Theory #: Elise Was One Of Therese Malfatti’s Friends
The least likely scenario is that Beethoven wrote the piece for another woman nicknamed Elise – Juliane Katharine Elisabet Barensfeld, who used “Elise” as a variant first name. She was a musical child prodigy who was Therese Malfatti’s neighbor and conceivably could have been her student. This theory holds that Beethoven was willing to do anything for his one great love, Therese, including writing a quick piece of music for one of her favorites.
Since there’s not enough evidence to prove it conclusively, we should probably use Occams razor for this one. To whom is a sad, longing love song dedicated? Probably to the lost love of Beethoven’s life, Therese.
Where Can I Find Fr Elise Sheet Music
For beginners. If you’d like a version that has only the first section, clearly labels each note with its corresponding key, and leaves out the sustains, check out this easy piano rendition.
For more advanced players. If you’re looking for sheet music to learn to play the piece, you can use this printable very cleanly edited PDF version.
For research and study. If you are curious about the first printed version that has the D in the 7th measure instead of the E as we now accept, explore a PDF of a potentially misprinted publication. Or you can check out the draft in Beethovens hand that informs how we play the piece now.
How Can You Create Passion In Your Music
Phrasing, Articulation, Dynamics, and Pedalling.
In Audio 2 these four key elements were added to make the music sound a whole lot better and these elements could not be added if the music was not played with good Technique.
Listen to each track again and ask yourself if you’re playing Fur Elise with or without Phrasing, Articulation, Dynamics and Pedalling.
Do you play with Phrasing, Articulation, Dynamics and Pedalling?
Things You Didnt Know About Fr Elise
From its first repeating notes, Für Elise is instantly recognizable. It may even be the most famous melody ever written! But did you know that when Beethoven first drafted this short piano piece, he stuffed it in a drawer, never to be seen in his lifetime?
Curious how it went from forgotten trifle to universally known? Wondering what exactly makes it such an unforgettable earworm? Need some tips on learning to play this piece? Then keep reading for everything you’ve ever wanted to know about one of Beethoven’s best-known masterpieces.
How Is Fr Elise Structured
As we already saw from its title, this piece is in the key of A minor. It’s time signature is 3/8, so there are 3 beats in each measure and each eighth note gets 1 beat.
Für Elise is a rondo, with a ABACA structure. In other words, its first section is repeated between its other sections .
The first section is the famous melody that everyone knows, with the right hand playing the melody itself and with the left hand playing arpeggios . The other sections are more challenging, incorporating the keys E major, C major, G major, and F major.
The repeated central theme’s A minor key builds a melancholy, longing mood. However, Für Elise‘s other themes are in complete contrast to the main theme, creating a sense of whimsy, unpredictability, and playfulness.
What Keyboards Are Best For Playing Classical Music
Classical music needs enough keys to play the pieces without shifting too much and it also needs those classic piano voices. I cant make a ton of recommendations for what kind of keyboard you can get, although, I know good MIDI keyboards to get.
However, I did reach out to Robin Hall, the creator of the super-popular beginners course, PianoForAll, and he told me that one of the best keyboards for someone to get when theyre starting out on the piano is the Yamaha P125 . You could also go upward from there.
1) Yamaha P125
According to him, a digital piano is a lot better to get than a real acoustic piano because theyre much smaller. And theyre quite loud so beginners dont like practicing on it because they feel shy. He went on to list some of the things that he recommended like it having a pedal input, weighted keys, and touch response.
The M-Audio Hammer 88 Pro is a serious MIDI keyboard. If I were to buy a new MIDI keyboard, it would either be this one or the Arturia 88 KeyLab MKII. That said, theres something about the M-Audio Hammer 88 that speaks to me, even though Ive heard great things about the KeyLab as well.
The 3rd Movement Of Fur Else Needs Nearly All 88 Keys
The most important reason you need at least 76 keys is the last and final movement of the piece has notes that go up to the 76th key. Classical pieces are broken down into small sections called movements, and these are the parts of the song, like in modern music, the chorus, verse, etc.
The first two movements of the three in Fur Elise only require a small amount of the piano. In the third movement, there is a requirement of 76 keys, or an octave shift function if you have it. Take a look at the most popular version of Fur Elise which can be found on Musescore. Id recommend getting a subscription to Musecore by the way.
