Moonlight Sonata (1st Movement) in Piano Letter Notes

All 69 bars of the first movement of Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata, written as letter notes for both hands. Press Play on Piano to open it on the keyboard, use Listen to hear how it goes, then play along in practice mode, which waits for each note.

Moonlight Sonata letter notes, bar by bar

Each line is one bar of twelve triplet notes, the rippling pattern that runs through the whole movement. One space is one triplet note, and each | holds a note a little longer. Keys in square brackets are pressed together.

Ludwig van Beethoven · 805 notes · Playable on 61+ keys

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Introduction (bars 1–4)

[!*W] T u W T u W T u W T u
[7W] T u W T u W T u W T u
[6e] T u e T u [$e] y I e y I
[%W] t I W T u [%W] T Y Q t Y

Theme (bars 5–22)

[!%*0] W T W T u W T u [WO] T [uO]
[1%8WO] Y I W Y I W Y I [WO] Y [IO]
[!*WO] T u W T u [$ep] T I e T I
[7WO] r u W r u [7eI] r Y [ea] r Y
[30Wu] r | W r u W r u W r u
[30w] r u w r u w r u [wo] r [uo]
[29wo] r i w r i w r i [wo] r [io]
[18wo] t u [7w] r u [^w] T u [QI] T u
[7QI] r y Q r y [3wo] r T [50u] r T
[$QI] r y Q r y [$QI] E T Q E T
[7r] y I r y I r Y I [ra] Y I
[rs] u o [30r] u o [5wr] u o [30rP] u o
[7ra] Y I r Y I r Y I [ra] Y I
[rs] u o [30r] u o [5wr] u o [30rP] u o
[7ra] Y I r Y I [%ra] y i r y i
[4ra] T O r T O [$ep] T I e T I
[7wo] r y w r y [18QI] e Y Q e Y
[!*T] Q e * Q e [!*T] Q W [*T] q W

Middle section (bars 23–41)

[!$Q] e T e T I T I p [TS] I [pS]
[4*qTS] O a T O a T O a [TS] O [aS]
[$QTS] I p T I p [@(ts] I p [!*TS] I p
[1%8YD] I O Y I O Y I O [1%8YD] I O
[!%*uf] O S u O S [$YD] I p [5TS] u P
[%s] t Y O t Y p t Y I t Y
% t Y W t Y e t Y Q t Y
[%0] u O S u O f u O S u O
% 0 W T 0 W u 0 W T 0 W
[%(] e Q t e Y t I Y p I s
[%0] T W u T O u S O f S O
[%T] o u P o S P f S h f J
[%I] s p D s G D j G l j Z
l G j D G s D p s I p Y
I t Y e t Q e ( Q * Q e
[%8] Q W e W Q ( Q e * Q e
[%8] Q W e W Q 9 Q e * Q e
[%8] Q W e W Q [6*] 0 T * 0 T
[$(] e T ( e T [%(] W t ( Q t

Theme returns (bars 42–59)

[!%*0] W T W T u W T u [WO] T [uO]
[1%8WO] Y I W Y I W Y I [WO] Y [IO]
[!*WO] T u W T u [$ep] T I e T I
[7WO] r u W r u [7eI] r Y [ea] r Y
[30Wu] r | r u O r u O [ra] u [Oa]
[@(ra] I p r I p r I p [ra] I [pa]
[30ra] u O r u O [@(ts] I O [!*TS] u O
[1%8YD] I O Y I O [!%*uf] O S u O S
[$yd] I p y I p [%ts] I O t I O
[!*TS] u O T u O T i O [TS] i O
[Td] I p [$QT] I p [6eT] I p [$QTs] I p
[!*TS] i O T i O T i O [TS] i O
[Td] I p [$QT] I p [6eT] I p [$QTs] I p
[!*TS] i O T i O [$TS] I p T I p
[@(ra] I p r I p r I p [30ra] u O
[!*ep] u O [@(ep] Y I [18WO] Y I [!*WO] T u
[6QI] T Y Q T Y [%WO] T Y [$ep] T Y
[%WO] T u W T u [%QO] t Y Q t Y

Coda (bars 60–69)

[!%0T] W T W T u W T u [%W] T [%u]
[1%W] Y I W Y I W Y I [%W] Y [%I]
[!%W] u T O u S O f S [%H] f [%S]
[%s] D p s I p Y I e [%t] W [%Q]
[!%0T] u T O u S O f S [%H] f [%S]
[%s] D p s I p Y I e [%t] W [%Q]
[!%0T] W T u T W * 0 W T W 0
% * 0 W 0 * % * % 3 % 3
! ||| [!%*0WT] |||
[!%*0WT]

Three layers to listen for

Bass: slow octaves in the left hand, usually one or two per bar. They set the harmony, stepping down from C# in the opening bars.
Triplets: three notes per beat that never stop. The first ones, G#, C# and E, spell a C# minor chord, the key of the piece.
Melody: enters in bar 5 on a repeated G# with a short dotted rhythm, sitting on top of the triplets. Let it sound a little louder than everything else.

How to practise it

Start with the first four bars, which are only bass and triplets. Aim for twelve even notes per bar before adding anything else. From bar 5, the melody note is written in the same bracket as the triplet note it lands on, so you press both at once and keep going.

In the middle section, from bar 28 the bass holds a low G# for about a dozen bars while the triplets climb and fall, building tension before the tune returns in bar 42. Keep it quiet even as the notes rise. If the triplets feel rushed, listen at 0.75x speed first.

Why is it called the Moonlight Sonata?

Beethoven did not call it that. He finished the Piano Sonata No. 14 in C-sharp minor, Op. 27 No. 2, in 1801, published it in 1802 as a "sonata quasi una fantasia", and dedicated it to his pupil, Countess Giulietta Guicciardi. Years after his death, the critic Ludwig Rellstab compared the first movement to moonlight on Lake Lucerne, and the nickname stuck.

About this letter-note version

The notes and rhythm were read from the Mutopia Project engraving of the 1908 Berners edition, edited by A. Winterberger (engraving licensed CC BY-SA 2.5), and written out as letter notes by ScreenPiano. The music itself is in the public domain. To fit 61 keys and the letter-note rhythm, the lowest bass octaves keep only their upper note, the dotted melody notes are rounded to the nearest triplet, and the long final chords are shortened. See credits and attribution. If you spot a wrong note, email support@screenpiano.com.

More piano pieces

For more Beethoven, play the full Für Elise in letter notes. The piano chord chart shows the C# minor chord and the other chords behind the triplets, and the easy piano songs, starting with Mary Had a Little Lamb, are a gentler place to begin.

Moonlight Sonata questions

Which movement of the Moonlight Sonata is this?

The first movement, Adagio sostenuto: the slow, quiet one most people mean by the Moonlight Sonata. The fast third movement, Presto agitato, is not included here.

What do the letters in brackets mean?

Keys in square brackets are pressed together. At the start of a bar they combine the left-hand bass with the first triplet note, and in the melody they combine the tune's note with the triplet note under it, as in [WO], which is G#3 with G#4.

Should I use the sustain pedal?

Yes. Beethoven asked for the whole movement to be played with the dampers raised, which is what the sustain pedal does. ScreenPiano starts with sustain on; tap the Spacebar when the bass changes to clear the notes that are still ringing.