Easy Schumann pieces: 14 piano works in our catalog, ranked easiest first

On our 0–10 difficulty scale, where 0–3 is beginner, 4–6 is intermediate, and 7–10 is advanced, the 97 Schumann scores in our catalog run from difficulty 3 to 10. Each rating reflects the busiest bars at the written tempo rather than the opening measures, so a quiet piece that voices two lines in one hand or leaps in octaves carries the number of that peak. Broadly mapped to common study books, the fourteen pieces here and five next steps fall into four bands:

• Difficulty 3, late beginner (roughly Burgmüller's 25 Studies, Op. 100): one Schumann piece in our catalog sits here, Soldiers' March (Op. 68 No. 2), built on crisp chords and eighth rests in 2/4.
• Difficulty 4–5, early intermediate (roughly Clementi sonatinas and early Czerny Op. 849): our catalog has ten Schumann pieces at 4 and nineteen at 5. The eleven here move from Album for the Young to Kinderszenen, Albumblätter, Carnaval, and Forest Scenes.
• Difficulty 6, intermediate (roughly later Czerny Op. 849): twenty-two Schumann pieces sit at 6, including Knight of the Hobbyhorse and Bird as Prophet below, plus Eusebius and Chiarina in the next steps.
• Difficulty 7–10, late intermediate to advanced (roughly Czerny Op. 299 to Op. 740): our catalog holds twenty-one pieces at 7, twelve at 8, six at 9, and six at 10, from Knecht Ruprecht (7) to Soaring (9) and the Fantasie in C major first movement (10).

Test each piece's hardest bars at half tempo with hands-separate practice first.

Why Träumerei is rated difficulty 4 while short pieces in Kinderszenen reach 5 or 6

Players searching for Schumann pieces by difficulty often wonder why Träumerei sits at difficulty 4 while 30-second pieces in Kinderszenen reach 5 or 6. On our scale, each rating follows the busiest bars at the written tempo: Träumerei moves slowly across 25 bars with pedal marks helping sustain the harmony, whereas An Important Event (5) drives through fortissimo (very loud) left-hand octave eighths and Knight of the Hobbyhorse (6) locks off-beat right-hand chords against a left-hand melody and bass leaps. Even at 4, Träumerei asks for four-voice finger legato (smoothly connected playing) and a tenth in bar 22.

Our catalog holds fifty-two Schumann pieces from difficulty 3 to 6 (one at 3, ten at 4, nineteen at 5, and twenty-two at 6). We selected fourteen across five solo collections: three from Album for the Young (Op. 68), six from Kinderszenen (Op. 15), one from Albumblätter (Op. 124), one from Carnaval (Op. 9), and three from Forest Scenes (Op. 82). The rest are on our Robert Schumann composer page, and for another Romantic list see our guide to easy Chopin pieces. Each card shows what the piece trains and its hardest bars at tempo.

March of the Soldiers (Soldiers' March, Op. 68 No. 2, difficulty 3, 32 bars, 40 seconds) is a bright, upright march in G major and the easiest Schumann piece in our catalog, which makes it the natural starting point if you are new to his music. Written in 1848 for Schumann's children as the second of the 43 pieces in Album for the Young, it is marked Munter und straff (lively and taut) and steps out loudly in 2/4 time in crisp dotted chords, with its second half repeated.

The hardest bars are bars 19–21 and 31–32. After unison octaves in bars 17–18, the right hand leaps to a wide seventh and fifth across eighth rests in bar 19, then jumps from D to three-note chords over a left-hand octave leap in bars 31–32. Touch each upper chord silently before pressing it, and steady the snappy rhythm with dotted-rhythm practice.

Melody, Op. 68 No. 1 (difficulty 4, 20 bars, 52 seconds), pairs a calm, singing right-hand tune in C major with a gentle stream of slurred left-hand eighth notes, and at 52 seconds is a short first step into difficulty 4. Written in 1848 for Schumann's children as the first of the 43 pieces in Album for the Young, it moves in 4/4 at piano (soft) with a few printed fingering numbers to guide the hand.

