Green notes: right hand, blue notes: left hand. Preview played right in your browser with the app's real piano (lightweight version). Inside Pianovera: full multi-layer sound, fingering display and Wait mode.
One single note repeats through the entire MIDI file: the A-flat that earned Prelude No. 15 its nickname. George Sand told of Chopin composing it in Majorca on a rainy night, sick with worry waiting for her; he hated the story, but it fits the music too well to ever go away.
The piece lives in two worlds. A luminous D-flat lullaby, then a central episode in C-sharp minor where the raindrop becomes a bell and the accompaniment a dark march. Same note, two faces. As an intermediate piece it's ideal for working on sound: keeping a repetition alive, never mechanical.
The Raindrop Prelude: the first notes
Right hand, in letter names (C4 = middle C): F5 C#5 G#4 A#4 C5 C#5 D#5 F5 F#5 F5 F5 F#4 D#5 C#5 D#5 D#5 F5 D#5 D5 D#5 F5 F#5 F5 C#5… The rest scrolls in the preview above, with the fingering, and the sheet music PDF has the whole piece.
Play the Raindrop Prelude on the virtual piano
Here are the virtual piano notes for the Raindrop Prelude, in computer keyboard letters: the first 8 bars of the melody. One key per note, read left to right; dark keys are the sharps, and a thin line marks each bar.
Letters for a QWERTY keyboardYour keyboard: 36 notes
[967I9
0[=[[0900[0O0[=
[967I9
0[=[[09I9
▶ Play on the virtual pianoThe piano opens with this piece loaded: the key to play lights up and waits for you.
What you'll be working on
Repeating one note while making it breathe (the piece's whole subject)
The D-flat melody floating over the ostinato
The middle section: dark octaves, crescendos in waves
Changing fingers on the repeated note to stay fresh
Playing the Raindrop Prelude on piano with Pianovera
The raindrop crosses Pianovera's screen as a fixed column of falling notes, mesmerizing to watch. Loop the transition into the minor episode: that's where everyone stumbles during the first week.
Open Raindrop Prelude Op. 28 No. 15 in Pianovera: the notes fall toward an 88-key virtual piano keyboard, each hand gets its color, and Wait mode is there if you're starting out. On a PC, it's falling notes piano software for Windows, with video export up to 4K.
Free, with no time limit and no ads: 30 pieces (10 in full, 20 in a simplified version), the first 10 lessons and 10 minutes of 3D hands (then 15 seconds per piece). Premium opens all 651 pieces.
Download the Raindrop Prelude MIDI and sheet music
The work itself is in the public domain, and this MIDI engraving was placed in the public domain by its typesetter on the Mutopia Project. Use it freely, videos included.
About this piece
Is the Raindrop Prelude hard to play on piano?
We rate it intermediate: 1518 notes over 4:27, spanning E1 to A#5, with sustain pedal marks. The first thing to work on: repeating one note while making it breathe (the piece's whole subject).
Where can I get the sheet music for the Raindrop Prelude?
Right on this page: the "View the sheet music" button opens the PDF (357 KB), engraved by the Mutopia Project from the same source as the MIDI file, Public domain license. View it, print it, keep it.
Is the Raindrop Prelude MIDI file really free?
Yes. Frédéric Chopin died more than 70 years ago, so the work (1839) is public domain. This MIDI engraving is public domain too: download it and use it freely, videos included.
