Sight Reading Practice › Music library
Music library
23 hymns, classical themes and folk songs that are free of copyright, written out for reading practice. Open any piece to see it on the staff, hear it, and practice it note by note.
Every melody here was composed long ago enough to be in the public domain, and words are only included when they are too. The arrangements are our own: single-line melodies in easy-to-read keys, with the famous opening of longer works where the whole piece would be too long to read in one go. Each page explains where the music comes from and what to watch for when you read it.
Hymns and carols
Melodies from congregational singing and the Christmas tradition, with the first verse under the notes where the words are also in the public domain. Good practice for singers, and for pianists learning to read a melody line by line.
Silent Night
Franz Xaver Gruber, 1818
Beginner · D major · 4/4Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee
Ludwig van Beethoven (tune “Hymn to Joy”), 1824 (words 1907)
Beginner · G major · 3/4Amazing Grace
American folk tune “New Britain”, 1779 (tune 1829)
Easy · G major · 4/4Hark! the Herald Angels Sing
Felix Mendelssohn, 1840 (words 1739)
Beginner · D major · 4/4Joy to the World
arranged by Lowell Mason (tune “Antioch”), 1839 (words 1719)
Classical themes
Famous themes from Bach, Mozart, Beethoven and others, arranged as single-line melodies. Several are excerpts: the opening that everyone knows, at a length you can read in one sitting.
Ode to Joy (theme)
Ludwig van Beethoven, 1824
Intermediate · A minor · 3/8Für Elise (opening)
Ludwig van Beethoven, c. 1810
Easy · G major · 3/4Minuet in G
Christian Petzold (formerly attributed to J. S. Bach), c. 1725
Easy · G major · 4/4Eine kleine Nachtmusik (opening)
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, 1787
Beginner · D major · 4/4Canon in D: the bass line
Johann Pachelbel, late 17th century
Beginner · C major · 4/4Largo from the New World Symphony (opening)
Antonín Dvořák, 1893
Easy · C major · 2/4Can-Can (Galop infernal)
Jacques Offenbach, 1858
Easy · C minor · 2/4Symphony No. 5 (opening)
Ludwig van Beethoven, 1808
Intermediate · B minor · 4/4In the Hall of the Mountain King (opening)
Edvard Grieg, 1876
Intermediate · A minor · 2/4Turkish March (Rondo alla Turca, opening)
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, c. 1783
Easy · C major · 4/4Prelude in C major (opening)
Johann Sebastian Bach, 1722
Intermediate · G minor · 2/2Symphony No. 40 (opening)
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, 1788
Folk songs and rounds
Traditional songs from England, Scotland, France and America. Short, singable and built from simple patterns, which makes them ideal first pieces for reading practice.
Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star
French melody “Ah! vous dirai-je, maman”, 1761 (words 1806)
Easy · A minor · 3/4Greensleeves
traditional English, by 1580
Beginner · C major · 4/4Frère Jacques
traditional French round, 18th century
Easy · F major · 4/4Auld Lang Syne
traditional Scottish, 1788 (words by Robert Burns)
Beginner · C major · 4/4Oh! Susanna
Stephen Foster, 1848
Beginner · C major · 4/4When the Saints Go Marching In
traditional American spiritual, 19th century