The hardest spot is bars 5–6 and their return in bars 13–14. In each bar, the right hand plays a three-quarter-note slur and lifts on a fourth-beat rest while the left hand keeps its slurred eighth notes rocking against a repeated G. Use two-hands coordination practice on bars 5–6 so the left hand stays smooth when the right hand lifts.

Träumerei, Op. 15 No. 7 (difficulty 4, 25 bars, about 2 minutes 40 seconds), is a warm, dreaming F-major miniature that rewards players who want to shape four-voice harmonies without fast passagework. Composed in 1838 and published in 1839 as the seventh of the thirteen pieces in Kinderszenen (Scenes from Childhood), it enters softly in 4/4 on a middle-C pickup, passes one rising-and-falling phrase every four bars across woven voices over sustained harmonies with printed pedal marks, and ends quietly after a held chord and a slowing.

The hardest bars are bars 22–24 and the four-voice weaving in bars 10–11 and 14–15. Bars 22–24 are marked ritardando (gradually slowing). In bar 22 the right hand leaps to high A under a fermata (a held pause) above a three-note inner chord, while the left hand spans a tenth under its own fermata. Roll the left-hand tenth gently if needed, and voice the top line with blocked-chord practice.

Child Falling Asleep, Op. 15 No. 12 (difficulty 4, 32 bars, about 2 minutes), is a quiet E-minor lullaby whose hypnotic rocking rhythm and unresolved ending teach you to shape a very soft, even sound. The twelfth piece in Kinderszenen (composed 1838, published 1839), it sways softly in 2/4 in a short-long sixteenth-and-dotted-eighth figure over repeated chords, turns to a warm E-major middle section, and after the opening returns, drifts off on an A-minor chord under a fermata instead of its home key. No fingerings are printed.

The hardest bars are bars 9–16 and 17–20, both marked pianissimo (very soft). In bars 9–10 and 13–14, the right hand plays a short figure starting on B inside its own E-major and B-seventh chords, so the figure must sing through the chord tones around it, while bars 17–20 send the left hand rocking across the deep bass beneath tied inner notes. Voice the right-hand figure in bars 9–10 first as in changing dynamics practice.

Little Lullaby, Op. 124 No. 6 (difficulty 4, 48 bars, about 2 minutes 10 seconds), is a gentle G-major cradle song that teaches you to balance a melody and a murmuring accompaniment inside the same right hand. Composed in 1843 and collected in Albumblätter, Op. 124, it is marked Nicht schnell (not fast) and played softly in 2/4: from bar 1, the right hand's upper fingers hold a quarter-note melody while the lower fingers rock through six broken-chord eighth notes per bar, three to each beat, over a quarter-note bass.

The hardest bars are bars 19–20 and 23–26. In bars 19–20, the right hand ties C-sharp across the bar line and resolves it through a grace note over inner eighth notes while the left hand drops an octave, and in bars 23–26, marked crescendo (growing louder), the right-hand broken chords stretch from a seventh to a ninth beneath the held melody. Practise the right hand alone in bars 23–26, keeping the thumb quiet as the hand opens.

Chopin, from Carnaval, Op. 9 (difficulty 4, 14 bars, about 1 minute 30 seconds), is a sweeping A-flat major tribute that gives early intermediate players the sound of a Romantic nocturne in just 14 bars. Composed in 1834–35 and published in 1837 as part of Schumann's "little scenes on four notes", it moves in 6/4 marked Agitato (agitated) and loud, floating a nocturne-like melody with sudden accents over wide left-hand arpeggios and repeated pedal marks.

The hardest bars are bar 10 and bar 12, where the left hand carries the full twelve-eighth-note arpeggio wave alone. In bar 10, the right hand plays twelve eighth notes, leaping an octave to high C and cascading down (the last four staccato) while the left hand sweeps more than two octaves and then steps down an octave below the right hand, before arching across another wide span at ritenuto (held back) in bar 12. Drill the left-hand waves in bars 10 and 12 with hands-separate practice.

