Music for One Hand alone It is perhaps surprising that there is a considerable body of keyboard music intened to be played by one hand alone, particularly the left hand. Donald Patterson's book One Handed (Greenwood Press, 1999) lists more than 2000 works for one hand, of which about 12% are for the right hand. So if you are a pianist and have broken your right arm you should track down a copy of this wonderful source, which is complete with very detailed references. Meanwhile on this page you will find a few starters

One-handed keyboard music now available:

Composer	Work	Notes
Alexander SCRIABIN	Prelude in C# minor	Very cleverly written so that it is quite easy to play, in Scriabin's early Chopinesque style.
	Nocturne in Db	Much more demanding , but also lovely.
Camille SAINT-SAËNS	01 Prélude	Six Études pour la main gauche
	02 Alla Fuga
	03 Moto Perpetuo
	04 Bourrée
	05 Élégie
	06 Gigue
Carl Phillip Emmanuel BACH	Gigue for one hand	Wq117 no 1. The earliest one-handed piece traced by Patterson
	Solfeggietto	Wq117 no 2. Probably CPEB's best-known work. It is often given to students to play with both hands, but it is very easily adapted (just one note altered) to be playable with the left hand alone
Johann Sebastien BACH	Gavotte	arranged for left hand alone from the Partita no 3 in E for solo Violin. This is a very literal transcription; it is interesting to compare it with the luscious transcription by Rachmaninoff, which makes full use of two hands.
	Prelude	This was written for Lute, BWV999. It can be played with the left hand on a keyboard without changing any notes.
George Frederick HANDEL	Sonata	No 2 of the Pieces for Clay's Musical clock
Samuel MAYKAPAR	Pièce enfantine	These are children's pieces which happen to be playable with one hand alone
	Prelude and Fughetta
	Pastorale
William WYNNE-WILLSON	In Nomine	For more in fomation about this genre click here.

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Comments are welcome. Please write to williamww@aol.com    Last modified: 30 July 2008.