Easy piano song, sheet music with note names
In the Hall of the Mountain King piano sheet music: the theme with letters
In the Hall of the Mountain King piano sheet music: Grieg’s famous theme with letter names and octaves, B minor, 4/4. Play it, print it (A4, Letter PDF).
Two kinds of page: the tune with a letter name under every note, and a worksheet with the names left blank.
Download the PDF kit
Free to print and share. No sign-up, no e-mail, no watermark. A4 for most of the world, Letter for the US and Canada; both are black and white, with the fonts embedded.
Quick answer
In the Hall of the Mountain King on this page is the theme (two phrases, 8 bars): 50 notes in 8 bars of 4/4, in B minor, with a range of B3 to D5 (15 semitones). It begins on B3 and ends on C♯5. Below: the letter names with octave numbers, the notes on the staff, a version you can play, a note-name worksheet and the checks that were run. It is a simplified melody: what is left out is listed under “What is on this page”.
In the Hall of the Mountain King at a glance
- Key
- B minor (two sharps)
- Time signature
- 4/4: four beats to the bar, each a quarter note
- Range
- B3 to D5, 15 semitones
- Notes and bars
- 50 notes, 8 bars
- First note
- B3 (scale degree 1)
- Last note
- C♯5 (scale degree 2)
- Notes outside the key signature
- A♯, C♮, E♯ and G♯ (accidentals in the tune)
- Piece
- “In the Hall of the Mountain King” (“I Dovregubbens hall”), from the incidental music to Ibsen’s play Peer Gynt; final piece of the Peer Gynt Suite No. 1, Op. 46
- Composer
- Edvard Grieg, composed in 1875 (Wikipedia)
- The scene
- Peer Gynt, in a dream-like fantasy, enters the hall of the troll Mountain King (Wikipedia)
- Tempo mark
- Alla marcia molto marcato, quarter note = 138 in the Mutopia edition
- Part on this page
- the two phrases of the theme, moved up two octaves for the treble clef (an excerpt, see below)
- Tempo on this page
- quarter note = 100; a slower practice speed chosen for this page; the Mutopia edition marks the piece Alla marcia molto marcato, quarter note = 138
- Hands
- Right hand: the melody shown on the staff. The left hand is not shown on this page; play the tune with the right hand alone, or add any simple bass notes.
- Level
- Medium: wider than a major sixth (15 semitones); wider than an octave; 12 notes outside the key signature. How the level is worked out
What is on this page
This is an excerpt. The staff shows the melody line of the Mutopia piano edition: the first phrase of the theme (bars 2 to 5 of the edition, 4 bars) and the second phrase (bars 10 to 13, 4 bars). The edition writes the line in the bass clef, two octaves lower than shown here: this page moves every note up two octaves, by program, so that it can be read in the treble clef. The held chord of bar 1, the repeat of the first phrase (bars 6 to 9), the doubled notes and the left hand, and everything after bar 13 (the piece speeds up and grows louder) are not included.
Press a note on the staff to hear it. The sound is made in your browser from the notes of this page (a plain synthesiser, not a recording). Normal speed is quarter note = 100: a slower practice speed chosen for this page; the Mutopia edition marks the piece Alla marcia molto marcato, quarter note = 138.
In the Hall of the Mountain King
B minor · 4/4 · melody with note names · the theme
Key B minor (two sharps: F♯, C♯) Range B3 to D5 Music Edvard Grieg (1875, incidental music for Ibsen’s Peer Gynt; piano arrangement in the Suite No. 1, Op. 46)
Scale of B minor B C♯ D E F♯ G A Middle C is C4, the C nearest the middle of the keyboard
Melody: Mutopia Project, "In the Hall of the Mountain King (piano)" (Coyau) (Public Domain; Mutopia-2013/12/07-1888), checked note by note against 3 other sources. Simplified: the theme (two phrases, 8 bars). Free to print and share. musictheoryprint.com/charts/in-the-hall-of-the-mountain-king-notes
In the Hall of the Mountain King: name the notes
B minor · 4/4 · worksheet
Name Date Class
Write the letter name of every note on the line under it. The key signature tells you which notes are sharp: F♯, C♯. The home note of the key is B.
Check your answers against the sheet with the note names. Extra: circle every note that is a B, the home note of the key.
