Determining your Level
In order to determine whether you should select repertoire from our advanced beginner category or our intermediate category, use the following guidelines:
An advanced beginner student generally has studied the piano for at least one year, and:
- is able to sight-read pieces such as Latour’s Sonatina No. 1 in C major, first movement, in a slow tempo and with one hand at a time.
- is able to play several different scales, one hand at a time.
- has learned several simple pieces requiring some independence between the hands, such as those containing a melody in the right hand and chords in the left hand.
An intermediate student generally has studied the piano for at least two years, and:
- is able to sight-read pieces such as Latour’s Sonatina No. 1 in C major, first movement, fluently and with the hands together.
- is able to play most major scales in two octaves, hands together.
- has learned several pieces comparable to, or more difficult than, Sonatinas by Clementi.
Warm-up Guides
Use these warm-up guides to prepare for your practice sessions throughout the course.
Download Basic Warm-up Guide
Download Extended Warm-up Guide
Browse Repertoire
Advanced Beginner Repertoire | Intermediate Repertoire
The repertoire list below is in (approximate) order of difficulty.
Beethoven, Ludwig van
Ecossaise in G Major, WoO. 23
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The ecossaise was a popular social dance during the 18th and 19th centuries. Beethoven originally composed his Ecossaise in G Major for wind band, but the score was lost after the performance. One of the performers remembered the melody after Beethoven’s death and gave it to Carl Czerny (a former student of Beethoven and composer of many piano études), who created the arrangement for piano we use today.
Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus
from Notebook for Nannerl
Minuet in F Major, K. 2
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One of Mozart’s earliest pieces, this delightful minuet is brief but lovely. It is part of a collection of simple piano pieces that was dedicated to Mozart’s older sister Maria Anna (nicknamed Nannerl), who was also a talented musician.
Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus
from Notebook for Nannerl
Allegro in B-flat Major, K. 3
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Mozart was only six years old when he composed the Allegro in B-flat Major, which more than likely was notated by his father, Leopold. A youthful quality shines through the quick and lively allegro.
Clementi, Muzio
Sonatina in C Major, Op. 36, No. 1
I. Allegro
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The C major sonatina is the most popular of Clementi’s six Op. 36 sonatinas. Muzio Clementi was a contemporary of Mozart — they even competed in a piano competition! One of the first composers for the fortepiano, a predecessor of the piano, Clementi wrote sonatas and sonatinas that are considered models for keyboard composition. Beethoven was rumored to have kept a volume of Clementi’s keyboard works on his music stand at all times and would teach them to his nephew.
Latour, Jean Théodore
Sonatina No. 1 in C Major
I. Allegretto
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The first movement of this sonata is a model of grace and simplicity. Jean Théodore Latour was a French composer and the official pianist to Prince (and later King) George IV of the United Kingdom. His most performed works, the sonatinas are concise, clear, and feature running scales.
Beethoven, Ludwig van
Sonatina in G Major, Anh. 5, No. 1
I. Moderato
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Sonatinas are short and simpler sonatas, and often lighter in character. The Sonatina in G Major is a charming two-movement piece that offers beginning pianists an excellent entry point into the Classical piano repertoire.
Beethoven, Ludwig van
Sonatina in G Major, Anh. 5, No. 1
II. Romanze
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Sonatinas are short and simpler sonatas, and often lighter in character. The Sonatina in G Major is a charming two-movement piece that offers beginning pianists an excellent entry point into the Classical piano repertoire.
Beethoven, Ludwig van
Sonatina in F Major, Anh. 5, No. 2
I. Allegro assai
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With its quick scalar passages and broken-chord accompaniment, the lively first movement of the Sonatina in F Major is a solid option for novice pianists looking for an attainable challenge.
