[For Piano Beginners] How to Practice “Für Elise”

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• Piano teacherOkada Atsuko
  Based in Yokohama, I teach piano, electronic organ, and Eurhythmics while continuing my band activities. For those who love music and want to play the piano, I offer beginner-friendly ways to enjoy learning. Adult Piano Starting with Chords: http://happy.ap.teacup.com/otona-piano/ JUN’s Piano Lessons: http://piano-daisuki.at.webry.info Music Lessons for Band Beginners: http://ameblo.jp/band-lesson/

What do you mean by “time signature”?

Even when your fingers are moving quickly and you’re not missing any notes or rhythm, there are times when “Für Elise” still doesn’t sound cool.

The reason is that you’re playing randomly without understanding the meter.

To become “music,” having a “beat” (meter) is indeed essential.

Time signature refers to the grouping of regular beats in music; when grouped in twos it is duple meter, in fours it is quadruple meter, and Für Elise is in triple meter with the eighth note as the beat.

It’s in 3/8 time, where each measure contains three eighth notes as beats.

As a musical score, since one measure fits three eighth notes, it would fit six sixteenth notes.

The score below shows the beginning of “Für Elise,” and the numbers written underneath—“1, 2, 3”—indicate the meter.If you feel this meter as you play, you’ll be able to perform in a way that sounds much more like the piece.

upbeat (anacrusis)

In the case of “Für Elise,” there’s one more thing to watch out for besides the time signature.

That is,A song that doesn’t start on the downbeatThat is the case.

Such pieces are called anacrusis (pickup) pieces, and in the case of “Für Elise,” it begins on the third beat and leads into the first beat.

The third beat also serves as the preparatory sound for the first beat.

Music doesn’t always start on the first beat, and whether the initial note falls on beat one or not makes it an entirely different piece, requiring a completely different way of playing.

Sometimes when I listen to performances of “Für Elise,” I feel that the notes aren’t being treated as an anacrusis.

Even beginners can give a musical performance by understanding and expressing the characteristics of pieces like this. So first, try to feel the essence of the piece—for example, by tapping the beat while singing the melody.

Let's practice arpeggios!

After trying to sing the melody in 3/4 time, let's practice the accompaniment next.The first eight measures of “Für Elise” are made up of the chords Am and E7, and the next eight measures use the chords C and G7.

The accompaniment will be played by arpeggiating these chords.

An arpeggio, also known as a broken chord, is when you play the notes of a chord separately.

We use it quite often with guitars and the like, don’t we?

In “Für Elise,” you play the arpeggios with both hands.

In piano pieces, it's often right-hand melody with left-hand accompaniment, but in this piece the accompaniment is played with both hands.

And the part played with the right hand in the arpeggio also serves as the melody.

I have to play two roles by myself.

Let's practice Am and E7.

Practice of 'am'

Practice Am with the fingering left hand (5-2-1), right hand (1-2-4).

While the right hand plays arpeggios, it also serves as the melody, so pay special attention to the fingering.

This left-hand pattern (5-2-1) is arranged as root–fifth–root an octave up. It shows up in all kinds of genres, so it’s a good idea to practice it so you can play it starting on any note!

Here, it's Am as “La-Mi-La,” but in the second half it moves with the same fingers and the same span as C (“Do-So-Do”). It also becomes “La-Mi-La” in A.

For G or Gm, it's 'So Re So'; for E-flat or E-flat minor, it's 'E-flat B-flat E-flat'; and for D or Dm, it's 'Re La Re.'

Practice of E7

Practice E7 with the fingering left hand (5-1-2) and right hand (1-2-4).

The left-hand part from “1→2” uses a finger-over technique.

The article I wrote before, "Basic fingerings for piano beginnersPlease refer to the section on “threading/passing through or covering/putting on” in 「 」.

When shifting positions from Am to E7 and from E7 back to Am, likewise, the ...Basic fingerings for piano beginnersUsing the “moving” (relocation) as a reference, look at the next key you’ll move to and practice with the image of ‘jumping’ to it.

Next, let's practice C and G7.

Practice C with the same fingering as Am (5-2-1), and G7 with the same fingering as E7 (5-1-2).

As with the case of Am and E7, please refer to the articles on “threading/covering” and “moving.”

What do “kuguraseru” and “kabuseru” mean?

What does “moving (house)” mean?

Melody practice

As I mentioned at the beginning, be sure to practice with a clear awareness that the melody begins with an anacrusis and is in 3/4 time.

If possible, I think it’s good to practice at first while playing a three-beat pulse on a metronome or the like.

Also, playing while considering the song’s chord progression will result in a more musical performance.

As I mentioned at the beginning, the first 8 measures of this piece use Am and E7, and the next 8 measures use C and G7 chords.

Be mindful of the dominant motion from E7 to Am and from G7 to C.

What is dominant motion?

First, let's practice the first 8 measures (the section marked 1 in the image).

It starts in the key of A minor (Am).

Prepare fingers 5 and 4 on Mi and Re-sharp, and play: Mi Re-sharp Mi Re-sharp Mi Si Re Do La.

After moving, play “D–C♯–A,” then after moving again, play “E–F♯–G–B.”

In the latter half, since a D♯ comes before “E–D♯–E–D♯–E–B–D–C,” start with finger 4 and play “D♯–E–D♯–E–D♯–E–B–D–C.”

After that, move and play Do–Mi–La–Si, then move again and play Mi–Do–Si–La.

The next eight measures will be in the key of C major (section 2 in the image).

This phrase doesn’t start on the first beat either, does it?

It starts on the offbeat of beat 2 with “shi-do-re (2-3-4).”

There’s no accompaniment in the “si-do-re” part, but it works well to play it with a G7 feel as you head into the next C chord.

And it’s only in C major for a brief moment before returning to the original key, moving from G7 to Am.

And then it proceeds to the same phrase as at the beginning again (the part labeled 3 in the image).

However, you need to pay attention to the part that is a bit different from the others before reaching 3 (the section with the green underline in the score).

This is the section that moves on to the next 1—in other words, where the feeling of E7 leading into Am lingers for a long time.

This part that follows E7 has a bittersweet feel, doesn’t it?

This is another part where it’s easy to lose the beat, so make sure to match the rhythm of 3/4 time (using a metronome, etc.), and practice by singing it before you play.

Let's practice with both hands.

Once you can play with each hand separately, practice with both hands.

In the first half of this piece, the left hand moves when the right hand is at rest, and the right hand moves when the left hand is at rest, so it’s relatively easy for beginners to play.

Summary

What I introduced this time is only the first part, but please be sure to try the latter half as well.

I’ve also uploaded videos to YouTube, so please use them as a reference.

Also, the annotated score handled here is "JUN Music School · Sheet Music with CommentaryIt is available for download.

In the latter half, first practice by holding chords with the left hand and playing the melody with the right hand.

In the latter half, the right hand continues with chords, but if you pay attention to the notes that change and those that don’t, and practice the chord changes, you should be able to play it.

The method for code changes is in the previous article, “For piano beginners: an easy-to-understand way to practice chord changesPlease see ”.”