Wild Rider, Op. 68 No. 8 (difficulty 5, 27 bars, 26 seconds), is a brisk 26-second gallop in A minor that builds a crisp staccato touch (short, detached notes) and quick hand handoffs. Written in 1848 for Schumann's children as the eighth of the 43 pieces in Album for the Young, it enters on an E pickup (bar 0) in 6/8 at mezzo-forte (moderately loud), where the tune races in the right hand over short left-hand chords, passes to the left hand in F major for the middle section, and returns to the opening.

The hardest stretch is bars 10–16, starting from the left hand's C pickup in bar 9. Here the left hand takes over the fast 6/8 broken-chord melody, where each two-note slur accented sforzando (with a sudden strong accent) falls away in staccato notes beneath two- and three-note right-hand chords. Use staccato practice on the left hand in bars 9–16 to keep the descending notes crisp.

Pleading Child, Op. 15 No. 4 (difficulty 5, 17 bars, 35 seconds), is an intimate D-major miniature where a gentle, questioning melody floats above a murmuring accompaniment shared between both hands. The fourth piece in Kinderszenen (composed 1838, published 1839), it unfolds softly in 2/4 with printed pedal marks as falling eighth-note pleas slow through three ritardandos and stop in bar 17 on an unresolved dominant seventh chord under a fermata.

The hardest spot is bars 9–12, where each two-bar plea slows and softens. Here the right hand's upper fingers carry a rising eighth-note line starting on F-sharp while the inner sixteenth-note accompaniment is shared between the hands over a moving bass. Practise bars 9–12 with two-hands coordination practice, playing the shared sixteenth-note accompaniment alone before adding the top line.

An Important Event, Op. 15 No. 6 (difficulty 5, 27 bars, 35 seconds), is a bold, ceremonious A-major piece that lets you play with full chord weight and ringing bass octaves. The sixth piece in Kinderszenen (composed 1838, published 1839), it strides in 3/4 at forte (loud) with heavy accented right-hand chords and left-hand octaves, answers an octave lower and softer in bars 5–8, and repeats a loud middle section before the opening returns. No fingerings are printed.

The hardest bars are the fortissimo (very loud) middle section in bars 10–16, starting from the bar 9 pickup. Beneath accented three- and four-note right-hand chords, the left hand strides down in continuous eighth-note octaves across bars 10–13, climbs back through six eighth-note octaves from low G in bar 14, and plays a dotted octave figure in bar 16. Drill the left-hand octaves at half speed with metronome timing practice.

The Poet Speaks, Op. 15 No. 13 (difficulty 5, 25 bars, about 3 minutes), closes Kinderszenen (composed 1838, published 1839) with a hushed, chorale-like meditation in G major that teaches you to shape silence and rubato. Played softly in 4/4 with printed pedal marks, its quiet half-note phrases turn on four grace notes in bars 3 and 6 and pause on fermatas in bars 10 and 12. Then the right hand breaks off alone into a free recitative (a speech-like line) before the chorale returns and closes very softly on a G-major chord.

The hardest bars are the solo recitative in bar 12 and the syncopated tied chords in bars 19–22 (and 7–8). Bar 12 asks the right hand to pace a free cadenza-like phrase with a sixteenth-note turn and a staccato drop of a tenth from high G between fermatas, while bars 19–22 slow down and release tied chords onto quiet staccato sixteenth-note chords. Shape bar 12 like a spoken phrase from fermata to fermata, and count sixteenth-note subdivisions in bars 19–22 so the staccato sixteenth chords land together.

Entry, Op. 82 No. 1 (difficulty 5, 45 bars, about 1 minute 35 seconds), opens the nine pieces of Forest Scenes (Waldszenen), Op. 82, with the breezy outdoor sound of distant hunting horns in B-flat major. Marked Nicht zu schnell (not too fast) and played very softly in 4/4 with printed pedal marks, the left hand from bars 1–2 sounds a dotted-quarter-and-eighth horn call in two-note chords, mostly thirds, while the right hand enters after an eighth rest on beats 1 and 3 with a staccato chord and two slurred eighth chords.

