If there is one piano song that you want to be able to play above all others, it’s Fur Elise. It is one of the most enduring piano pieces ever written and as popular today as it was when it was published over 150 years ago. When people think of playing the piano, they often imagine themselves playing this piece. Maybe you’re one of them?
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Beethoven is one of the best known composers all over the world. With Fur Elise he created one special song that made him famous, but you probably also know the opening notes of his 5th symphony and the “Ode to Joy” from his 9th symphony.
Fur Elise is a beautiful song and moves many people to start playing piano. If you are a beginner you can start to learn this song when you have closed the first Skoove chapters. You will find that it’s not as hard to play as it sounds. Skoove’s lesson begins with learning the two most important chords in this piece – the “Tonic” and the “Dominant”.
Cheat sheet
| Artist | Beethoven |
| Composer | Beethoven |
| Release Year | 1867 |
| Genre(s) | Classical |
| Difficulty level | Advanced |
| Instrument | Piano |
| Key(s) | A minor |
| Meter | 6/8 |
| Techniques | Right hand Melody, Broken chords in left hand |
The key to playing Beethoven’s Für 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. You can start your one month free trial now!
Interesting fact
Amazingly, Beethoven wrote this piece and put it in a drawer and seemed to forget about it. It was discovered later and published about 40 years after the composer’s death. The title “Fur Elise” was not actually the title Beethoven gave the piece. Who “Elise” was is not really clear but presumed to be a lady Beethoven had romantic feelings for.
