You don’t have to practice for years to be able to play classical music. There are many easy classical piano songs out there for beginners, which are composed by some of the best classical music composers such as Mozart, Beethoven, and Bach.
There are many benefits of playing classical music, especially if you are just starting to learn the piano. Because classical music pieces are very rich in harmony and texture, your piano skills will improve much quicker compared to playing other genres.
On this list, you will find some of the easiest yet most beautiful classical piano songs for beginners. Get the sheet music and start learning!
Pachelbel-Canon In D
Although it was originally composed for strings, the piano arrangement of this piece sounds as beautiful as the original. It features quite recognizable tunes and I’m sure you’ve heard it before.
It is simple since the left-hand repeats the same pattern throughout the piece. Once you learn the left-hand part, you can add the right hand that will play the famous melody.
It is one of the most beautiful and popular classical pieces, which you will have a lot of fun learning!
Bach-Minuet In G
Bach is the leading figure of the Baroque era in classical music, and this piece is one of the easiest songs you can learn from the Baroque repertoire.
Minuet in G is a great starting point if you want to learn more pieces from Bach and the Baroque era in the future. The best thing about this piece is that the hands barely play any chords. Both the left and right hand play one note at a time, which is great if you don’t feel ready to start pressing chords yet.
Tchaikovsky-The Sick Doll
The Sick Doll is the 6th song from Children’s Album (Album for the Youth) by Tchaikovsky. Tchaikovsky made this album for children in pursuit of contributing to their musical literature. For this reason, he intentionally composed all the 24 pieces to be very easy and playable.
However, don’t let the name of the album confuse you. All of the pieces from the album are played by the most acclaimed pianists in the world in various concerts. This piece and the whole album are timeless, and it is not difficult to see why.
The left-hand plays a simple accompaniment while the right-hand plays only one note at the end of each bar. The same pattern continues throughout the piece, which makes it really easy to learn.
Plus, the whole 24 songs from the album are pretty short, each one lasting about 2 minutes on average. I recommend getting the whole album and learning the pieces there since they are all easy, beautiful, well-known, and short.
Satie-Gymnopedie No. 1
The first piece of the Trois Gymnopedies by Erik Satie, this easy classical piano piece has been featured in many advertisements and TV-shows.
Gymnopedia No. 1 has a quite similar pattern to The Sick Doll of Tchaikovsky. The left and right-hand plays successively. The left-hand plays a simple accompaniment, and the right-hand plays a beautiful melody consisting of single notes.
However, while The Sick Doll can be considered as a melancholic piece, Gymnopedia No. 1 sounds quite optimistic and relaxing. Just like The Sick Doll, it is played in a quite slow tempo, which makes it a great choice for beginner piano players.
Beethoven-Für Elise
Für Elise is by far the most recognizable piece of the classical music repertoire. Its extremely popular beginning part will get everybody’s attention wherever you play it 😉
The first part of Für Elise is quite simple. This part doesn’t require you to play any chords, but only successive notes in both hands in a medium tempo.
While the middle part of the piece may be difficult for a beginner, there are so many easy arrangements of it for beginners.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_mVW8tgGY_w
Bach-Air On The G String
Originally being the second movement of Bach’s Orchestral Suite No 3., it was arranged by the violinist August Wilhelmj for violin with piano, organ, and strings. It is another well-known piece of classical music.
While it is not the easiest song on this list, a beginner can still learn it with a little bit of effort. I think it will be well worth your time though. Working on Bach pieces will never disappoint you since they always improve your technique in some way.
The Air On The G String should be played in a rather slow tempo. It is a very pleasant piece to play and I highly recommend you give it a try!
Bach-Prelude No. 1 in C Major
Another beautiful piece from Bach, Prelude No. 1 is the first piece of Bach’s collection The Well-Tempered Clavier. While the collection includes 24 other preludes and fugues, this one is the most convenient for a beginner piano player.
The successive notes throughout the whole piece teach you arpeggiation, which means breaking the notes of a chord one after another. You will feel like you are flying or floating on the water while playing, which makes playing the piece quite fun!
Macdowell-To a Wild Rose
Edward Macdowell is a well-known American classical composer, and this simple piece was inspired by his love for roses. To a Wild Rose is the first piece of the composer’s 10 Woodland Sketches, which is a collection of 10 simple pieces for solo piano. To a Wild Rose is the most famous piece of that collection.
The song is quite simple since the left-hand plays only one chord at a bar and the right-hand plays a simple melody. I think every beginner should include this song in their repertoire since it is quite easy to learn.
Mozart-Minuet in F Major
This piece is the part of the Notebook for Nannerl, a collection of easy solo piano pieces that Mozart composed for his sister between the ages of 5-8. Though Mozart was a child prodigy, this classical piece doesn’t require any expertise.
Minuet in F Major has a simple harmony and texture, thus it is a great introductory piece to the Classical Era.
Beethoven-Ode to Joy
Ode to Joy is another very well-known piece of classical music, and you can easily learn to play its famous tune on the piano with a beginner arrangement!
It has a simple melody, fingering, and texture, which means you can get quite quick results if you decide to practice this classical song.
Schubert-Ave Maria
I wanted to conclude this list with one of the most beautiful ballads that have ever been written. Though it is originally composed for the vocal and the piano, there are many arrangements of this song for different instruments.
Ave Maria is one of the most popular works of Schubert, an important composer in the Romantic Era. It could be played at weddings and other special occasions since this pleasant piece would fit any context.
The solo piano arrangement of Ave Maria is quite beginner-friendly, which is a great reason to include this piece in your repertoire!
Best Collection For Easy Classical Piano
Conclusion
This was the list of 11 easy classical piano songs for beginners.
Which one did you like most?
Which one do you think you will first learn?
Let me know in the comments section below 😊