Truthfully, using an octave button like that on your digital keyboard would be a difficult thing to pull off, so youd probably be better off to find versions of Fur Elise that are specifically arranged for a smaller keyboard. For instance, you could play a version like the one shown in this video:
If you are aspiring to play classical piano, you need more keys or a unique piano that can shift octaves, but even then, its not the proper way of doing it, and it might even be super hard to pull it off.
How To Play The A Section
The theme starts with this familiar opening passage:
Next, we have to learn these two hand shapes :
These two hand shapes above forms the melody of the next portion. All you have to do is arpeggiate these two hand shapes to play the melody:
If you look at the 2 hand shapes closely, you have a 1st inversion Am chord resolving to the B of the E chord. After that, you have a root position E major chord that resolves to the C of Am.
Next, repeat all of the bars youve just learned except for the last one which is simply an arpeggiated A chord in the 2nd inversion:
The left hand parts are quite simple:
After this, lets learn the next portion.
Heres the chart:
The right hand is as follows:
As you can see, the root-7th-6th-5th ideas outline 7th chords without 3rds. Interestingly, the last notes of these melodic lines form chords with the left hand parts.
The left hand parts go like this:
Lets start learning the B section.
What Is Fr Elise Key Signature
The date was Nov 20, 2021. Although Elise is in A minor shape, it is mostly done in rondo form with 103 bars, and its time signature is 3/8. At least not a sonata and a bagatelle as Hansel and Gretel is, as well as Phantom of the Opera and Star Wars as well as Hamlet. Backhand music with a brief unpretentious aesthetic is how it is known as Balkan.
Fr Elise In The World
I wasn’t exaggerating when I said that Für Elise is now everywhere. Here are some of the more and less unlikely places it has turned up:
- Garbage trucks in Taiwan use the tune, as part of that country’s completely revolutionary approach to dealing with waste. Check out the 99% Invisible podcast for more of this great story.
- American rapper Nas built his 2002 song “I Can” around samples of this piece.
- Elephant, Gus Van Sant’s 2003 movie about teenage alienation, used Für Elise as a haunting refrain.
- The Peanuts character Schroeder performs the piece inA Charlie Brown Christmas.
What Is The Hardest Song To Play On Piano
La Campanella is an excerpt from an extended work by Paganini known as the Grandes études de Paganini, and it is widely regarded as one of the most difficult works ever created for keyboard instrument. Among the pieces technical requirements are massive leaps for the right hand, which must be performed at an uncomfortably fast tempo.
Playing Fur Elise As A Beginner
The most popular part of Fur Elise is the songs main theme and is also the easiest to play. Most teachers only allow their students to play the first part of the song during the early lessons. This part is very easy and offers a form of exercise for finger placement on the piano.
Take note of tricky fingering in Fur Elise. You need to follow the precise finger position to help the right-hand melody flow and left-hand arpeggios. Use your music sheet to write proper finger placement so you wont forget.
Remember that the song is played in legato. Play it as smoothly as you can moving, gliding from one note to another. We advise playing the piece in a flowing tempo in legato to let the melody stand out.
This song may be pictured as a conversation from right to left. Practice with the right and the left hand separately. When youre finally combining the two hands, play as if the left and the right hands are replying to each other. To come up with this conversational tone, move the legato style of playing from the right hand to the left and then vice versa. Remember never to privilege a hand over the other and when it comes to tempo or volume.
Never move too fast. After you have mastered the melody, keep your tempo slow to show that sad yet wistful mood. This was marked as molto grazioso by Beethoven, and this means a deeply graceful and very even speeds.
The Takeaway: 9 Amazing Fr Elise Facts
- Für Elise was lost for over 50 years until a musicologist found it and published it after Beethoven’s death. And then that final draft copy was lost again and has never been found.
- We do still have an earlier draft copy of Für Elise in Beethoven’s hand, but that one isn’t labeled “Für Elise.”
- No one knows who Elise really was! But most likely, she was Therese Malfatti, the woman who broke Beethoven’s heart.
- Für Elise is versatile enough to have been musically reinterpreted as blues and ragtime, and used as a sample in a Nas song.
- There are actually three separate sections in Für Elise: the first, most famous section repeats between two other sections.
- As part of the Romantic music movement that explored beautifully terrifying and unknowable spiritual and emotional experiences, Für Elise contrasts the sad wistfulness of its main theme with the unpredictable wildness of its other two themes.
- Part of the reason Für Elise remains so popular is that piano teachers the world over assign its first section to their beginner students.
- Because there are so many versions of Für Elise out there, it can be very hard for professional musicians to put their own spin on this work.