Diabelli, Anton
Sonatina in G Major, Op. 151, No. 1
I. Andante cantabile
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The first movement of the Sonatina in G Major, Diabelli’s most well-known work, features singing melodies and contrasting textures. In addition to being a composer, Anton Diabelli ran a successful publishing firm. He also wrote a theme that was used by Beethoven in one of his greatest piano works, the Op. 120 33 Variations on a Waltz by Anton Diabelli.
Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus
Sonata in C Major, K. 545
II. Andante
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The Sonata in C Major, K. 545 was added to the catalogue on the same day as Mozart’s Symphony No. 39, but was not published in Mozart’s lifetime. He listed the sonata as “a little Piano Sonata for beginners.” Despite the “little” label, this work packs a variety of interesting forms, registers, and musical canons.
Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus
Sonata in C Major, K. 545
III. Rondo: Allegretto
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The Sonata in C Major, K. 545 was added to the catalogue on the same day as Mozart’s Symphony No. 39, but was not published in Mozart’s lifetime. He listed the sonata as “a little Piano Sonata for beginners.” Despite the “little” label, this work packs a variety of interesting forms, registers, and musical canons.
Clementi, Muzio
Sonatina in G Major, Op. 36, No. 5
I. Presto
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The six sonatinas in Clementi’s Op. 36 collection were intended to be progressively more challenging. Indeed, the fast and lively first movement of the Sonatina in G Major contains plenty of opportunities for intermediate pianists to refine their technique.
Clementi, Muzio
Sonatina in C Major, Op. 36, No. 3
I. Spiritoso
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This movement features legato passages, highlighting the new qualities of the fortepiano that separated it from earlier keyboard instruments. These sonatinas, practiced by such greats as Mendelssohn, Liszt, and Chopin, continue to be used to teach technique to this day.
Beethoven, Ludwig van
Sonata in G Minor, Op. 49, No. 1
I. Andante
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Written as a teaching piece for students and friends, the Sonata in G Minor was one of Beethoven’s earlier sonatas, but was not published until a decade after it was composed. Against Beethoven’s will, his brother, Kaspar van Beethoven, thought the work deserved to be heard and gave the manuscript to a publisher, thereby ensuring its posterity.
Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus
Sonata in C Major, K. 545
I. Allegro
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The Sonata in C Major, K. 545 was added to the catalogue on the same day as Mozart’s Symphony No. 39, but was not published in Mozart’s lifetime. He listed the sonata as “a little Piano Sonata for beginners.” Despite the “little” label, this work packs a variety of interesting forms, registers, and musical canons.
Beethoven, Ludwig van
Sonata in G Major, Op. 79
I. Presto alla tedesca
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Written in the style of a German folk dance, this sonata is nicknamed the “Cuckoo” after the “chirping” motive in the opening measures of the first movement. Sir Donald Francis Tovey, the eminent British music historian, reportedly said this sonata was “like Shakespeare writing something a little lighter between Hamlet and King Lear.”
Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus
Sonata in G Major, K. 283
III. Presto
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Mozart’s Sonata in G Major, K. 283 was written in 1774, while Mozart was a court musician in Salzburg. In his letters from around this time, he expressed his desire to focus more on writing operas. Throughout this sonata, even in the presto, you can hear the vocal-like qualities of the melody.
Beethoven, Ludwig van
Sonata in F Minor, Op. 2, No. 1
I. Allegro
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Composed in 1795, the Sonata in F Minor, Op. 2, No. 1 was dedicated to Haydn, whom Beethoven admired and had briefly studied with three years earlier. Also in 1795, Beethoven gave his first major public performance in Vienna as the soloist for his Piano Concerto in B-flat major, Op. 19.
Schubert, Franz
Impromptu in A-flat Major, D. 935, No. 2 (Op. 142)
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Schubert’s Impromptu in A-flat Major was considered to be one of the earliest examples of the popular 18th-century genre, characterized by its carefree and improvisatory style. The melody at the opening is similar to the theme of Beethoven’s Piano Sonata in A-flat, Op. 26, one of many references in Schubert’s work to the composer he idolized.