Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Adult Beginners Forum D minor piece suggestion, please

Nope, no such thing as too easy for me.

Sebs
If you want pop, look at music notes.com. You can often choose the key that you prefer as a download option. Grednsleaves, an old folk favorite, can be found in d minor

That’s interesting, I’ve never come across that! 👍

Although the suggestion is reasonable, I certainly don't think this is commonly done or at all necessary. If you are playing scales, arpeggios, and chords in a given key that would be sufficient. You probably wouldn't want to go to a concert with all the pieces in the same key, and I think it would be boring and mentally tiring to do too much playing in the same key. I think it's far better to choose pieces based just on their level and how much you like them. You don't need to know the scale for a key to be able to play the piece in that key.

Im not saying that I need to know the scale to play the piece and I never said I’m only playing pieces in one key, I actually don’t really do much with pieces as my focus is contemporary. I do, however, spend weeks and months practicing various items in a key and really don’t think adding some very simple pieces to the study is a bad idea. I have no interest in playing challenging classical this is just my technique work and extra work I do to get more familiar with the various keys.

Honestly, I think some of the members making these "easy" suggestions are (as usual) just here to flex on beginners...

My suggestion is "Night Journey" by Cornelius Gurlitt, op.82 no. 65. It is quite a nice sounding piece. I also like "Tango II: Habanera" from "Leichte Taenze" by Matthias Seiber.

Personally, I think this is a great idea, Sebs! Playing the scale, then playing music in the key should help reinforce the key signature.

Mikhail Glinka's Russian Polka was one of my first pieces....

Also another vote for the D minor pieces in the AM notebook

Glinka

Sometimes I wonder if my definition of very easy is way off. Lol
Thanks for suggestions. I’ll check those out too.


Thanks. I was thinking no matter what I study the more familiar with keys and even reading very simple scores helps everything.

The arrangement of Scarborough Fair in Alfred's Adult All In One (volume 1) is in D minor and sounds beautiful (and it's relatively easy). I play it almost every day (and sing together). You can probably find it through a Google search as well.

There is a Polka by Mikhail Glinka in the Joy of Classics book that is fun to play and about Grade 2-3. Sorry my book doesn't give an Opus No.
The Scarlatti K32 someone above recommended, there is also Scarlatti K34, I've made a note "slow, melancholy" in my notebook.

Tarantella by Burgmuller Opus 100 No 20 might be a bit of a stretch depending how much time you want to put in and it's 6/8 time Allegro Vivo which is somewhat daunting.

Really I don't have much listed for D minor, I was hard put to find pieces when I was "doing" D minor

If you can manage some of the Bach Little Preludes try BWV 926 or BWV 935. I'd steer clear of BWV 940, said to be one of the easier ones but I found it hard

Hope you find something there.

What he said.

Brahms? Seriously?
Why not suggest some Rachmaninoff while you're at it :|

OP there are a few short, light and fun pieces in both the Alfred Books 1 and 2.
Scarborough Fair, Festive Dance, Scherzo, Introduction and Dance.

Sebs, This thread just popped up, but I noticed it's a couple of months old. If you're still looking for a contemporary D minor piece, I can recommend 'A Taste of Honey' from the Faber & Faber Big Time Piano Jazz & Blues book. It's Faber level 4, which equates to RCM level 2. Don't know if that's easy enough. 'A Taste of Honey' is the only piece in there that is D minor, but there's a ton of fun pieces in there - Satin Doll, Take the "A" Train', 'Night Train' and lots more.

You can try one of these:


I learned 3 of them about two years ago (2.5 years into piano playing), very good music.

Thank you. I ended up finding some in a sight reading book I had and I also got journey through the classics. I will also add that I asked for "very easy pieces" so some posters are claiming those pieces are very easy for them? That must be nice...


Thanks. I'll take a look.

My teacher had me go through this book:
https://www.sheetmusicplus.com/title/piano-miniatures-in-24-keys-sheet-music/17674100
It wasn't difficult, and the pieces are all very short. He also mixes up the genres, so it doesn't get boring.

I also considered buying this one at one point:
https://ndipaolo.musicaneo.com/sheetmusic/sm-226266_venturing_beyond.html
It looks like they might be a little easier, but I haven't played any of them, so I don't know.

Sebs , did you end up buying the Music for Millions vol. 17 book? If not, I highly recommend it!

Nope. I went with Journey Through the Classic complete volume. Reason being each book is processive and inside each book all the pieces start from easiest and gradually increase. However, Music for Millions is definitely on the list for my next book.

Thanks for that info Sebs, I see that the Journey series has the complete one as well as individual levels sold separately. Could be good for sightreading.

No, I don't already have too many piano books, why do you ask?

Yes could be good source for that too. I have the complete one. I'm using it just to try and get some extra exposure outside of my pop studies.

No one ever has too many piano books. The way I see it I'm supporting a business and even if I buy a whole book and I only use it for one to a few pieces or a couple weeks to me anything that brings joy and motivation is worth it.