Piano songs · Intermediate
Moonlight Sonata on piano
The first movement of the Moonlight Sonata is slower and simpler than most people think: a steady flow of three-note groups, low octaves underneath, and a quiet melody that enters in the fifth bar. Here's the opening.
The tune in letter names, lit as it plays. Right hand in peach, left hand in lilac. Turn off "Both hands" to hear the tune alone.
About the piece
Beethoven's Piano Sonata No. 14 in C♯ minor, Op. 27 No. 2, was finished in 1801 and dedicated to his pupil Countess Giulietta Guicciardi. He called it "Sonata quasi una fantasia"; the name "Moonlight" came from the critic Ludwig Rellstab, who compared the first movement to moonlight on Lake Lucerne.
The notes
The letters above are the tune, played by your right hand: G♯ G♯ G♯ G♯ G♯ G♯; A G♯ F♯ B. Longer boxes are longer notes. Press Play and follow along, then slow it down with the speed slider and play with it.
How to learn it
- The triplets: the right hand plays three-note groups (G♯–C♯–E to start) all the way through. Keep them soft and perfectly even, like breathing.
- The melody enters in bar 5 on G♯, with a long-short rhythm. Play it with the little finger of your right hand, a little louder than the triplets underneath.
- The bass: low octaves in the left hand, held while the harmony lasts.
- Pedal: change it with each new bass note, so the harmony blends without blurring.
Learning Moonlight Sonata? 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
Is the Moonlight Sonata hard?
The first movement is intermediate: the notes are manageable, the challenge is keeping the triplets even and the melody singing above them. The third movement is much harder.
Why is it called the Moonlight Sonata?
After Beethoven's death, the critic Ludwig Rellstab compared the first movement to moonlight shining on Lake Lucerne, and the name stuck.
More songs to play
Notes checked against the public-domain Mutopia Project edition (mutopiaproject.org), from its guitar-duo arrangement moved to the original key. Piano sound: Salamander Grand Piano by Alexander Holm, CC BY 3.0.