Chopin’s Funeral March is the most famous funeral music ever written, and this easy A minor theme starts with the interactive player below: hear the tread at half speed, watch the notes and keys light up, and drag the score to replay any measure. Sheet music, fingering, and a free printable PDF follow.
Learn it with the interactive player
- Slow it down: x0.5 or x0.75 while you learn the notes, back to x1 once they flow.
- Pause anywhere: the current keys stay lit so you can find them on your own piano.
- Drag the score left or right, or use the 15s buttons, to replay a phrase.
The sheet music, section by section
Set the player to x0.5 for Section A: the tread is a dotted rhythm repeated on A4 - long-short, long-short - rising only to C5-B4 before G sharp 4 pulls it back. Make every repeated A4 identical in weight.
Section B lifts into the middle phrase, climbing C5 to E5 before the tread returns to close. Practice the C3 bass entry - it is the one moment the left hand changes its pattern.
The full score
Grave means heavy and slow: keep the full score at a strict, unhurried pace and let the dotted rhythm, not volume, carry the weight.
Note by note: keys and fingering
- Right hand: The hand sits over G#4 (1), A4 (2), B4 (3), C5 (4), with the pinky (5) reaching E5 in the middle phrase; D5 is taken with the ring finger (4) on the way down. The famous tread is a dotted rhythm repeated on A4 under finger 2.
- Left hand: Single half notes only: pinky (5) on A2, thumb (1) on E3, and middle finger (3) on C3 at the start of the middle phrase.
| Note | On the Staff | On the Keyboard | Finger |
|---|---|---|---|
| A4 | Second space of treble staff | White key between the last two of three black keys | RH Index (2) |
| B4 | Third line of treble staff | White key right of the three black keys | RH Middle (3) |
| C5 | Third space of treble staff | White key left of the two black keys above middle C | RH Ring (4) |
| G#4 | Second line of treble staff, with a sharp sign | Black key right of G4 | RH Thumb (1) |
| E5 | Fourth space of treble staff | White key right of the two black keys above C5 | RH Pinky (5) |
| D5 | Fourth line of treble staff | White key between the two black keys above C5 | RH Ring (4) |
| A2 | First space of bass staff | White key between the last two of three black keys, two octaves down | LH Pinky (5) |
| C3 | Second space of bass staff | White key left of the two black keys below middle C | LH Middle (3) |
| E3 | Third space of bass staff | White key right of the two black keys below middle C | LH Thumb (1) |
Prefer a video? Watch the keys light up
Same color code as the player: green marks the right hand, blue the left hand, with the score and keyboard in one vertical video.
The story behind the Funeral March
Frederic Chopin wrote this march in 1837 and placed it two years later at the heart of his Piano Sonata No. 2 in B-flat minor, Op. 35, published in 1839. The movement became so iconic that it detached from the sonata entirely: it was played at Chopin's own funeral in Paris in 1849, and later at the state funerals of figures from John F. Kennedy to Winston Churchill. The original alternates a tolling minor tread with a consoling major trio. This arrangement transposes the famous tread to A minor, keeps its dotted rhythm, and gives the left hand single half notes.
Get the printable PDF
The printable PDF of this easy Funeral March theme - full score, hand positions, and a step-by-step practice guide - ships inside our free Halloween pack together with fourteen other spooky pieces.
At 56 BPM you will sit with this piece a long while, and an Adjustable Piano Bench with Back Support keeps those slow, heavy sessions comfortable from first tread to last.
FAQ
How hard is the Funeral March on piano?
Chopin's original, inside the Sonata Op. 35, is an advanced work in B-flat minor with thick chords. This theme-only arrangement is a different matter: transposed to A minor with a single-note left hand, it sits in Level 1 of our Halloween collection. The only real work is the dotted rhythm.
How long does it take to learn the Funeral March?
Most beginners have this arrangement under their hands in about a week. The melody repeats the same dotted figure on A4 for whole measures at a time, and the Grave tempo of 56 BPM gives you all the time in the world between notes.
What level is the Funeral March?
The original movement is graded around level 7 on exam scales. Our easy theme is Level 1 of the Halloween collection: one hand position with a single black key, G sharp 4, and a left hand limited to A2, C3, and E3 in slow half notes.
What are the notes for the Funeral March?
The tread repeats A4 in a dotted long-short rhythm, rises to C5-B4, touches G sharp 4, and returns to A4. The middle phrase climbs C5 to E5, then descends E5, D5, C5, B4 back into the tread. The left hand walks half notes on A2, E3, and C3. The full table is above.