Notalo › Piano songs with letters › In the Hall of the Mountain King
In the Hall of the Mountain King — piano notes with letters
The creeping main theme from Peer Gynt, moved from B minor to A minor so there are no sharps in the key signature. Eight bars: the low statement twice, then the same tune an octave up.
Edvard Grieg, 1875 · A minor · 4/4 · public domain · arranged and labeled by Notalo
Hear it. A MIDI file of exactly these notes at 100 BPM — open it in any music app, or slow it down to practice.
Download MIDIAbout the song
Grieg wrote this in 1875 as incidental music for Ibsen's play Peer Gynt, for the scene in which Peer is chased by trolls in the hall of their king. Grieg disliked the piece and called it something that “reeks of cow dung”, but its slow creeping start and relentless acceleration have made it one of the most used pieces of music in film and television. The original is in B minor and begins in the lowest strings.
How to play it, phrase by phrase
Bar 1 is the A minor scale climbing A B C D E, then C E. Bar 2 answers with D♯ B D♯ — the D♯ is the one black key. Bar 3 is the same shape on a plain D: D B D. Bar 4 repeats bar 1. Bar 5 is the tune an octave up on the chord: A E C E and a long A; bar 6 is G E G; bar 7 repeats bar 5; bar 8 closes with G♯ E and a held A. Start slow and soft, then, once the notes are secure, play it again a little faster and louder — that is what the orchestra does.
Letter notes, bar by bar (right hand)
Read left to right; a | is a bar line. Chord symbols are for the left hand or a guitar.
| Bar | Chord | Right-hand letters |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Am | A B C D E C E |
| 2 | Bm | D♯ B D♯ |
| 3 | Bm | D B D |
| 4 | Am | A B C D E C E |
| 5 | Am | A E C E A |
| 6 | C | G E G |
| 7 | Am | A E C E A |
| 8 | Am | G♯ E A |
Three things to watch
- Bar 1 is just the A minor scale from A up to E and back to C — the whole theme is built from it.
- D♯ in bars 2 and 8 is the only black key; it is answered by a plain D in bar 3.
- Start very slowly and quietly. The piece is famous for speeding up — but only after you can play it evenly.
Have a different version, or a different song? Upload your own sheet music — a photo or PDF — and Notalo writes the letters under every note the same way, plus chords and a MIDI file.
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Frequently asked questions
Is this sheet music free to print and use?
Yes. In the Hall of the Mountain King is in the public domain and this arrangement was written and rendered by Notalo. Print it, share it, use it in lessons.
What do the colors mean?
Red letters are the right hand (treble clef), blue letters are the left hand (bass clef), green is the chord for the bar. This is the same output Notalo gives for any sheet music you upload.
Can I get it with Do Re Mi or numbers instead of letters?
Yes — download the image above, upload it to Notalo, and pick solfège (Do Re Mi), German letters, or numbers (1 2 3) as the label style.