[Piano Duets] Guaranteed to get the crowd excited! A roundup of recommended pieces
Piano duet is when two people sit side by side at the piano and, breathing together, perform with four hands.
With duets, you can enjoy a depth and opulence of sound that’s different from solo playing.
Another major attraction is the joy of ensemble—two people creating a single performance together.
This time, we’ve picked out guaranteed crowd-pleasing recommendations from among piano duet pieces!
We’ve gathered cool works that will captivate both players and listeners, so please enjoy to the end!
- [Intermediate] Recommended Piano Duets | A Curated Selection of Cool and Dazzling Pieces
- [Piano Duets] Perfect for recitals! A carefully curated selection of brilliant, crowd-pleasing works
- [Advanced] Piano Duet Works | Exquisite Masterpieces to Savor the Rich, Weighty Sonorities of Four Hands
- [Beginner] Recommended Piano Duets | A curated selection of pieces enjoyable for both adults and children
- [For Beginners] Enjoy Parent-Child Piano Duets! Recommended Songs Introduced
- [Piano Duet × J-POP] A showcase of insanely cool piano duet arrangements all at once
- [Intermediate Level] A curated selection of piano masterpieces featuring strikingly brilliant melodies!
- [Advanced] Super cool if you can play it! Selection of famous piano pieces
- [Piano Recital] Recommended for Boys! A Curated Selection of Cool, Impressive, and Popular Pieces
- [For Elementary School Students] Brilliant, Showy Masterpieces That Sound Impressive at Piano Recitals
- [Popular Piano] Capture the Audience’s Attention! Recommended Pop Songs That Shine at Piano Recitals
- [For Adults] Recommended for Piano Recitals! A Curated Selection of Impressively Sounding Masterpieces
- Piano Masterpieces: Surprisingly Easy Despite Sounding Difficult!? A Curated Selection Perfect for Recitals
[Piano Duets] Guaranteed to Get the Crowd Going! A Roundup of Recommended Works (31–40)
Disney FantalusionVarious Artists
This is a four-hand piano duet arrangement of a popular parade piece that was performed at Tokyo Disneyland from July 21, 1995 to May 15, 2001.
Bursting with energy from the fanfare to the finale, the many rapid notes depict characters and dancers performing in the illuminated parade.
The performance in the featured video seems relatively fast, but since it’s also a march, a more relaxed tempo can work as well—play at a tempo you can handle.
However, be careful: too slow and it will drag; too fast and it will fall apart.
Aim to play with the brilliance of a grand parade in mind.
Kirby and the Forgotten Land: Dash Across the New WorldOgasawara Yuta
Classical music is great, but for those who want to try performing something bright and dazzling from a different genre, we’d like to introduce “Running Through the New World” from the game Kirby and the Forgotten Land.
It’s a Kirby track popular with children and serves as the theme song for Kirby and the Forgotten Land, released in March 2022.
While preserving the signature feel of past Kirby music, it’s a bright and lively main theme.
A piano duet arrangement is also included in the commercially published sheet music “Enjoy Kirby on Piano ~ Game Music Selection ~,” released in April 2024.
If you love game music or Kirby, why not give it a try? Let’s express the world of Kirby on the piano!
Aladdin: A Whole New WorldAlan Menken
A dreamily beautiful piano duet that colors one of Disney Animation’s most iconic scenes.
Its melody conjures the enchanting image of lovers freely soaring beneath a starry sky, expressed in a way that closely mirrors their feelings.
This work portrays the spirit of adventure and pure love of setting off on a magic carpet to discover a whole new world, and by June 1993 it had become a major hit in Japan alone, selling over 120,000 copies.
It also achieved the remarkable feat of winning both a Grammy Award and an Academy Award.
Performed as a piano duet with perfectly synchronized breathing and touch, it offers a wonderful time for teachers and students, parents and children, or friends to inspire one another.
Ryukyuan FantasiaItō Yasuhide
Yasuhide Ito, known as a composer of wind ensemble music, also serves concurrently as a lecturer at several music universities and as an advisor to wind bands.
He has written two works for piano four hands, one of which is this Ryukyu Fantasy.
It’s a brilliant and varied piece, yet the use of the Okinawan scale imparts a soothing, laid-back atmosphere reminiscent of Okinawa.
There aren’t many duet pieces that evoke a distinctly Japanese character, so including this in a concert program could make for a nice accent.
lilacMrs. GREEN APPLE
This is the theme song for the anime “Oblivion Battery,” which began airing in April 2024.
The word “Lilac” in the title carries the flower-language meanings of “friendship” and “memories of youth,” and it seems to evoke the adolescence of the protagonists from Oblivion Battery, a Japanese manga by Eko Mikawa that started serialization on Shonen Jump+ in 2018.
The most striking element is the opening electric guitar phrase.
It’s faithfully reproduced in the piano duet arrangement as well, making it a perfect spot for performers to showcase their technique.
The refreshing phrase that begins with the lyric “Another day passes by” fits beautifully on the piano, too.
With two people playing, the piano sound gains even more depth.
For fans of Mrs.
GREEN APPLE who can play the piano, this is sure to be an irresistible piece.
[Piano Duets] Guaranteed to Get the Crowd Going! A Roundup of Recommended Pieces (41–50)
Blue TangoLeroy Anderson
Composer Leroy Anderson, who gained popularity for his light and lively musical style.
He’s an indispensable figure when discussing American light music.
Among his works, the one I especially recommend is Blue Tango.
It’s frequently used in the media, so many of you have probably heard it.
As a solo piece it requires a fair degree of technical skill, but as a duet it’s well within reach for beginners approaching the intermediate level.
That said, it calls for a powerful performance, so a certain amount of stamina is necessary.
Merry-Go-Round of Life – Duet VersionHisaishi Joe
Introducing a magnificent waltz for piano four hands from Studio Ghibli’s masterpiece film Howl’s Moving Castle.
Set in 3/4 time, its graceful melody splendidly captures the film’s magical atmosphere, enchanting listeners with the rich sonority and expressive power unique to four-hand performance.
Featured on the soundtrack of the film released in November 2004, its beautiful, European classical–inspired themes blend exquisitely with flute and strings.
In the piano duet, the interplay between primo and secondo creates a resonant depth, while a tightly unified performance evokes an elegant ambience.
It’s a highly recommended piece for those who wish to draw on their classical experience while enjoying harmonious ensemble with a duet partner.