Melody: Mutopia Project, "In the Hall of the Mountain King (piano)" (Coyau) (Public Domain). Simplified: the theme (two phrases, 8 bars). Free to print and share. musictheoryprint.com/charts/in-the-hall-of-the-mountain-king-notes
The notes of In the Hall of the Mountain King, bar by bar
50 notes in 8 bars, in B minor. Each note is a letter and an octave number: C4 is middle C, the C nearest the middle of the keyboard, and the numbers go up by one at every C. The ♯ and ♭ mean the black key above or below the letter. “held” means a tied note that is not played again; “rest” is silence.
| Bar | Right hand (melody) | do re mi |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | B3 C♯4 D4 E4 F♯4 D4 F♯4 | do re ri fa sol ri sol |
| 2 | E♯4 C♯4 E♯4 E4 C4 E4 | fi re fi fa di fa |
| 3 | B3 C♯4 D4 E4 F♯4 D4 F♯4 B4 | do re ri fa sol ri sol do |
| 4 | A4 F♯4 D4 F♯4 A4 | li sol ri sol li |
| 5 | F♯4 G♯4 A♯4 B4 C♯5 A♯4 C♯5 | sol la ti do re ti re |
| 6 | D5 A♯4 D5 C♯5 A♯4 C♯5 | ri ti ri re ti re |
| 7 | F♯4 G♯4 A♯4 B4 C♯5 A♯4 C♯5 | sol la ti do re ti re |
| 8 | D5 A♯4 D5 C♯5 | ri ti ri re |
do re mi uses movable do: do is B.
Which keys to press
The tune spans 10 letter names, from B3 to D5, more than an octave, so the hand has to travel along the keyboard. Try the notes on the virtual piano or press a note on the staff above to hear it.
What the tune is made of
How the melody moves
Each of the 49 moves from one note to the next, counted.
Which note lengths it uses
Every note counted by its length, as a fraction of a whole note.
Most-used note: F♯4 (8 times). Longest run of one repeated note: 1. Different pitches: 13, made from 10 note names (some are used in two octaves). Biggest leap: 7 semitones.
How the notes were checked
Not one note on this page was typed in or remembered. The melody is read by a program from Mutopia Project, "In the Hall of the Mountain King (piano)" (Coyau) (Public Domain; Mutopia-2013/12/07-1888), cut to the theme (two phrases, 8 bars). A second program then looked for the same notes, in the same order, in each of the sources below, which were typeset or encoded by other people. The number is the share of this page’s notes that are found there, whatever key the other source is in.
| Source | Licence | Notes there | Same pitches | Same pitches and lengths |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wikipedia, "In the Hall of the Mountain King" (scores 1 and 2 in the article: cellos, then the second phrase)revision 1362034432 of 2026-07-01; 2 octaves lower than this page | CC BY-SA 4.0 | 50 | 100% | 96% |
| Wikipedia in Norwegian, "I Dovregubbens hall" (scores 1 and 2 in the article: the two phrases)revision 25391093 of 2025-10-08; an octave lower than this page | CC BY-SA 4.0 | 50 | 100% | 98% |
| Wikipedia in French, "Dans l'antre du roi de la montagne" (scores 1 and 2 in the article: cellos, then the bassoon)revision 238921312 of 2026-08-24; 2 octaves lower than this page | CC BY-SA 4.0 | 50 | 100% | 98% |
The second column is lower than the first because editions write the same long notes in different ways (a half note and a tied pair, a held last note) and because performance MIDI files shorten or lengthen notes. Pitch is the part that matters for the letter names. A MIDI file of a whole piano piece does not say which notes are the melody, so the program takes the highest note at each moment; a melody note that sits under a higher accompaniment note can be missed, and that is the usual reason for a “no matching note” above.
In the Hall of the Mountain King: questions people ask
What are the letter notes of In the Hall of the Mountain King?
The first notes, with their octave numbers, are B3 C♯4 D4 E4 F♯4 D4 F♯4 E♯4 C♯4 E♯4 E4 C4. Every note of the theme is in the table above, one bar per row (middle C is C4, the C nearest the middle of the keyboard; the next C up is C5).
What key and time signature is In the Hall of the Mountain King in?
On this page it is in B minor (two sharps), in 4/4: four beats to the bar, each a quarter note. B minor has two sharps, F♯ and C♯, and the piece is in B minor according to Wikipedia. The theme also uses E♯, G♯ and A♯ and a C natural, each written with its own sign.
Why are there sharps, flats or naturals that are not in the key signature?
The key signature of B minor gives two sharps. In this tune the notes are written with an accidental sign (A♯, C♮, E♯ and G♯): bar 2: E♯4 C♮4; bar 5: G♯4 A♯4; bar 6: A♯4; bar 7: G♯4 A♯4; bar 8: A♯4. A sharp, flat or natural sign before a note applies to that note for the rest of the bar.
Which hand plays what, and how high and low does it go?
The range is B3 to D5, 15 semitones. The tune spans 10 letter names, from B3 to D5, more than an octave, so the hand has to travel along the keyboard.
Is this the whole of In the Hall of the Mountain King?
