Want to get your witch on? We’ve broken down some of your favorite musical themes from Harry Potter for beginners. 

The Harry Potter feature films are filled with magical music. They’re crafted with just the right amount of charm and suspense, drawing you into a world where broomsticks fly, potions make you fall in love, and diaries carry evil spirits. 

Musically, the Harry Potter soundtrack is complex, especially for beginners. But with your natural knack for sounds and sorcery, you will surely succeed! Pull out your wand and wander into the wonderful world of wizardry with this guide to Harry Potter sheet music for piano. 

Hedwig’s Theme.

Here is an excerpt from the sheet music for Hedwig’s Theme–one of the most popular musical motifs from the Harry Potter films. 

As you can see, this music is in the ⅜ time signature3/8, meaning that there are three eighth notes per bar. It’s also in the G major key which includes the following notes: G, A, B, C, D, E, F#.

Before diving into this sheet music, it’s essential to practice the fundamentals. Here is an exercise that trains your brain and your wand (I mean, fingers) to play in G major and 3/8:

1. Place the metronome on 125bpm in the time signature 3/8.
2. Now play the G major scale in time with the metronome–one note per click.
3. Once that feels comfortable, change up the pattern. Play three notes in a row, and then go back one note. For example, GAB, ABC, BCD, CDE, and so on. 
4. When this is sitting well, take the metronome up to 140bpm. 

Nimbus 2000.

This is one of the more upbeat and light-hearted themes in the Harry Potter films. To play this theme with the right energy, we have to learn about two musical terms: staccato and accent. 

Staccato means ‘detached’ in Italian. On the piano, this is when you play each note short and sharp, lifting your hand off the keys between each one. In music notation, it gets a small dot above the circle or head of the note. You can see them pictured on all of the notes below:

An accent is when you emphasize a note with volume and intensity. You can see it in the above sheet music with a small arrow symbol above the note head.

We recommend isolating these music techniques before you start to learn the Nimbus 2000 theme. Try the following exercise to practice playing notes staccato and with accents:

1. Put the metronome on 100 bpm in a 4/4 time signature. Play a C major scale with your right hand, one note per click.
2. Now play it again, this time making the last four notes of the scale staccato. Press lightly, but with presence, on the keys. Lift your hand slightly between each note.
3. Now turn the tempo up to 120bpm. Play the whole C major scale staccato. 
4. Play it again, accenting the first and fifth degrees of the scale. Press a little harder on these notes, and lean into the key more. Make sure the notes before and after are shorter and gentler but still staccato. 
5. If that feels comfortable, try accenting every second note of the scale. Then, every third note. 

Potter Waltz.

There’s nothing like a waltz to get your wand waving! This is a classic Harry Potter theme from the fourth movie, famous for its appearance in the ballroom scenes. A waltz is a musical form that is always in a 3/4 time signature and follows a specific pattern. 

Looking at the bass clef (lower staff) in the sheet music excerpt below, you can see that the left hand is playing a broken chord, with the root note on the first beat, and two other notes on beats two and three. 

This is a simple pattern to practice and an essential one for playing any kind of waltz. Here is an easy exercise for mastering this musical style:

1. Let’s play in the key of D major because this is the key of the Potter Waltz. We can choose four chords from the D major scale: D major, G major, E minor, and A major. 
2. Play each chord on its own, in root position (eg: D, F#, A or G, B, D).
3. Put your metronome on 100bpm in a 3/4 time signature. Now play the whole chord progression in time, playing each chord three times along with the metronome clicks. 
4. When this feels comfortable, separate the lowest note of each chord from the upper two. Play the low note on beat one (with your thumb), and the upper two together on beats two and three (with your middle and pinky fingers). For example, the chord D major would look something like this:

5. If this feels good, take the tempo up to 120bpm. Then, try it in your left hand. 

Don’t forget to sing your incantations.

The best way to learn and internalize music is to sing it aloud. Reading notes and understanding musical symbols is essential, but this shouldn’t come at the expense of developing our musical ear. 

Make sure you listen to the Harry Potter themes you want to learn, practice singing them back, and even sing along while you play. This will make your playing more musical, and more intuitive and help you acquire useful tools so that your Harry Potter experience carries through into other music you want to learn. Don’t just make a wish–say a spell! 

Find more cinematic sheet music on our Simply Piano app, that practically sits with you at the piano and teaches you to play.

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Independent learning and practice are essential whether you’re taking lessons or not. Here are nine of the best piano books for beginners.  

Writing plays a vital role in the development of society and the human race. Through reading, we can learn about virtually anything.

Reading about the piano can offer insights about the instrument that you may not find anywhere else.

However, there are thousands of piano books. As a student, you want to be effective with your time, so finding the right piano book is vital.

Here are the nine best piano books for beginners.

