[Beginner] Recommended Piano Duets | A curated selection of pieces enjoyable for both adults and children
Piano duets that can be enjoyed in all kinds of pairs—teacher and child, children together, or parent and child!
The special joy of synchronizing with someone to create a single piece of music is something you can only truly experience by performing together; it’s not the same as practicing or playing alone.
Here, we introduce recommended beginner-level pieces that make it easy to dive into the fun of piano duets.
Brilliant, showy pieces are perfect for recitals, too!
For pieces where the parts differ in difficulty, pairs like “Beginner × Intermediate” or “Beginner × Advanced” can enjoy playing together as well.
We hope this helps you find your favorite duet pieces.
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[Beginner] Recommended Piano Duets | A Curated Selection of Pieces Enjoyable for Both Adults and Children (1–10)
Super Mario Bros. duet arrangementKoji Kondo
This piano duet arrangement lets two players enjoy performing a bright, sprightly melody that everyone knows.
Its lively rhythm and familiar tune brilliantly capture the game’s world.
The interplay of melody and rhythm, woven in sync by the two performers, evokes the many scenes one encounters on an adventure.
Born in 1985, this piece continues to captivate countless hearts to this day.
The energetic arrangement for piano is perfect for duets with children or between piano learners.
Because the melody is so well-known, parents and children can have fun practicing together.
It’s also a charming piece that lets players experience the joy of breathing together in a duet.
CanonJohann Pachelbel
Canon by Johann Pachelbel, well known both as a famous piece of classical music and as incidental music in television and film.
As a work from the older Baroque era in the history of classical music, it lacks the modern concept of accompaniment versus melody; instead, it is characterized by overlapping melodic lines.
Given that background, it’s a piece well suited to piano four-hands, where four hands can layer more melodies.
It may be said to be a work in which it’s easy to sense the interweaving of the two parts and to experience the joy of creating a single performance together.
My favoriteRichard Rodgers
“My Favorite Things” is one of the songs featured in the classic musical The Sound of Music.
It’s also known as a jazz standard and has been covered by many artists.
In a piano duet for two players, you can greatly expand the expressive range of the piece by introducing melodies at various registers that make use of the players’ different seating positions.
Performing it in a typical musical-theater style is great, but a jazz-style arrangement also makes for a cool performance.
[Beginner] Recommended Piano Duets | A Curated Selection of Pieces Enjoyable for Both Adults and Children (11–20)
Small WorldRobert Sherman／Richard Sherman
A piece often heard at piano duet recitals is “Chiisana Sekai.” It’s actually better known by its English title, “It’s a Small World.” The difficulty level is such that even beginners who haven’t been playing for very long can perform it—roughly around the latter half of the Beyer method.
The primo part helps develop a solid sense of rhythm, while the secondo part builds expressiveness through a bouncy style of playing.
Among the duets introduced here, this one is particularly approachable, so be sure to check it out.
chopsticksArthur de Lulli
Arthur de Lulli is a composer known only to those in the know.
He’s extremely obscure, so many people may not be familiar with him.
However, many of you have probably heard his representative piece, The Chopstick.
While the primo part is somewhat challenging, the secondo is notably very easy and does not require different motions from the left and right hands.
It’s a duet that even children who can’t yet play with both hands can tackle, making it a must-hear piece for parents and children planning to perform together at a piano recital.
Mountain MusiciansDoitsu min’yō
There are many Japanese children’s songs that are arrangements of German folk tunes.
Because of that background, German folk songs are frequently performed at piano recitals as well.
Among them, the piece I especially recommend is “The Musician of the Mountain.” It’s set in G major and, among the duets introduced here, I think it’s one of the easiest to play.
Since it’s a very simple piece, those who have only just started learning the piano might find it better to practice this duet rather than a solo.
Be sure to check it out.
Suite “Dolly” Op. 56 No. 1: Berceuse (Lullaby)Gabriel Faure
Gabriel Fauré is a composer highly acclaimed for his distinctive musical style.
His Suite: Dolly is one of his representative works and was dedicated to Hélène, the daughter of the Bardac family.
The first piece, “Berceuse” from Suite Dolly, Op.
56, opens the suite and is characterized by gently flowing broken chords.
While it requires about an intermediate level of skill when performed as a solo, it becomes accessible even to beginners as a duet, so do give it a try.