Home › Tools › Piano Sheet Music for Kids › Minuet in G
Piano sheet music for kids · Classical · Level 4: Up to the C above
Minuet in G
Free beginner piano sheet music: C major, 3/4, 16 bars (the first half), played twice. Press Play to hear it on a real piano, slow it down, or hear one hand at a time; click any note to start from there; print it for the music stand.
About this arrangement
From the 1725 notebook Bach put together for his wife Anna Magdalena; for two hundred years people thought Bach wrote it, but it is by Christian Petzold, a Dresden organist. This is the first half of the minuet, both hands as Petzold wrote them (one low left-hand note raised an octave), moved from G major into C major so every note is a white key. The right hand spans a ninth, so the hand moves: the little finger starts on G, the first bar leaps down to middle C and then runs up C, D, E, F. The left hand is a real second part, single notes and one chord, rather than a chord on every beat.
Practice tip: Learn bars 1 to 4 first: in the right hand, bars 9 to 12 are bars 1 to 4 again. In bar 1 the little finger plays G, then the thumb drops straight down to middle C for the run C D E F.
A short history
In 1725 Johann Sebastian Bach began a music notebook for his second wife, Anna Magdalena, and over the years family and friends copied pieces into it. This minuet is one of them. For two hundred years it was printed as Bach’s own, and generations of students learned it as such.
In the 1970s the musicologist Hans-Joachim Schulze found it in a harpsichord suite by Christian Petzold, an organist at the Dresden court, which is why it is now called the Minuet in G by Petzold, BWV Anh. 114 in the Bach catalogue.
In 1965 the American group The Toys turned it into a pop hit, “A Lover’s Concerto”, which reached number two in the United States. This page gives the first half of the minuet, both hands as Petzold wrote them (one low left-hand note raised an octave), moved from G major into C major.
Quick facts
- Tune
- Christian Petzold, c. 1725
- Key
- C major
- Time signature
- 3/4
- Length
- 16 bars (the first half), played twice
- Tempo
- Gracefully, crotchet = 112
- Difficulty
- Level 4: Up to the C above (piece 124 of 201)
- Type
- Classical
- Hands
- Both: melody in the right hand, chords in the left
- Copyright
- Public domain tune; arrangement by Digital Greenhouse, free for personal and classroom use
Questions and answers
What key is Minuet in G in?
How long is it?
Is Minuet in G out of copyright?
What is the hardest part?
Can I print it?
← More classical themes · All 201 pieces: piano sheet music for kids
🔒 Runs entirely in your browser: nothing is uploaded and no account is needed. Once loaded, the page and the piano keep working offline.