You want to learn Für Elise piano notes? You have come to the right place!
Für Elise is one of the most famous piano pieces of all time. Composed by Ludwig Van Beethoven in 1810, it only became internationally known in 1867, when it was published posthumously.
In 1865, the musicologist Ludwig Nohl found by chance the score of the work, which had been forgotten until then. The paper was in poor condition and only the last two letters of the first name in the title were identifiable: “SE”. The musicologist arbitrarily gave the name Elise to this composition. Today, it is believed that it is more likely to be “Thérèse”.
Für Elise is today one of the most frequently played classical piano pieces. It is quite easy to play and is especially popular with beginners, who find in this song everything they need to practice effectively.
In this article, we will learn how to play the notes of Für Elise on the piano. We will discover which notes to play with the right hand and which with the left hand. We have also illustrated our article with tutorial videos that will allow you to see the notes descend on a virtual piano.
Finally, you can download the piano sheet music of Für Elise for free in PDF format to print it out and practice.
At the end of this article, the goal is for you to know how to play this famous song perfectly on the piano.
Let’s start!
Bonus: you can also learn to play this song at your own pace on our piano learning application La Touche Musicale.
Bonus : you can also learn to play this song at your own pace on our interactive piano learning app La Touche Musicale.
Free download: >> >> The guide to learn 10 easy piano pieces.
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Before playing Für Elise, we will first review some piano basics.
Let’s start by looking at the following picture, which shows the notes on a piano keyboard:
The name of the notes on a piano keyboard.
Looking at the image above, we see that the piano is cut into several parts that are repeated identically.
Each part is composed of 7 white keys, and each key is associated with a musical note (E, F, G, …). Once we reach the eighth key, the sequence repeats identically and a new octave begins.
To easily identify a note on a piano keyboard, there is an unstoppable technique: the black keys.
Unlike the white keys, the black keys are not repeated in an almost identical way. They are formed in groups of two and three, allowing us to find our way around the keyboard.
For example, if you’re looking for the note C, you should first look at a group of two black keys. The note C is just to the left of the first black key in that group.
We recommend that you practice finding the notes easily on the keyboard. This way you will be very comfortable when we learn to play the notes of Für Elise on the piano.
Before learning to play all the notes in the song, we will first use what we saw in the previous section to identify the first note to play with the right hand on the piano keyboard.
The first note is the E :
E is the first note of the right hand in the song Für Elise on piano.
Did you find the E? Perfect! Now you’ll have to play all the notes in your right hand one after the other to reproduce the melody.
Press the following notes:
E – D# – E – D# – E – B – D – C – A – C – E – A – B – E – G# – B – C – E – E – D# – E – D# – E – B – D – C – A – C – E – A – B – E – C – B – A – B – C – D – E – G – F – E – D – F – E – D – C – E – D – C – B – E – D# – E – D# – E – B – D – C – A – C – E – A – B – E – G# – B – C – E – E – D# – E – D# – E – B – D – C – A – C – E – A – B – E – C – B – A.
By playing all the above notes one after the other on the piano, you will easily recognize the melody of Für Elise, performed with the right hand.
Repeat this sequence as many times as you can to get to know it well and feel comfortable with it when you start the left hand.
Für Elise on the piano: the notes of the right hand.
Watch this tutorial video showing the notes to play with the right hand. With this video, you will have a visual support to reinforce your piano learning. It is also very useful to know the beats of each note to play as well as the rhythm of Für Elise [Note: you must remain pressed on the key while the note is on it on the virtual piano]:
You now know how to play the right hand notes of this famous song on the piano, congratulations!
Now let’s move on to the left hand notes.
La Touche Musicale app waits for you to play the right note with your right hand on your piano before moving on to the next one.
We will proceed here in the same way as for the right hand.
Let’s start by identifying the location of the first note to be played by the left hand on the piano keyboard.
The first note is the A :
A is the first note of the left hand in the song Für Elise.
Once you have found your A, you will have to play all the other notes with your left hand.
Press each of the following notes one after the other [Note: when two notes must be played at the same time with the left hand, we have linked them with the “+” symbol]:
A – E – A – A – E – A – C – B – A – G# – A – E – A – A – E – A+E – A.
This sequence of notes corresponds to the whole song Für Elise played with the left hand on the piano.
As for the right hand, try to repeat this sequence of notes in a loop in order to master it.
Für Elise on the piano: the notes of the left hand.
Watch the following video tutorial showing you the notes to play with your left hand on the piano. Respect the beats of each note (keep pressing the key when it is lit) and play at the right tempo:
The La Touche Musicale app waits for you to play the correct note with your left hand on your piano before moving on to the next.
You can now play independently the notes of the right hand and those of the left hand, bravo!
But we still have to learn to play Für Elise with both hands at the same time on the piano.
Knowing how to separate your hands at the piano is not innate. It requires practice and time.
When you are a beginner, it is one of the most difficult exercises. Our brain is not used to making such precise gestures with the fingers of both hands simultaneously.
Before playing Für Elise in its entirety, we will learn some techniques to acquire the dissociation of the hands more quickly.
To know how to dissociate your hands more quickly at the piano, there are a number of tricks.
For example, you can start by playing the notes of the song you are practicing with your right hand, then the notes with your left hand.
By working independently, you will get used to the rhythm of the song and learn faster.
This is what we have chosen to do in this tutorial dedicated to learning the notes of Für Elise on the piano.
Then you have to play both hands at the same time.
Start by choosing small sequences of the song. For example, if the song you are working on is 2 minutes long, choose the first 5 or 10 seconds of the introduction. Play this part over and over with both hands at the same time. Go slowly at first, then gradually increase the pace.
Once you feel comfortable with this first sequence, choose the next 5-10 seconds and repeat the same exercise. When you have mastered this second passage, play both in a row.
This technique, based on learning in a chunked and looped fashion, allows your brain to gradually assimilate the information and process it better. You will learn faster with this method.
Note: At La Touche Musicale, we name this technique the “learning loop”. Noticing its effectiveness on piano learning, we decided to integrate a feature into our online piano learning app that allows you to loop any part of the song and learn it in a few hours.
Für Elise on the piano: the notes of both hands.
This third video tutorial allows you to see all the notes of the song, played with both hands at the same time.
Take the time to synchronize the notes of both hands as you play.
If the video is too fast, you can pause it to give yourself time to place your fingers on the right keys.
Note: on La Touche Musicale app, you don’t need to pause the song. The application waits for you until you play the right note.
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The La Touche Musicale app waits for you to play the right notes with both hands on your piano before moving on to the next.
Bravo ! You can now play one of the most famous piano pieces of all time.
If you enjoyed this tutorial, you’ll probably like our similar articles that teach you equally famous songs on the piano:
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You can find the score of Für Elise quite easily on the internet. The version that we made you learn in this tutorial was a simplified version.
If you want to play on the score, we advise you to also choose a simplified version.
We wanted to save you time in your research and your learning of the piano. You will find here the piano sheet music of Für Elise to download for free in PDF. You will be able to print it and play it anywhere and anytime.
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