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8 Easy Piano Songs for Beginners

8 Easy Piano Songs

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Whether it’s for enjoyment or a career choice, playing the piano can be very rewarding — not just for you — but for your audience as well– if you’re good, that is.

8 Easy Songs to Learn on the Piano For Beginners

The following is a list that contains 5 easy songs that beginners can learn to play on the piano, including 3 bonus songs you hear on the radio. You should recognize them as I chose these songs in particular not only because they are easy to learn, but they are also popular as well. It is easier to learn how to play a song that you have heard before.

Just don’t be too hasty and don’t get discouraged. Contrary to what others may say, nobody, can sit down and play the piano great without first learning and practicing, often easiest with piano lessons. Therefore, don’t expect too much when you are just starting out. It takes time even to play decent, but with a little effort, you can do it… anyone can, you just have to apply yourself.

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1. Chopsticks

What kind of a music teacher would I be if I didn’t suggest that students learn Chopsticks when it is the one song people — who are not even musicians — know how to play? It’s simple to learn, and easy to play with just two fingers.

2.Twinkle Twinkle Little Star/The Alphabet Song

In case you haven’t already noticed, these two songs are basically the same but with more or fewer notes. Therefore, if you learn one, you will also know the other. I know these are little kids songs, but learning them helps you to know the basics, so, these are great songs to start you off on your musical journey. It’s very easy to learn, and it’s probably already stamped in your head.

3. Happy Birthday to You

I know you know this one, everybody does. This is another song that is very easy to learn and play. Besides that, it will make you the life of the party when it comes time to sing “Happy Birthday,” and you play it on the piano while everyone sings along.

4. Heart & Soul

Many first time piano players start out with this song. It can also be played as a duet where two players sit side by side at the piano; one will play the chords (C-Amin-F-G) while the other contributes to the melody. To be honest, the chords I use to play this song are slightly different as I replace the F with D major: (C-Amin-D-G).

5. Fur Elise

This is always a fun song to learn and play. What I like most about playing this song is that, once you learn it and — can play it well — you can add in more notes to make it sound better and better as you grow.

6. Tchaikovsky – Swan Lake Theme

Although it may not seem so, this piece is also easy to learn using this specific tutorial. Remember to start easy and take your time. You don’t have to learn the whole song in one day. Even if it takes you all week, it will be worth it, when you are able to “awe” your friends while showing off your new piano-playing skills. The best way to learn a song with these tutorials is by taking it one part at a time. For example, watch and listen to the first few notes, then pause it, learn it, practice it, then learn the next part and repeat the process until you have learned the whole song. Take time out during the day to go over what you learned so you won’t forget.

Even More Easy Songs

Reading Music

One thing that all musicians, including piano players, should know is how to read music. It is necessary if you ever want to play with other musicians in a band, to write a song, or to be able to play anything just by reading it off sheet music.

Learning to read music is not hard to do. In fact, it is just like reading a book, once you understand the concept, and the more you practice reading sheet music, the easier it will be.

Thus, there are a plethora of resources online to assist you with learning how to read music. If you are really serious about playing the piano, you should go all the way to learn your craft.

Playing by Ear

Moreover, it is also of equal importance to know how to play by ear, which is being able to play a song just by hearing it. Playing by ear is not always easy to do, as you must be able to interpret the chords being played so that your version of the song can be recognized.

For years people have been saying you have to be born with an ear for music to be able to play by ear, but that is not true. Anyone can learn to play by ear with enough effort and dedication to learning.

What if you are Tone Deaf?

Unfortunately, numerous individuals are tone-deaf, meaning they can’t distinguish between sounds. However, just because you are not able to perceive tones now, doesn’t mean you have to give up your dream to become a musician– you can learn how to identify tones.

First, take the tone-deaf test to find out if you really are tone-deaf. This test was created by professional musician-educators with many years of experience in the music industry based on scientific research in tone-deafness. You might be surprised to find that you are not completely tone-deaf.

