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Minute Waltz, Op. 64 No. 1

Frédéric Chopin (1810–1849) · sheet music

  • Key D-flat major
  • Time 3/4
  • Levels 9–10
  • Passages 18

Your turn · both hands

 

 

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Frédéric Chopin, Polish-French romantic (1810–1849). The reading release has 18 passages from this piece at levels 9–10; the reader above opens on the easiest, bars 1–8 for both hands together.

Practice the hard bars →

The hardest stretch is bars 1–24 at level 10.

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 Minute Waltz, Op. 64 No. 1.

  1. Left hand alone · bars 1–24 level 10
  2. Hands together · bars 1–12 level 9
  3. The hardest bars · bars 1–24 level 10

How to play Minute Waltz, Op. 64 No. 1

  1. Tempo:Do not try to play it in a minute. Choose a tempo you can control, and remember that real performances take at least a minute and a half.
  2. Right hand:The right hand in the opening circles around a few notes at high speed. Practice the figure in small groups with even fingers, keeping the wrist loose and the hand close to the keys.
  3. Left hand:The left hand plays a simple waltz bass of a low note followed by chords. Keep it light and in time so the right hand has a steady frame to spin around.
  4. Hands together:Count the three beats out loud and check that the first beat of each bar lines up. If your hands drift apart, reduce the speed until they stay locked.
  5. Fingering:Choose one fingering for the fast turning figure and keep it consistent every time it returns. Changing fingering between repetitions makes the spinning sound uneven.
  6. Dynamics:The opening is marked leggero, meaning light, and the middle is sostenuto, meaning sustained. Make that contrast clear: dry and quick in the outer sections, warm and held in the middle.
  7. Practice:Play the fast right-hand figure slowly with a metronome, then raise it a few clicks per day. Short sessions of just the hardest bars give better results than running the whole waltz.

Common mistakes

  • Playing too fast too soon and tripping over the circling figure. Fix: Slow down until the notes are even, and speed up only a little at a time.
  • Letting the left hand get heavy, which stiffens the right hand. Fix: Practice the left hand softly alone, then add the right hand at the same quiet level.
  • Rushing the calmer middle section. Fix: Slow the tempo slightly there and let the long notes sing for their full length.
  • Forgetting the three-beat feel and playing in a continuous blur. Fix: Lightly accent beat one of each bar while you practice, then relax the accent.

Structure: ternary (A-B-A)

A fast, whirling opening section in D-flat major is followed by a calmer middle section with a long, singing melody. The first section then returns, ending with a three-octave descent rather than the earlier two-octave one.

A · Whirling opening (leggero) (D-flat major)
A fast circling figure in the right hand over a light waltz pattern. This is the section that needs steady fingers and a very even touch.
B · Calm middle section (sostenuto)
A slower, more lyrical melody in a contrasting key, with long notes over the waltz accompaniment. The reading challenge is balancing the tune against the accompaniment.
A · Return of the opening (D-flat major)
The opening material comes back after a long trill and finishes with a longer, three-octave downward sweep.

About Minute Waltz, Op. 64 No. 1

Chopin finished this waltz in 1847, and Breitkopf and Härtel published it in Leipzig the same year as the first of three waltzes in his Op. 64. He dedicated it to Countess Delfina Potocka.

The nickname Minute Waltz came from publishers, who meant it in the sense of tiny or miniature, not 'finish in sixty seconds'. A typical performance takes between a minute and a half and two and a half minutes, so playing it in exactly one minute would take an extreme speed that Chopin did not intend.

A story told by the biographer Camille Bourniquel says Chopin was inspired by watching a small dog chase its tail, which gave the piece the name Valse du petit chien, the Little Dog Waltz. The dog is said to have been George Sand's dog Marquis.

  • The word 'minute' in the nickname was meant to mean small, as in miniature, not a time limit.
  • Arthur Rubinstein's fast recording has been the theme tune of the BBC Radio 4 panel show Just a Minute since the show began.
  • Barbra Streisand recorded a vocal version of the waltz on her 1966 album Color Me Barbra.
  • Composers including Leopold Godowsky and Max Reger wrote paraphrases of this waltz.

Why the first passage is level 9

That passage is level 9 rather than 8 because its key signature has 5 sharps or flats.

Passages here sit at the top of the difficulty scale because of the fast figures and chord shapes. Read slowly, and keep the tempo steady rather than chasing the one-minute nickname.

Questions about Minute Waltz, Op. 64 No. 1

How hard is Minute Waltz, Op. 64 No. 1 to play?
Its passages grade from level 9 to level 10 on Real Sight Reader's ten-level reading scale, so the full piece is intermediate to advanced reading. The hardest stretch is bars 1–24 at level 10.
Is there an easy part of Minute Waltz, Op. 64 No. 1 for beginners?
Its easiest passage is level 9, so it suits a reader past the beginner stage. Start with bars 1–8 for both hands together, the level-9 passage in the reader at the top of this page; it is level 9 because its key signature has 5 sharps or flats.
What key and time signature is Minute Waltz, Op. 64 No. 1 in?
Minute Waltz, Op. 64 No. 1 is in D-flat major, 5 flats. The engraving on this page is in 3/4 time.
Who composed Minute Waltz, Op. 64 No. 1?
Frédéric Chopin, Polish-French romantic (1810–1849). Chopin finished this waltz in 1847, and Breitkopf and Härtel published it in Leipzig the same year as the first of three waltzes in his Op.
Can I practice Minute Waltz, Op. 64 No. 1 online for free?
Yes. The reader on this page plays any of the 18 graded passages from Minute Waltz, Op. 64 No. 1 in your browser, with an on-screen keyboard or a MIDI keyboard, and marks every note as you play. No signup.
Why is it called the Minute Waltz?
The name was given by publishers and meant 'small' or 'miniature', as in a tiny waltz. It was not meant to suggest that the piece should take one minute.
How long does the Minute Waltz actually take?
A typical performance lasts between about a minute and a half and two and a half minutes.
Who was the Minute Waltz dedicated to?
Chopin dedicated it to Countess Delfina Potocka, and it appeared as the first of the three waltzes in his Op. 64.
Is the Minute Waltz in the public domain?
Yes. The original dates from 1847 and Chopin died in 1849, so the music is in the public domain. Modern editions and arrangements can have their own rights, but the engraving on this page comes from a public-domain source.

Every passage, easiest first

The reading release grades 18 distinct passages of this piece. Open any of them in the reader:

Level 9
bars 1–12 both hands · bars 1–8 both hands · bars 5–8 both hands · bars 9–16 both hands · bars 9–12 both hands · bars 25–28 both hands · bars 69–72 both hands · bars 73–76 both hands · bars 97–100 both hands · bars 97–104 both hands · bars 105–108 both hands
Level 10
bars 1–24 both hands · bars 1–24 left hand · bars 17–24 both hands · bars 21–24 both hands · bars 25–40 left hand · bars 37–44 both hands · bars 50–61 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.

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