Real Sight Reader
Piano sound
Browser piano

Play your MIDI keyboard through this device’s audio output. Plug headphones into this device and turn down your piano’s own speakers.

← All pieces

Sonatina in F Major, Anh. 5 No. 2

Ludwig van Beethoven (1770–1827) · sheet music

  • Key F major
  • Time 2/4
  • Levels 3–7
  • Passages 15

Your turn · both hands

 

 

Loading passage…

Preparing your passage…

Ludwig van Beethoven, German classical (1770–1827). The reading release has 15 passages from this piece at levels 3–7; the reader above opens on the easiest, bars 29–32 for the left hand alone.

Practice the hard bars →

The hardest stretch is bars 1–8 at level 7.

Your practice path

Learn it the way teachers do: each hand on its own, then together, then the hard bars. Each step is a real graded passage of Sonatina in F Major, Anh. 5 No. 2.

  1. Left hand alone · bars 29–32 level 3
  2. Hands together · bars 1–8 level 7

How to play Sonatina in F Major, Anh. 5 No. 2

  1. Tempo:Begin at a moderate speed. The marking Allegro assai means very fast, but the sixteenth notes should be even before you speed up.
  2. Right hand:The first movement spends much of its time on running scale-like figures. Practice them slowly with a consistent fingering and a light, level touch.
  3. Left hand:The left hand supplies a simple accompaniment of repeated or broken figures. Keep it quiet so the running notes stay in front.
  4. Hands together:Play the hands together at a slow tempo and make sure the right-hand runs finish at the same moment as the left-hand notes.
  5. Fingering:Plan scale fingerings in advance so the thumb passes under without a bump. Mark any spot where you hesitate.
  6. Rhythm:In the rondo, feel two light beats per measure and let the theme bounce. Count out the eighth notes when the episodes begin.
  7. Dynamics:Contrast the opening theme and the episodes by changing touch as well as volume, for example lighter and shorter for the episode.
  8. Practice:Learn the rondo theme first, then the episodes one by one. Name each return of the theme so you know where you are in the form.

Common mistakes

  • Rushing the sixteenth notes in the first movement. Fix: Use a metronome and increase the speed gradually, keeping each note even.
  • Playing the rondo theme the same way on every return. Fix: Change the touch or dynamic slightly each time so the form is clear.
  • Pressing the left-hand accompaniment into the keys. Fix: Play the left hand softly and let the melody sing above it.

Structure: sonatina (sonata form, then rondo)

The sonatina has two short movements. The first is a sonata-form movement with two themes in the same key, and the second is a rondo in which the main theme returns between two contrasting episodes. Both movements are in F major and in 2/4.

I · Allegro assai (F major)
A brisk movement built from running sixteenth notes in a sonata form. The second theme stays in F major, and the development leads straight to a recapitulation that begins with that second theme.
II · Rondo: Allegro (F major)
A bouncy rondo with an ABACA shape, in eighth-note motion. The reading challenge is following the theme as it returns after each episode.

About Sonatina in F Major, Anh. 5 No. 2

This sonatina in F major is listed as Anh. 5 No. 2 among the doubtful works in the Kinsky-Halm catalogue of Beethoven's music, paired with a Sonatina in G major, Anh. 5 No. 1. It has two movements, an Allegro assai and a Rondo marked Allegro, both in 2/4.

Whether Beethoven wrote it at all is doubtful. No record of its composition survives; it was first published by Böhme in Hamburg in 1818, already marked as an arrangement, and the Beethoven scholar Akira Hirano considers his authorship hardly likely.

The music is light and cheerful and makes few demands, which is why teachers like it. Most of the first movement runs in sixteenth notes, while the rondo moves in eighth notes around a returning theme.

  • In the first movement the second theme stays in F major instead of moving to C major as usual, so one commentary calls the form tonally imperfect.
  • When the sonatina first appeared in print in 1818, it was already labeled an arrangement.
  • The recapitulation of the first movement begins with the second theme rather than the first.

Why the first passage is level 3

That passage is level 3 rather than 2 because it carries accidentals outside the key, a hand covers more than one position, it leaps a fifth, the line roams across the staff, notes are tied across the beat, it leaves the five-finger position.

The page is in 2/4 with one flat. Expect many running scale-like notes in one hand and simple chords in the other.

Questions about Sonatina in F Major, Anh. 5 No. 2

How hard is Sonatina in F Major, Anh. 5 No. 2 to play?
Its passages grade from level 3 to level 7 on Real Sight Reader's ten-level reading scale, so the full piece is intermediate to advanced reading. The hardest stretch is bars 1–8 at level 7.
Is there an easy part of Sonatina in F Major, Anh. 5 No. 2 for beginners?
Yes. Start with bars 29–32 for the left hand alone, the level-3 passage in the reader at the top of this page; it is level 3 because it carries accidentals outside the key and a hand covers more than one position.
What key and time signature is Sonatina in F Major, Anh. 5 No. 2 in?
Sonatina in F Major, Anh. 5 No. 2 is in F major, 1 flat. The engraving on this page is in 2/4 time.
Who composed Sonatina in F Major, Anh. 5 No. 2?
Ludwig van Beethoven, German classical (1770–1827). This sonatina in F major is listed as Anh.
Can I practice Sonatina in F Major, Anh. 5 No. 2 online for free?
Yes. The reader on this page plays any of the 15 graded passages from Sonatina in F Major, Anh. 5 No. 2 in your browser, with an on-screen keyboard or a MIDI keyboard, and marks every note as you play. No signup.
Did Beethoven really write this sonatina?
Probably not. It is cataloged among his doubtful works, no record of its composition survives, and several scholars consider his authorship very unlikely. It has stayed in student collections under his name.
How long is the sonatina?
About five minutes for both movements, each lasting roughly two and a half minutes.
Is there a companion sonatina?
Yes. It is paired with a Sonatina in G major, and the two are catalogued together as Anh. 5, both among Beethoven's doubtful works.

Every passage, easiest first

The reading release grades 15 distinct passages of this piece. Open any of them in the reader:

Level 3
bars 29–32 left hand · bars 31–34 left hand · bars 33–36 left hand
Level 7
bars 1–8 both hands · bars 1–4 both hands · bars 5–8 both hands · bars 13–16 both hands · bars 17–24 both hands · bars 17–20 both hands · bars 21–24 both hands · bars 21–32 both hands · bars 25–28 both hands · bars 25–32 both hands · bars 29–32 both hands · bars 33–36 both hands

More pieces to sight-read

Score: public-domain engraving from the corpus (pdmx), graded by the piano-reading-v2-20261023-identity-audit reading release.

Keep training on your phone Practice with your own pieces — free on the App Store