will differ in the higher levels.
Easy Piano Songs
Primer Level Pieces
Jingle Bells, Amazing Grace, Ode to Joy, London Bridge, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, Old MacDonald, Oh, When the Saints, Theme to Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony, Clementine | Found a Peanut, We Wish You a Merry Xmas, Yankee Doodle.
Beginning Pieces
Au Clair de la Lune, Aura Lee (Love Me Tender), Hot Cross Buns, Jingle Bells (Short Version), Mary Had a Little Lamb, Ode to Joy, Rain, Rain, Go Away, Row, Row, Row your Boat
Very easy songs that can be learnt and played on the piano.
- Chopsticks: Can be played with just two fingers.
- Twinkle Twinkle Little Star/The Alphabet Song: These two songs have similar melody, so if if you learn to play one, you will also know how to play the oher one. The melody requires you to play six white notes.
- Jingle Bells: The first half is very easy to play. The complete song will take some time to learn
- Happy Birthday to You: slightly challenging the above ones, but it will make you the life of the party if you learn to play it.
Fur Elise on Piano
Fur Elise is one of the more melodious classical songs and a favorite with most music students. Based on the A minor song, beginner students can attempt this song but only the first section of the song which is more melodious and moves at a comparatively slow tempo compared to the next part of the song.
Moonlight Sonata: Beethoven’s Piano Sonata 14 in C# minor)
Beethoven’s Piano Sonata 14 in C# minor is nicknamed the Moonlight Sonata. It was German critic Ludwig Rellstab who said that the sonata’s famous opening movement was like moonlight flickering across Lake Lucerne. And that’s how it got the nickname.
The opening movement of Beethoven’s Piano Sonata 14 in C# minor, popularly known as Moonlight Sonata, is one of the most famous piece of music in classical music. And the best thing is that its very easy to play, so beginners can definitely give it a try. However, the rest of the piece is much more difficult and better left to advanced players with better technique.
Bach/Gounod – Ave Maria
This is one of the most famous and recognized classical pieces. The original arrangement is quite long, but you can always play the opening and main theme.
Popular Songs
Take my Breath Away – Berlin
Easy to play (classic 80’s anthem) but sounds cool. Here’s a simple version that you can use.
Love me Tender – Elvis Presley
This is one of those popular, yet easy piano songs, that you can play from start to finish when you’re starting out, and of course its a great feeling and you get a great sense of achievement when you’re able to do that as a beginner.
How to Play INTERSTELLAR Main Theme on Piano
The melody is simple but what makes it so beautiful is its chord structure / progressions; that really makes this piece of music so special. Although the notes of the basic melody is simple, its what he’s doing with the left hand that makes the piece so beautiful.
The Pink Panther Theme
The ‘Pink Panther’ theme is one of the most popular music theme songs. The theme is an instrumental composition by Henry Mancini written for the 1963 comedy film The Pink Panther. American jazz musician and tenor saxophonist Plas John Johnson Jr. played the (now legendary) saxophone solo for this theme.
Popular Classical Pieces to Learn on Piano
Easy classical songs / pieces that you can learn & play on the piano. Even if you are a newbie to classical music, you can still learn some beginner classical pieces, provided you can play beginner level songs on the piano.
Looking for more piano songs to learn in the classical genre? Here are some. These easy to play classical songs can be learnt in a short time. These songs are very melodious as well to hear. If you have the recordings of these songs, you can even listen to them during your study/work breaks to soothe and calm your mind.
- [easyazon_link identifier=”0739036882″ locale=”US” tag=”keytarhq04-20″ cart=”n”]’Notebook for Anna Magdalena'[/easyazon_link] (collection of keyboard music) by J.S. Bach (from the Baroque period). It contains several short pieces that can be used by students for keyboard study.
- [easyazon_link identifier=”B001EJGAZ0″ locale=”US” tag=”keytarhq04-20″ cart=”n”]Fur Elise by Beethoven[/easyazon_link] straddles the Classical as well as the Romantic worlds. Almost every piano student learns to play the famous Fur Elise (the main theme at least) and even the Moonlight Sonata (seems easy, but is lengthy for beginners).
- [easyazon_link identifier=”0793525969″ locale=”US” tag=”keytarhq04-20″ cart=”n”]’Songs Without Words’ by Mendelssohn[/easyazon_link] is a beautiful romantic solo work, suitable for intermediate level players (you may require to learn for 2-3 years before attempting this).
- [easyazon_link identifier=”B000FTP11E” locale=”US” tag=”keytarhq04-20″ cart=”n”]’Mikrokosmos’ by Bela Bartok[/easyazon_link] (twentieth century composer) has over a hundred and fifty modern pieces that provide keyboard players with unique rhythmic and harmonic challenges (keyboard students love lessons in harmony).
Here are some more.
- Clair de Lune (Easy Piano No.2) by Claude Debussy. Sheet Music for Easy Piano.
- The Blue Danube (Easy Piano No. 42) by Johann Strauss, Jr. Sheet Music for Easy Piano.
- Fur Elise – Easy Piano By Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827), edited by Dale Tucker. Single piece for easy solo piano.
- Canon In D – Easy Piano By Johann Pachelbel (1653-1706), arranged by Dan Coates. Single piece for easy solo piano.
- Easy Piano Classics Edited by James Bastien. Collection of solo piano for the older beginner.
- Twilight: The Score [SOUNDTRACK Audio CD] by Carter Burwell (Composer)
From the much talked about movie Twilight, this includes the hauntingly beautiful main theme – Bella’s lullaby
Bella’s Lullaby (from Twilight) By Carter Burwell.
Arranged by Paul Murtha. Score and full set of parts!
See Also
More on Classical Piano
‘Piano Book’ by Lang Lang
‘Piano Book’ is a collection of popular pieces for students by Chinese concert pianist Lang Lang.
This book includes several miniature classics that generations of piano students have learnt while learning to play the piano. It includes popular classical pieces such as Beethoven’s Für Elise, Debussy’s Clair de lune, J.S. Bach’s Prelude in C Major (from The Well-Tempered Clavier). Modern classics that have been commonly used on Television and movies — such as Yann Tiersen’s Valse d’Amélie, Max Richter’s The Departure and Ryuichi Sakamoto’s music for Merry Christmas, Mr Lawrence. Music popular in specific cultures, such as Sweden’s Limu, limu, lima and the popular Chinese Jasmine Flower.
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