The hardest stretches are bars 9–12 and 34–37. In bars 9–12, the right hand plays a high dotted call while leaping down to inner eighth notes over syncopated left-hand inner notes tied across beats 1 and 3, and in bars 34–37, marked fortepiano (fp, loud then immediately soft), it holds a tied inner G half note under moving eighths above five-note left-hand chords. Split bars 9–12 into two-bar units as in how to practice difficult piano passages.

Lonely Flowers, Op. 82 No. 3 (difficulty 5, 76 bars, about 1 minute 35 seconds), is a tender B-flat major duet from Forest Scenes, Op. 82, where two soprano lines intertwine like a quiet conversation. Marked Einfach (simply) in 2/4 and played softly with printed pedal marks across 76 short bars, the longest bar count in our main list, it begins in bar 1 with four eighth notes in the lower voice and adds a higher soprano voice above held quarter notes in bar 2.

The hardest spot is bars 49–54. In bars 49–52, the high eighth-note line runs through each bar while two-note chords in the middle register (sevenths, a sixth, and an octave on middle C) sound under it, and in bars 53–54, two eighth-note arpeggio lines move at once in the treble. Practise the upper and lower lines in bars 53–54 separately first, and settle which hand takes the lower line.

Knight of the Hobbyhorse, Op. 15 No. 9 (difficulty 6, 24 bars, 30 seconds), is a playful, syncopated 30-second ride in C major that opens difficulty 6 and trains rock-steady off-beat rhythm. The ninth piece in Kinderszenen (composed 1838, published 1839), it rocks in 3/4 at mezzo-forte (moderately loud), where right-hand chords start just after the downbeat in every bar, mostly with an accent on beat 3, while the bass holds one note for long stretches; both halves are repeated, and the second builds to a very loud climax. No fingerings are printed.

The hardest bars are bars 13–24, especially bars 17–24 at fortissimo (very loud). In bars 13–16, the left hand jumps between middle-register octaves and low bass octaves under off-beat right-hand chords, and in bars 17–24, while the right hand pounds syncopated three-note chords after every first-beat eighth rest, the left hand carries the melody (in sixths from bar 21) and, from bar 18, drops on beat 2 to a held low C half note. Use blocked-chord practice on the right hand and drill the left-hand leaps alone.

Bird as Prophet, Op. 82 No. 7 (difficulty 6, 43 bars, about 2 minutes 40 seconds), is a mysterious, fleeting G-minor piece from Forest Scenes, Op. 82, built on crystalline bird-call figures that give way to a warm chorale in the middle. Marked Langsam, sehr zart (slowly, very tenderly) and played very softly in 4/4 with many printed pedal marks, it opens on a pickup (bar 0), where a dotted eighth and three thirty-second notes rise into bar 1 and the same figure an octave higher lands on a staccato eighth. Those G-minor bird calls frame a G-major middle section (bars 19–24, marked Etwas langsamer, a little slower, from bar 23) before the opening returns.

The hardest bars are bars 9–10 and 13–15, along with their return in bars 33–34 and 37–39. In bars 9–10, the right hand leaps down in wide staccato intervals from high G before the left hand echoes those leaps in the treble in bar 10 under a right-hand turn and octave grace-note leap, while in bars 13–15 thirty-second-note arpeggios sweep up and down, pass between the hands in bar 15, and end on a right-hand F-sharp trill. Practise bars 13–15 slowly with hands-separate practice.