If you pass, great! However, even if you fail, you’re still not out of the Ballpark, there are many online resources to help you learn how to distinguish and recognize tones; Musical U is one of them. And don’t forget there is still one thing that can help you to be a great musician even if you are tone-deaf and that’s “memory.”

Playing by memory, put into another perspective, is a way that you can fake it until you learn to play by ear. It’s what you can do when all else fails, but you should continue to work on recognizing tones while playing by memory.

The Importance of Scales

One thing that every great piano player has in common is regularly practicing scales. We can think of scales as finger exercises that are of the utmost importance to all piano players for multiple reasons…

  • They help your fingers get used to repetition
  • You learn how to coordinate your hands
  • Your fingers will actually get a good work out and thereby can move faster
  • They will help you to recognize the tone of each note
  • They help to stretch your fingers to be able to go from one note to another rapidly
  • Scales encourage you to use the right fingering when playing
  • And more

Here is a simple scale to start you off. Place your left pinky on the C note and your right thumb on the C note that is one-step higher. After hitting the C notes together, use your next fingers on both hands to hit the notes to the right, and keep going until you end up with your left thumb hitting the G note, and your right pinky hitting the higher G note, then go backward.

Once you have learned all of the above songs, picking up other songs will be a piece of cake. Don’t forget to keep practicing your scales at least an hour a day. And you don’t have to stop there. Start building your own style by adding your own notes and chords to songs you learn. Don’t be afraid to try different things, it can’t hurt, besides you will never know how it will sound until you try it and if it sounds good, play it!

DID YOU KNOW…

that you can learn how to play the piano from the comfort of your home?

Music To Your Home is proud to offer online piano lessons for students of all ages. All you need is a computer, internet connection and the desire to be amazing at the piano ?!

Get In Touch today to learn about our lesson plans.

16 Responses

  1. Great blog! Please keep sharing such an Informative blog. It looks very beautiful and Informative.

  2. Hey Vincent Reina Thanks for sharing the article It very much helpful for the beginners like me. Keep sharing

  3. Thank you for telling me that if I am able to put enough effort and dedication to learning, I will soon have the ability to play by ear. I found an old piano in our attic and my mother told me that it was previously owned by my grandfather. It is a little out of tune, but seeing the instrument is enough to entice me and now I am determined to learn how to. I will take it to a tuning expert and try playing a simple song soon enough.

  4. That was great. I will be starting lessons after move. It has only been 55 years! Have been practicing the songs you post. Very grateful? thnx!

  5. It’s awesome that you talked about how to start playing easy piano pieces. Recently, I decided I want to learn how to play an instrument. I’ve always loved the sound of the piano, so I think I’ll give it a try with your guide’s help. Thanks for the advice on practicing and applying myself to the piano.

  6. In Für Elise, shouldn’t the black note in the E7 chord be labeled G#, not Ab?

  7. Hi
    Yes you are correct. The note should be g# but the software we used for the video made the note appear as Ab. However G# and Ab are enharmonic equivalents, which means they are actually the same note.

  8. Excellent for older beginners, that just want to make music!!! Well done!! Marina

  9. My friend has a bar and there was a tenant moving out as her and I were getn this bar put 2gethr painting and such well she left a piano behind and my friend took that piano and put it in her bar, she has live music on Thurs nights every wk and one of the musicians tuned pianos for a living. The piano is signed by all the musicians that play there which is now tuned and gave me the incentive to learn piano. I do play by ear but never learned the notes so I’m teaching myself to play just so I can play at the bar.

  10. Is it really accurate to state that one must be able to read music in order to play in a band or write songs? I am a music educator myself and composer, of over 40 years experience. I do read, but I don’t regard it as essential to either of the activities you specify, and I think it would be very hard to argue that being unable to read music was a major obstacle to John, Paul, George and Ringo.

    There absolutely is value to reading music, but the ability to read [or perhaps decode] notation is by no means synonymous with musicality OR music making, or musical expression.

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