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.
Chopin asked for it at his own funeral, and the request was honored. The fourth prelude of Op. 28 fits on a single page of score, and its MIDI in 600 notes: a melody sinking by half steps, nearly motionless, over repeated chords that sag one note at a time. One of the saddest pages in the repertoire, and one of the most accessible.
Don't let the simple look fool you. The left-hand chords often change by a single note, and the entire art is hearing which one. We like giving it early: it teaches listening to harmony instead of stacking notes, and it sounds beautiful even at a very slow tempo, which no fast piece can claim.
Prelude Op. 28 No. 4 in E minor: the first notes
Right hand, in letter names (C4 = middle C): B3 B4 B4 C5 B4 C5 B4 C5 B4 A#4 A4 B4 A4 B4 A4 B4 A4 A4 G#4 A4 B4 D5 C5 E4… The rest scrolls in the preview above, with the fingering, and the sheet music PDF has the whole piece.
Play Prelude Op. 28 No. 4 in E minor on the virtual piano
Here are the Prelude Op. 28 No. 4 in E minor virtual piano notes, 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: 18 notes
UUIUIUIU7
YUYUYUYY6
▶ 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
Repeated chords that fade without hammering
Spotting the one note that changes in each chord
A sustained melody, expressive with almost nothing
The piece's single crescendo, budgeted from afar
Playing Prelude Op. 28 No. 4 in E minor on piano with Pianovera
Turn the sustain pedal on in Pianovera's sound settings: this file carries the original pedal markings and they change everything. In Wait mode each chord waits for you, so you can truly listen to what moved since the last one.
Open Prelude Op. 28 No. 4 in E minor 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 Prelude Op. 28 No. 4 in E minor 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 Prelude Op. 28 No. 4 in E minor hard to play on piano?
We rate it beginner: 600 notes over 1:48, spanning E1 to C6, with sustain pedal marks. The first thing to work on: repeated chords that fade without hammering.
Where can I get the sheet music for Prelude Op. 28 No. 4 in E minor?
Right on this page: the "View the sheet music" button opens the PDF (180 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 Prelude Op. 28 No. 4 in E minor 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.