Our catalog has twelve of the thirteen pieces in Kinderszenen, Op. 15 (composed 1838, published 1839). You can play all twelve easiest first in this order:

• Träumerei, No. 7 (difficulty 4, 25 bars): one rising-and-falling F-major phrase returns every four bars across woven voices over sustained harmonies and ends after a fermata and ritardando.
• Almost Too Serious, No. 10 (difficulty 4, 58 bars): a G-sharp minor melody in 2/8 enters just after the beat and ties over the bar line in nearly every bar above sixteenth-note broken chords, halted by fermatas and ritardandos.
• Child Falling Asleep, No. 12 (difficulty 4, 32 bars): an E-minor lullaby rocking in a sixteenth-and-dotted-eighth figure turns to E major in the middle and drifts off on an A-minor chord under a fermata.
• Curious Story, No. 2 (difficulty 5, 42 bars): a D-major tune with dotted rhythms and grace notes alternates with both hands moving in eighths, its second part written out twice with a ritardando.
• Pleading Child, No. 4 (difficulty 5, 17 bars): a pleading eighth-note melody in D major floats over a sixteenth-note accompaniment shared between the hands and stops on an unresolved dominant seventh chord.
• Happily Enough, No. 5 (difficulty 5, 25 bars): a D-major melody sings in eighths over sixteenth-note harmonies, colored by B-flats in the last eight bars before a D.C. (from the beginning) leads back to the opening.
• An Important Event, No. 6 (difficulty 5, 27 bars): a loud A-major piece built on heavy accented chords in both hands, with a repeated fortissimo middle section over striding left-hand octaves.
• At the Fireside, No. 8 (difficulty 5, 34 bars): a warm F-major melody unfolds over off-beat chords, with a repeated middle section and a ritardando close onto a held low F.
• The Poet Speaks, No. 13 (difficulty 5, 25 bars): a quiet G-major chorale with grace notes and fermatas breaks off into a solo right-hand recitative before returning and closing pianissimo.
• Blind Man's Buff, No. 3 (difficulty 6, 21 bars): a B-minor chase where staccato sixteenths dart down through both hands and up again in the right hand with sudden sforzando-piano (sfp, loud then immediately soft) accents.
• Knight of the Hobbyhorse, No. 9 (difficulty 6, 24 bars): a C-major ride where right-hand chords start just after the downbeat with third-beat accents over a long-held bass note, building to fortissimo.
• Frightening, No. 11 (difficulty 6, 48 bars): a quiet tune on a repeated B over chromatically sliding chords alternates with sections marked Schneller (faster) of off-beat staccato chords and a loud accented passage, ending in G major.

Once you can play the difficulty 6 pieces above at tempo, these five works map out the climb to Schumann's concert repertoire:

• Eusebius, Carnaval Op. 9 No. 5 (difficulty 6, 32 bars, about 1 minute 30 seconds): an Adagio (slow) in E-flat major from Carnaval (composed 1834–35, published 1837), played softly and without pedal, where the right hand sings in groups of seven and five and a slower passage is marked to be played very tenderly.
• Chiarina, Carnaval Op. 9 No. 11 (difficulty 6, 42 bars, 2 minutes): also from Carnaval, Op. 9, and named for Clara Wieck, a C-minor waltz marked Passionato (passionately) with sharp accents in the melody and repeated sections.
• Knecht Ruprecht, Album for the Young Op. 68 No. 12 (difficulty 7, 72 bars, about 1 minute 50 seconds): the twelfth piece in Op. 68 (1848), named after Saint Nicholas's gruff companion, opens in bass octaves in A minor before a soft F-major middle section and a written-out return ending on three forte chords.
• Soaring (Aufschwung), Fantasy Pieces Op. 12 No. 2 (difficulty 9, 161 bars, about 2 minutes 55 seconds): the second of the Fantasiestücke, Op. 12, a fast F-minor piece in 6/8 marked Sehr rasch (very fast), where a chordal theme over running sixteenths moves through D-flat and B-flat major between very soft and very loud extremes.
• Fantasie in C major, Op. 17, first movement (difficulty 10, 311 bars, about 8 minutes 50 seconds): published in 1839 with a dedication to Liszt and marked "throughout fantastically and passionately", moving from a stormy opening through a section "in the tone of a legend" to a quiet C-major close.