Students of all ages love music from The Nutcracker by Tchaikovsky. Many of them get to see the ballet during the holidays or learn about the music at school. Learning to play Nutcracker music on the piano is a special treat for students.

The music from The Nutcracker is fairly complex, but there are a lot of great piano arrangements that make it accessible for beginning and intermediate piano students.

We’ve tracked down some of the best arrangements for piano learners that hit all of the best highlights of the ballet and are pared down to music that is simple to read and play.

For each piece below, you’ll find the easiest arrangement on Musicnotes.com, a moderately easy arrangement and an intermediate arrangement.

“Overture”

This longer arrangement is great for high schoolers or advancing students. The melody is filled out with fast, rhythmic sixteenths that require solid technical skills.

Here’s an easy arrangement by Philip Keveren. While it’s labeled easy, this arrangement definitely requires students to have good note-reading skills and control over some basic technique.

This arrangement by Jennifer Eklund stays centered near C position in both hands. The right hand plays the melody and the left hand harmonies are pretty simple.

“March of the Toy Soldiers”

This arrangement by Jennifer Eklund has a fun twist – it’s written in a swing rhythm. This would be a great version for an intermediate student who’s looking for a unique spin on the Nutcracker March.

Here’s an easy arrangement by Lisa Donovan Lukas. This one has more left hand harmonies and sounds fuller than the easiest version.

This arrangement by Jennifer Eklund is labeled “late beginner,” and it would definitely be doable for newer students who are starting to feel comfortable reading around Middle C on the grand staff. The melody is shared between the two hands, and it stays in a range that is easy to read.

“Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy”

This is Lindsey Stirling’s “Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy,” arranged for the piano. Even though it is labeled “easy,” it’s really not suitable for beginning piano students. It has many octave stretches, big chords and running sixteenth notes that require a lot of piano experience.

This arrangement is pretty straightforward. It’s written in a higher ranger and includes sixteenth note runs, so it’s best for a student who is a strong reader.

This arrangement by Jennifer Eklund is in a range that is easy for new piano students to read. Each hand only plays one note at a time and sometimes both hands play in unison.

“Russian Dance”

This exciting arrangement by Michael G. Sinshack has quite a few big chords and the melody moves between voices. A high school student would enjoy the challenge of this arrangement.

Lynda Lybeck-Robinson created this arrangement in the key of C, which is helpful for less-experienced piano students. The right hand and left hand parts are nicely balanced and should be manageable for many students.

This late-beginner arrangement by Jennifer Eklund is notated in a range that is easy for newer piano students to read. There are a few distinct sections of music, so this would be an easy one to cut short if you need something even easier.

“Waltz of the Flowers”

This arrangement by Jennifer Eklund moves away from the traditional waltz rhythm in the left hand. Instead, the left hand often plays arpeggiated octave chords, which complement the lyrical style of this piece nicely.

For a slightly more mature-sounding arrangement, this one by Jennifer Eklund is in D and has some bigger left hand harmonies to make the music sound fuller.

The arrangement by Chrissy Ricker is manageable for beginners because it stays near C position in both hands. While the melody does require the hands to shift around a little bit, it sticks with a familiar position as much as possible.

This post was written by Megan, piano teacher and author of Pianissimo: A Very Piano Blog. Visit her website for more piano related blogs for teachers, parents, students, and all things piano.

Published on December 16, 2022