- Garbage trucks in Taiwan use Für Elise to let people know that the garbage pickup is happening, in kind of same the way ice cream trucks use tunes in the U.S. to get people to line up for frozen dessert.
How To Read Beginner Piano Sheets & Play Fur Elise
Being able to play music you love can motivate and inspire you through your beginning learning curve. Beginner piano music sheets are readily available online and many are free. You might want to make use of these simplified piano sheets for beginners to start playing your favourites. Fur Elise is one of the favourites with beginners and is probably one of the most famous composition of all times by Beethoven.
Many people who learn to play the piano learn as they love the sounds of piano music in general. Sometimes there is a special song that may create a desire to learn the piano and for many people this song is the Fur Elise solo by Beethoven. This is arguably one of the most famous piano compositions of all time. As a result many new piano students seek out beginner piano sheets that offer to teach this composition. If you are committed, you can not only learn this musical piece but you can play it beautifully, maybe even in front of an audience someday. If you are a beginner and you are ready to begin your attempt at mastering this piece, how should you proceed? There are many beginner piano sheets available that provide the musical instructions to play Fur Elise but we should go over a few tips as this piece requires more than just playing music from a sheet.
Is Fur Elise A Beginner Piano Song
Fur Elise is one of the most famous and well-known piano compositions to learn, and it should be on your list. So, how difficult is Fur Elise? The whole version of Fur Elise is regarded quite tough, roughly a grade 5 piece in terms of difficulty, although a shorter arrangement that includes simply the famous portion is sometimes taught as an alternate option.
Big Segments Youll Learn In This Fur Elise Piano Tutorial
While most piano tutorials only teach the relatively easy and famous bit, this lesson will teach you all the main ideas.
This includes the lesser known but more astonishing parts.
The first big segment will work on is the most famous one. Well call this the A section:
The B section is bright sounding and features awe inspiring runs:
The C section is a heavy, powerful, and climactic portion that leads all the way back to the main theme:
Now lets get into the thick of it.
The Key To Playing Beethovens Fr Elise Piano Chords
When we begin to play the Fur Elise chords on piano, we need to remember a few key principles that will let us breeze through playing it on our piano. We first think about arpeggios. This is what musicians call a chord broken down into one note at a time, instead of played all together. The right hand will play a very simple melody that is familiar to all, but the left hand seems to be playing something quite complicated. In fact, it is very simple when you realize the left hand is playing chords, broken into small parts. A little music theory and chord recognition will go a long way to perfecting your performance of this beautiful piece.
Tips for playing the song
- Focus on the right hand playing
- Keep the right hand positioned so you can play all notes comfortably
- Recognize the chords played in the left hand
- Try to play the chords in the left hand static, without the arpeggio at first
- Say the left hand piano chords out loud as you play them
- Focus on playing one measure at a time, then slowly add one at a time.
Keep these tips in mind and head on to Skoove to learn to play Fur Elise on the piano.
Theory #: Elise Was Beethoven’s Opera Singer Bff
A few years before writing Für Elise, Beethoven became friends with an opera singer named Elisabeth Röckel, whose nickname may well have been Elise . Beethoven and Rockel were close friends until she married Beethoven’s frenemy, Johann Nepomuk Hummel. Perhaps Für Elise was written in the midst of this friendship – or as a way of saying good-bye.
An Easier Way To Play Fur Elise Using Practical Piano Placement
In this easy tutorial, play the left and right hands simultaneously and then play the son one hand at a time. The right part went first and followed by the left hand. There is a final slow version at the end of the song, and the notes are presented this way.
This method includes the right-hand part and the left-hand part. Here are the notes to play using the right hand:
E E E E EB D C A
A C E C EG D E EA C E C EG D E EA-C-E
What Does The Title Of Fr Elise Mean
The full title of Beethoven’s piece of music is Für Elise: Bagatelle in A minor WoO 59. In reality, the stuff after the colon is the official title, and “Für Elise” is just a nickname for the piece. This is because musical compositions have a specific naming system that references type, key, and a numbering system. Let’s unpack each of the components of this title separately.
Für Elise. The words Für Elise mean for Elise in German.
Bagatelle. This is the piece of music’s type . A bagatelle is a short, lighthearted, and generally frivolous piece of music. Similar words have also been used to describe this piece. Sometimes the title uses the word “Albumblatt,” which means “album leaf” – a short, pleasant, usually solo piano piece that friends could easily share by pasting into each other’s musical albums. More rarely, you might find Für Elise labeled as a “Klavierstücke” which is simply German for “piano piece.”
