Piano songs · Beginner to intermediate
Minuet in G minor on piano
The Minuet in G minor is the darker twin of the famous Minuet in G: the same elegant three, in a minor key. Here's the whole first half.
this song
Minuet in G minor sheet music
The same notes as the player above, as a piano score: G minor, 3/4 time. Press Play and the notes light up as they sound. Free to print or save as a PDF.
How to read the rhythms · how to read the notes
About the piece
It follows the Minuet in G in the notebook Johann Sebastian Bach gave his wife, Anna Magdalena, in 1725, and like it, it's now credited to the Dresden organist Christian Petzold. The two are often played as a pair.
The notes
The letters above are the tune, played by your right hand: B♭ A G A D; D G G A B♭ C D; E♭ F E♭ D C D; E♭ D C B♭ C; D C B♭ C A; B♭ A G A D; D G G A B♭ C D; F G F E♭ D E♭; F E♭ D C D; G C B♭. Longer boxes are longer notes. Press Play and follow along, slow it down with the speed slider, or turn on Wait for me and play each note yourself.
How to learn it
- The opening: B♭ A G A, D D, G: a falling figure, then a leap.
- Two flats: G minor, so every B and E is flat, and the F is often sharp.
- Two independent lines: the left hand is a melody too. Learn each hand alone.
- Three beats: lean on the first beat of each bar, like a dance.
Learning Minuet in G minor on a real piano? Ivory listens to you play and tells you what's off: a note that's missing, a hand that lands late, a rhythm that runs away. Then it shows you how it should go.
Questions people ask
Who wrote the Minuet in G minor?
Christian Petzold, though it was credited to J. S. Bach for centuries, because it appears in Bach's 1725 notebook for Anna Magdalena.
Is the Minuet in G minor easy?
It's a good early-intermediate piece, about as hard as the Minuet in G.
More songs to play
Notes checked against the public-domain Mutopia Project edition (mutopiaproject.org). Piano sound: Salamander Grand Piano by Alexander Holm, CC BY 3.0.