Aller Anfang ist schwer (Every Beginning Is Difficult), Handstücke I No. 1

Daniel Gottlob Türk (1,750–1,813)

Key: C major
Style: Classical
Level: Foundation
Roughly: RCM Prep A–B · ABRSM Initial · Trinity Initial
Lesson: F.4 Read both staves
Musicianship: F.4 Higher or lower
Focus: Two-part coordination and expressive phrasing

What its lesson teaches

F.4 Read both staves

Study Türk’s Aller Anfang ist schwer in C. Find middle C in the left hand and the C and G an octave higher in the right, then follow the melody and bass across the grand staff. Across the Bridge, the alternative, reads treble G, bass F and middle C.

Ideas: Landmark reading
Octave names and registers
Playing without tension
Theory cards: Landmark notes
Octave names and registers
Staying free of tension
Technique: C major five-finger pattern, hands separately

Edition and licence

Score: Musalea, from a public-domain edition · public domain

Aller Anfang ist schwer (Every Beginning Is Difficult)

Edition: Halle/Leipzig: Hemmerde & Schwetschke / Schwickert, second edition, 1797

Published: 1797

Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sechzig_Handst%C3%BCcke_fur_angehende_Klavierspieler..._Erster_Theil._Zweyte_Auflage_-_btv1b10880262g_%2806_of_40%29.jpg

Public-domain source edition(s).

Checked bar by bar against Hemmerde & Schwetschke / Schwickert, Halle/Leipzig, 1797 (BnF btv1b10880262g, Wikimedia Commons), p. 6, 2026-10-28: every bar compared; 1 bar corrected.

Adapted by Musalea: corrected from the print, converted to MusicXML and prepared for interactive practice.

The other lesson pieces of Foundation

Home Light, written for the Method
Vorschule im Klavierspiel, Op. 101 No. 10 — Kinderlied (Child’s Song), Ferdinand Beyer
Study in C major, Op. 190 No. 1, Louis Köhler
The First Lessons, Op. 117 No. 3, Cornelius Gurlitt
The First Lessons, Op. 117 No. 4, Cornelius Gurlitt
Raindrops and Ribbons, written for the Method
Study in C major, Op. 190 No. 2, Louis Köhler
Vorschule im Klavierspiel, Op. 101 No. 11 — Der Kuckuck (The Cuckoo), Ferdinand Beyer
The First Lessons, Op. 117 No. 1, Cornelius Gurlitt
A Second Voice, written for the Method
Three Steps, written for the Method
Long Shadows, written for the Method

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