How to learn an easy Baroque minuet in A minor on piano

After this lesson you can play the whole Minuet in A minor with both hands, shaping the two voices and the dynamics.

A minuet is a dance in three time, elegant rather than energetic, and for well over a century composers wrote them by the hundred. Many of the first "real" pieces that piano students play are minuets from the Baroque period, such as the famous Minuet in G from the Notebook for Anna Magdalena Bach, now usually credited to Christian Petzold. This lesson is about learning a complete piece of that kind: the Academy's Minuet in A minor, a short original written in Baroque style.

You have already met its ingredients one by one: A minor and G sharp, two independent voices, A5 and B5 above the staff, and the dynamic marks mp, mf, crescendo and diminuendo. Now the challenge is to put everything together, from the first note to the last, and make it sound like a dance.

The shape of the piece

The minuet is sixteen bars long and falls into four phrases of four bars each. Knowing the plan before you start helps enormously.

Bars 1 to 4: the opening idea in A minor, played mf. It climbs up the A minor chord and comes home.
Bars 5 to 8: a softer answer, marked p, which ends on a long E rather than A, so it sounds like a pause halfway through.
Bars 9 to 12: the high bars, climbing to B5. A crescendo carries the music up to f in bar 11, the loudest point of the piece.
Bars 13 to 16: the opening returns at mf, with a C sharp passing note, then a diminuendo to a quiet final A.

That gives the piece a clear journey: a statement, a quieter reply, a climb to a climax, and a calm homecoming.

Layer by layer

Two-voice pieces are best learned in layers. Never try to read both hands at full speed from the start.

Layer 1: each hand alone. Learn the right hand of one phrase, then its left hand.
Layer 2: hands together slowly, in the same phrase, at about half speed.
Layer 3: dynamics and shape, once the notes are secure.
Layer 4: joining phrases, so the piece flows from one section into the next.

Here is the second phrase, hand by hand. The right hand begins softly, at p.

Bars 5 to 8, right hand, marked p: down the A minor chord, up to F, then a rising figure from G sharp to a long E

Bars 5 to 8, left hand: middle C on a ledger line above the bass staff in bar 5, then a walk up D, F, A, and two long Es

Notice the turn-taking again. In bar 6 the left hand walks up while the right holds F. In bars 7 and 8 the left hand holds long Es while the right moves. Practise the left hand alone until it feels like a little melody in its own right.

The last phrase

The final phrase brings back the opening idea, but with a twist: a C sharp in bar 14 that slides from C to D, and then G sharp leaning into the final A.

Bars 13 to 16, right hand: mf, a C sharp passing note in bar 14, then a diminuendo as G sharp leads home to A

Make the C sharp smooth and light: it is just a passing step. Then let the last bars fade, so the final A is the softest note of the phrase.

Feeling the dance

A minuet should never sound like a march. Its three beats have a pattern of weight: ONE two three, with a gentle emphasis on the first beat and lighter second and third beats. Think of a graceful step on beat 1 and two small steps after it. Avoid hitting every beat equally; let the music sway.

The tempo is moderate. In the Academy it is set at 84 beats per minute, and you will practise it slower than that at first.

A weekly practice plan

Day 1: phrase 1, hands separately, then together slowly.
Day 2: phrase 2 the same way. Review phrase 1.
Day 3: phrase 3, the high bars. Name A5 and B5 before you play.
Day 4: phrase 4, including the C sharp and the G sharps.
Day 5: join phrases 1 and 2, then 3 and 4. Add the dynamics.
Day 6: the whole piece slowly, without stopping, even if something slips.
Day 7: record a performance and listen for the four phrases and the dynamic plan.

Common mistakes

Losing the dynamics under pressure. Once both hands are going, it is easy to play everything mf. Mark the p in bar 5 and the f in bar 11 in your mind before you start.
Heavy beats. Avoid pressing every beat. Lift the second and third beats.
A late G sharp. The black key turns up in the right hand in bars 3, 7 and 15 and in the left hand in bars 3 and 12, and it catches many players out.
Speeding up in the high bars. The crescendo should grow in volume, not in tempo.

Once the minuet is secure, a good next step is the real Baroque Minuet in G on the Minuet in G song page: start with its first four bars in the right hand.

Try it in Pianuvo

The Academy lesson gives you each section of the minuet with the notes waiting for you, then the whole piece with both hands, and every part is scored as it listens to you play, using the on-screen keys, a MIDI keyboard or a real piano through the microphone. You can record yourself too. It completes Unit 8: Minor keys and a Baroque minuet.