1. Alfred’s Basic Adult Piano Course 

Alfred’s Basic Adult Piano Course provides piano lessons for beginners. The ‘Alfred’s brand has been publishing piano books since 1922. The series is popular for people of all ages and breaks ideas down into small, easy-to-follow steps.

The book teaches basic techniques and provides beginners with the necessary information to practice correctly.

Additionally, it offers a ton of information about chords–teaching you everything from learning how to form and play them. Additionally, the book provides some sheet music for various well-known songs, including ‘Happy Birthday’ and ‘Greensleeves.’

2. Alfred’s Basic Piano Library

Some of Alfred’s books are for kids. This book, in particular, offers lessons for children as young as five. 

There’s an art to capturing a child’s attention and relaying information. Alfred’s Basic Piano Library presents piano techniques for kids. This book makes learning the piano fun with eye-catching illustrations, simple text, and catchy tunes. 

And should you have a child prodigy on your hands, there are many more books in the series to move on to next.

Handy tip: These books and many others on our list are available on Kindle. Easy on your budget AND portable.

3. Primer Level – Lesson Book: Piano Adventures

Learning to play piano is an adventure, and Primer Level – Lesson Book: Piano Adventures helps you make the most out of it.

This book’s lessons are strategically designed to help you improve your skill. You start with basic techniques and review concepts from the previous lesson, so you can keep moving forward consistently. 

This one is also part of a wide range of piano lesson books created by Nancy and Randall Faber, both respected pianists and teachers in the industry.

These books are also kid-friendly and a great tool to improve your note-reading skills.

4. Piano Scales, Chords & Arpeggios Lessons with Elements of Basic Music Theory

Damon Ferrante is an accomplished composer who has performed in many famous concert halls throughout North America. His book Piano Piano Scales, Chords & Arpeggios Lessons with Elements of Basic Music Theory offers valuable lessons about scales, chords, and arpeggios. 

Ferrante’s book can be a potent tool. It contains 140 lessons and 30 additional classes via video streaming. 
If you’re learning on your own, this is a resource you want to have. However, you don’t necessarily need books to find the necessary information. For instance, there are tons of blogs that go over basic piano techniques. Check out our blog, Quickly Learn Piano Notes and Chords, and get started!

5. Easy Piano Sheet Music for Kids

Another powerful piano book for kids, Easy Piano Sheet Music for Kids, offers a collection of 40 popular songs to learn from. 

Of course, you must convey information in a digestible way to your audience. Easy Piano Sheet Music for Kids does this perfectly! Each note of every song has clear labels, helping kids learn to read sheet music while having fun.

Kids rarely know what they want. This book is ideal because it also covers both piano and keyboard playing–this is a must-have!

6. Piano for the Young Beginner

A ‘best of’ list for books on learning piano is incomplete without the famous name ‘Bastien.’ This piano primer helps children five years or older learn to play. 

It takes them through the basics and prepares them to read and play proficiently. Additionally, the book offers various popular songs for them to learn, and their stunning illustrations keep their exuberant minds engaged.

If your child enjoys the book, the brand has many more on playing piano for beginners. Add them to your collection, so your little Mozart can keep learning.

7. Lang Lang Piano Academy.

Another fantastic book for kids is The Lang Lang Piano Method: Level 1. The series has five books, each more advanced than the last. 

These books get beginners progressing quickly. With clear illustrations of keyboards and detailed descriptions of which notes to play, understanding what you need to do is easy! However, what’s interesting about these books is the illustrations–they merge comic strips with piano lessons (speech bubbles and all). Lang Lang is a superhero pianist, and you, the student, join him on his adventures. 

Overall this book is very active and, therefore, ideal for people looking to be creative. You can learn about music theory, how to play notes and chords, and how to perform.

8. A Dozen A Day.

Sometimes simplicity is what you need. If you already have your bearings and are looking to sharpen your skills, this book is for you. 

A Dozen A Day is an exercise book that offers beginners many fun and easy-to-play songs. However, this book isn’t designed to be your primary source of learning. You can practice your sight reading and test your hand speed and precision.

9. Hanon Virtuoso Pianist.

Hanon Virtuoso Pianist is ideal for pianists at the beginner and professional levels.

A staple in the industry, this book is full of essential information, teaching you everything from the basics to advanced techniques. While the information is incredibly helpful, one of its criticisms is that it can be a bit of a dry read. There are no illustrations, just you and pages of notes about how to play the piano. 

Blandness aside, the book offers students quality techniques they carry throughout their piano journey.

The magic of reading.

Books are powerful companions for learning any skill. We can record essential information and pass it on to readers. As a beginner, you can pick the brains of highly skilled pianists in your home. 

Learning the piano can be a lifelong journey. Your teachers can come in many forms. For instance, in addition to reading a book, you take private lessons from someone who’s been playing much longer, you learn online or from CDs, and you can also learn from apps. 

