Many of us start taking piano lessons with the ultimate goal of eventually being able to play real, recognizable songs for an audience. Soon, however, we discover that this goal is not rapidly achievable. We must first learn the boring stuff like scales and fingering exercises before we can move on to learn real songs that people know.
There are some easy piano songs that beginners can learn, however, once they have mastered the basics of piano. Imagine how you could wow your friends and family if you learn these easy popular songs to play on piano!
Here's a quick outline on what you'll find down below in this article on easy piano songs that sound hard:
- Easy Classical Piano Songs for Beginners
- Easy Slow Piano Songs for Beginners
- Easy Popular Songs to Play on Piano
All piano players should have some songs in their personal repertoire that they know by heart and can play upon request. These easy beginner piano songs are the perfect ones to learn early in your piano lessons.
Easy Classical Piano Songs for Beginners
“Fur Elise” by Ludwig Van Beethoven
“Fur Elise” is one of the classical piano songs that piano students usually learn early on in their piano study. It was written by the renowned composer Ludwig Van Beethoven. The famous part of this song is its short introduction, which is what most people recognize when they think of “Fur Elise.” If you learn this part, you’re good to go.
The introductory part of this song has only a few chords and notes, and you should learn the right-hand part first, then the left hand. What makes this an easy beginner piano song is the fact that the right-and left-hand parts are almost completely separate so they are easy to learn and remember. This is a memorable song to learn and keep in your repertoire.
“Prelude in C Major” by Johann Sebastian Bach
If you like chords, “Prelude in C Major” is the perfect song for you. Every measure of this song is a new chord, so it sounds much harder to play than it really is. Additionally, the rhythm remains constant throughout this song.
“Prelude in C Major” is part of a well-known book of Bach’s preludes and fugues called the Well Tempered Clavier. It’s best to learn this song by measures, rather than note by note, since each measure has its own chord progression. Your audience will be impressed when you sit down to play “Prelude in C” for them.
“Clair de Lune” by Claude Debussy
You know that one song that a person memorizes and can sit down and play for anyone, anytime? For my mother, this was it. No matter how old she got and how far removed from piano lessons she was, she remembered how to play “Clair de Lune.” This song holds a special place in my heart and hearing the introduction, even today, can bring me to tears.
“Clair de Lune” sounds very difficult but as it features the pentatonic scale in its introduction, if you learn your pentatonic scales you’ll easily be able to play it. As mentioned before, the introduction is the most famous and most recognizable part of the song, and also the easiest to play. The middle section is a bit tougher. If you learn just the introduction, your audience will be impressed, trust me.
“Moonlight Sonata” by Ludwig van Beethoven
This is an easy, slow classical piano piece for beginners to learn to play and could be classified under both the classical and slow songs. The first movement of “Moonlight Sonata” consists mainly of rolling chords and a melody above them. This song is a good one to learn in which you must make the melody stand out over the chords. Practice the song slowly, memorizing each section, and after many repetitions you should have this one mastered!
Easy Slow Piano Songs for Beginners
“The Heart Asks Pleasure First” by Michael Nyman
This song was made famous by the movie “The Piano,” and is one of the most beautiful and easy slow piano songs for beginners to learn. It is simply composed of repeating patterns of six notes. The keys are A minor and C major and all notes in the song are white piano keys, making the song one of the easiest for beginners to learn.
Each hand should be learned separately and slowly when first sitting down to learn “The Heart Asks Pleasure First.” Once you learn each hand well, put them together and you should have no difficulty sounding like a virtuoso.
“Piano Man” by Billy Joel
This iconic song by Billy Joel, his signature song, is relatively easy to learn to play. Learn the basic chords first, then the right-hand placement, and finally the left- hand placement. Remember to keep the rhythm to a waltz feel, slow and light. Before you know it, you’ll be a Piano Man (or woman) in your own right who is able to play this song with ease!
“Someone Like You” by Adele
Another popular, slow song that is easy for beginners to learn to play, “Someone Like You” can be learned in one day if you work at it. The left hand stays in the same position throughout, and the right hand is just repeating the same series of notes over and over again. Repetition is the key to learning to play this song, and as you practice repeating the notes again and again you will quickly learn it!
Easy Popular Songs to Play on Piano
“Imagine” by John Lennon
The most famous of John Lennon’s solo songs after The Beatles, “Imagine” might sound difficult to the untrained ear. However, it is really an easy popular song to play on the piano. Its chord progressions are quite simple. In the verse, the chords are C and F. If you memorize the chord progressions instead of individual notes, you’ll have the song learned quickly.
Just imagine how accomplished you’ll look as a piano player to your family and friends when you sit down to play this one for them!
“Don’t Stop Believing” by Journey
The piano introduction to this song from the 1980s is immediately recognizable. Allmusic.com notes that “Don’t Stop Believing” has one of the best keyboard riffs in rock/popular music. It’s a fairly easy song to learn, as it is in E major and has an eight-chord progression throughout the piece. I had a friend who taught himself to play this, memorized it and played it constantly to impress girls! (Not sure how well that worked, but it sounded cool anyway!)
“Let It Be” by The Beatles
Written by Paul McCartney, “Let it Be” is another easy popular piano song for beginner pianists to learn. It is known for its famous introduction where the right hand plays chords while the left hand is playing single notes. Practice each hand separately before you put them together and you’ll have this one learned in no time!
“Love Theme from St. Elmo’s Fire” by David Foster
Another popular song from a movie, the “Love Theme from St. Elmo’s Fire” has a recognizable introduction and is a pretty easy song to learn to play. The right hand notes bounce from A flat to E flat to B flat to G and repeats, while the left hand plays an A flat octave. Learn each hand separately then put them together and you’ll be mastering this song before you know it!
Conclusion - Easy Piano Songs That Sound Hard
Of course, you can’t completely learn a song through watching a video, it helps to have the sheet music as well. Luckily, sheet music for all of these easy piano songs is available at Amazon or SheetMusicPlus. Combine the sheet music with watching the video tutorials, and you’ll be playing these easy piano songs that sound hard for an audience in no time!