How To Teach Beethoven's Für Elise

Today I’m launching a new series of videos on my YouTube channel, with each video discussing teaching strategies for a specific piece of intermediate piano repertoire. Since Beethoven turns 250 this month, what better piece to start with?

I ended up spending significant time in this video discussing whether or not we as teachers should teach this piece! Yes, it is overplayed! And yes, it is frequently played poorly. So what are we to do?

Recommended editions:

• Piano Adventures Performance book 2B - this contains my recommended simplified verison

• Masterwork Classics book 7 (Jane Magrath)

• Beethoven - An Introduction to His Piano Works (Willard Palmer)

• At the Piano (Henle urtext)

Skills Required to play Für Elise well:

• Keys of A minor and F Major

• 3/8  time

• 8th, 16th, and 32nd notes, and 16th note triplets

• Holding together multiple sections in one tempo

• Ledger lines and wide range, LH up in treble clef 

• LH broken chords, repeated notes, reach of an octave

• A minor arpeggio and chromatic scale in RH

• Balance of melody over accompaniment

• Legato pedaling

• Flowing, relaxed technique moving out of stable positions

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