Simply Piano is an app designed by music teachers. It’s a powerful tool that teaches everything from basic hand techniques and reading sheet music to playing your favorite songs.

FAQs

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Do you want to learn piano chords? Here’s a quick guide that will help you master the basics.

Playing piano chords can be overwhelming. You sit there and can’t quite make sense of all the different keys sprawling out before you in a pattern of black and white. 

Should you press one key at a time? Or maybe three? Do you use all ten fingers? And how do you figure out what it is that you’re hearing when the sound comes out? 

We will answer all of these questions for you and more in this short guide by explaining the basic building blocks of notes, scales, and chords. 

What’s a note?

Each key on the piano operates in the same way. When you press down, a small hammer hits a string (keyboards mimic this effect). Each string tightens so that it produces a sound at a particular frequency when the hammer strikes. This frequency is called pitch. The tighter the string, the higher the pitch.

Western musical instruments have twelve frequencies, each one separate by the same amount of space or distance. These frequencies are called notes. On the piano, sets of twelve keys represent these twelve notes that repeat themselves across lower and higher pitch registers. 

For example, if you go to the fourth key from the bottom of the piano and play it simultaneously with the highest key on the piano, you will see the same note (both C) at different pitches.  

The musical element created by notes is melody. When we hear the melody of a song, we essentially hear a series or pattern of notes, one after the other in time, in whichever register of pitch is accessible to the instrument. 

What’s a scale?

A scale combines seven notes, played one after the other, and carries a unique character or flavor. But what creates this flavor is the spaces between the notes. These spaces are called intervals. 

If you play all twelve notes in a row – a chromatic scale – you would hear the same interval between each note. This small interval is known as a semitone. 

Smaller frequencies exist, but Western music doesn’t have notes or names for them. Similar to how we have whole numbers and lots of decimals between them.

For whatever reason, we have twelve notes but use only seven letters to name them:

A, B, C, D, E, F, G

For this reason, we have the symbols of sharp ‘#‘, to raise by a semitone, and flat ‘b‘, to lower by a semitone. This is how all the keys on the piano receive their names, with the black keys traditionally being the sharps and flats. 

Many notes have two names, depending on the context of the scale. For example, you can also call C# a Db because it sits between C and D.

The major scale.

The major scale is the most common scale and is best for beginners. This unique combination of notes has given birth to almost all popular Western music for hundreds of years! 

The intervals which make up the major scale are semitones and tones ( two semitones), in the following famous pattern:

T, T, ST, T, T, T, ST

The piano is arguably the best instrument for learning scales because you have all of the notes clearly mapped out, and you can practice across all the registers of pitch. 

The best place to start is with the C major scale. What does this mean? You apply the above pattern to the keys, starting on note C, and you will see that your major scale is made up of only the white keys – making it easy to visualize and execute. For example,

C _T D _T E _ST F _T G _T A _T B _ST C

What’s a piano chord?

Chords are a combination of two or more notes (from any scale) that you can play simultaneously. Most piano chords comprise of three notes or a triad. You can achieve a wide range of variations by adding a fourth or fifth note. 

Every chord has a unique sort of identity or mood. The chords you choose to play will determine if the song is joyous and celebratory, melancholy and reflective, or angry and frightening. 

When you place chords in a progression, they become the song’s fabric upon which you can play the melody. 

To explain how we build piano chords, let’s label the notes in a C major scale from one to seven:

CD E F G A B 

1  2  3 4 5  6 7

To build piano chords from this scale, we have to make different combinations of notes. You can build most chords with the following pattern:

1,3,5 (C major) 

More complex chords require one or two more notes in the same pattern:

1,3,5,7 (C major 7) 

In the same way that the major scale is a pattern of intervals (T, T, ST, T, T, T, ST), the major chords are patterns of two intervals: major third (M3), containing four semitones, and a minor third (m3) containing two semitones.

What’s a piano chord progression?

To understand chord progression, we have to understand the way chords work within scales. 

Progressions in popular music often have chords that combine notes from the same scale – the song’s key. If the chords stick strictly to their key, the melody is diatonic. 

When songs switch between different keys, it is called modulation. 

If we were to build chords using the 1,3,5 pattern, starting on each number of the scale, and only using the notes within the scale, it would look something like this:

We then examine the intervals within each chord based on their root to determine whether they are major (1,3,5) or minor (1,b3,5). Then we end up with a pattern like this:

This pattern becomes the foundation of most chord progressions in popular Western music, enabling a quick and clear shorthand language for communicating with other musicians. The 1-4-5 progression, for example, is perhaps the most well-known. In the key of C major, this would be C major, F major, and then G major.

This is a lot of information, but we’re confident this guide will help you play chords in no time! 

Do you have a song you can’t wait to play? Share with us in the comments below! 

FAQs

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