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Minuet in A Minor

Johann Krieger (1651–1735) · sheet music

  • Key A minor
  • Time 3/4
  • Levels 2–5
  • Passages 18

Your turn · both hands

 

 

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Johann Krieger, German baroque (1651–1735). The reading release has 18 passages from this piece at levels 2–5; the reader above opens on the easiest, bars 3–4 for the left hand alone.

Practice the hard bars →

The hardest stretch is bars 1–8 at level 5.

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 Minuet in A Minor.

  1. Right hand alone · bars 9–10 level 2
  2. Left hand alone · bars 3–4 level 2
  3. Hands together · bars 11–14 level 4
  4. The hardest bars · bars 1–8 level 5

How to play Minuet in A Minor

  1. Play at a moderate, elegant dance tempo with a slight lean on the first beat of each bar; a minuet should feel graceful rather than rushed.
  2. Watch for G-sharps added as accidentals, which raise the seventh note of A minor and create the strong pull back home at cadences.
  3. Play the left-hand quarter notes slightly detached, which gives the baroque walking-bass feel, while the right-hand steps stay smooth and connected.
  4. Practice hands separately, counting the three beats aloud, then together very slowly; when the right hand shifts position, write in the finger number at the shift so it happens the same way every time.

Structure

The minuet is in binary form: two short halves, each normally repeated. The first half moves away from A minor and ends in a new key area, and the second half travels back to close firmly in A minor. Played with its repeats, it lasts well under a minute.

About Minuet in A Minor

Johann Krieger was a German organist and composer of the generation before Bach, who spent most of his working life in Zittau. Little of his keyboard music is widely played today, but this short minuet has become a fixture of beginner method books and graded piano syllabi as an early taste of baroque dance music.

Why the first passage is level 2

That passage is level 2 rather than 1 because it is in 3/4, not 4/4, it has dotted rhythms.

Johann Krieger's minuet is a common first baroque piece, and it is a clear lesson in reading two independent voices. The right hand moves by step while the left hand walks along under it, so each hand has its own line to read. There are no sharps or flats in the key signature.

Questions about Minuet in A Minor

How hard is Minuet in A Minor to play?
Its passages grade from level 2 to level 5 on Real Sight Reader's ten-level reading scale, so the full piece sits around early intermediate. The hardest stretch is bars 1–8 at level 5.
Is there an easy part of Minuet in A Minor for beginners?
Yes. Start with bars 3–4 for the left hand alone, the level-2 passage in the reader at the top of this page; it is level 2 because it is in 3/4, not 4/4 and it has dotted rhythms.
What key and time signature is Minuet in A Minor in?
Minuet in A Minor is in A minor, no sharps or flats. The engraving on this page is in 3/4 time.
Who composed Minuet in A Minor?
Johann Krieger, German baroque (1651–1735). Johann Krieger was a German organist and composer of the generation before Bach, who spent most of his working life in Zittau.
Can I practice Minuet in A Minor online for free?
Yes. The reader on this page plays any of the 18 graded passages from Minuet in A Minor in your browser, with an on-screen keyboard or a MIDI keyboard, and marks every note as you play. No signup.

Every passage, easiest first

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

Level 2
bars 3–4 left hand · bars 9–10 right hand · bars 10–11 left hand · bars 11–12 right hand · bars 13–14 right hand
Level 3
bars 1–4 left hand · bars 9–12 right hand · bars 11–14 left hand · bars 17–20 left hand
Level 4
bars 11–14 both hands
Level 5
bars 1–8 both hands · bars 1–4 both hands · bars 9–12 both hands · bars 9–16 both hands · bars 13–16 both hands · bars 17–24 both hands · bars 17–20 both hands · bars 21–24 both hands

More pieces to sight-read

Score: public-domain engraving from the corpus (pdmx), graded by the piano-reading-v2-20261001-mutopia-ly reading release.

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