No. It is the two phrases of the theme, 8 bars. Wikipedia says the piece begins slowly and quietly in the lowest registers of the orchestra, restates the theme a fifth higher on other instruments, and speeds up to a prestissimo finale. None of that is on this page.
Is In the Hall of the Mountain King free to print and share?
Wikipedia says Grieg composed the piece in 1875 as incidental music for Ibsen’s play Peer Gynt, so it is far out of copyright. The edition used here is the Mutopia Project typesetting of the piano arrangement from the University Society edition of 1918, marked Public Domain by its typesetter. The sheets are made by this site and may be printed and shared. Modern arrangements and recordings have their own rights.
How do I know the notes are right?
The melody is read by a program from Mutopia Project, "In the Hall of the Mountain King (piano)" (Coyau), never typed in. A second program then compares it, note by note and in order, with 3 other sources: Wikipedia's score (100% of its notes); the Norwegian Wikipedia score (100% of its notes); the French Wikipedia score (100% of its notes). 3 of the 3 agree with this page on every pitch. Where they differ, the page lists every note and bar, so you can see the difference.
Why is this page two octaves higher than the score?
The Mutopia piano edition writes the melody line in the bass clef, in the low range of the piano; the theme starts on B1. This page keeps every note name and every interval but moves the whole line up two octaves, by program, so that it fits the treble clef without a stack of ledger lines. Play it where it suits you: only the octave numbers change.
What is the Mountain King theme, note by note?
The first phrase climbs from B up to F♯ and drops back (the first twelve notes are B3 C♯4 D4 E4 F♯4 D4 F♯4 E♯4 C♯4 E♯4 E4 C4); the second phrase starts on F♯, climbs to C♯ and answers it with D. The check table lists every difference against the other scores; there are none in the pitches.
Who wrote it, and what is it from?
Wikipedia says Edvard Grieg composed it in 1875 as incidental music for the sixth scene of act 2 of Henrik Ibsen’s 1867 play Peer Gynt, and that it was later extracted as the final piece of Peer Gynt, Suite No. 1, Op. 46. It calls the theme easily recognizable and says it has become iconic in popular culture.
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In the Hall of the Mountain King in real music: the numbers
In B minor the tune uses 10 of the 12 notes of the chromatic scale, 4 of them outside the key signature. It moves by step 23 times out of 49, and ends on degree 2.
This tune against real art songs
| What | This tune | OpenScore Lieder (352 minor-key songs) |
|---|---|---|
| First note | B3 (degree 1) | 28.4% start on degree 1 |
| Last note | C♯5 (degree 2) | 1.1% end on degree 2 |
| Range of the tune | 15 semitones (B3 to D5) | 27% of 1,458 first vocal lines span fewer semitones, 61% more |
The art-song numbers are for the first vocal line of every minor-key song whose key signature does not change; the numbers for this tune are counted on the melody printed above.
How common B minor is
| Collection | Items with a key | Share in B minor | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| OpenScore Lieder | 1,462 | 2.5% | 18 of 24 |
| Mutopia | 1,974 | 1.5% | 16 of 24 |
| MusicBrainz works | 13,669 | 3.1% | 14 of 24 |
| MusicBrainz works | 5,340 | 2.4% | 15 of 24 |
| Open Opus work titles | 3,587 | 2.6% | 14 of 24 |
| AcousticBrainz recordings | 63,124 | 2.2% | 18 of 24 |
Counts of key signatures (and estimated major or minor) in the collections the site has measured; see the key page for B minor.
Where the tune sits among singers' ranges
| Voice type (as labelled in the scores) | Typical range of a real song line | This tune (B3 to D5) |
|---|---|---|
| Soprano | E♭4 to F5 | wider than this range by 1 semitone |
| Alto / Contralto | C4 to C5 | wider than this range by 3 semitones |
| Tenor | F3 to F♯4 | wider than this range by 2 semitones |
| Baritone | C3 to E4 | fits if moved down 10 semitones |
| Bass | A2 to C4 | fits if moved down 14 semitones |
Typical range = the median across song lines of the lowest and highest notes (ignoring one stray note each side), from 285 vocal lines in the OpenScore Lieder Corpus. "Fits" means both ends of the tune are inside it.
Method
- This tune's own numbers are counted by a script on the decoded melody (tied notes counted once, rests ignored).
- Art-song numbers are read from the files behind the site's statistics pages (OpenScore Lieder Corpus: key and scale-degree counts for the first vocal line of every piece, vocal ranges of 1,458 lines).
- Key counts for Mutopia and MusicBrainz come from the same published statistics; a key is counted from its key signature.
Data: computed from the OpenScore Lieder Corpus (CC0), 1,462 scores. Snapshot: commit 6b2dc542ce (2026-04-07).
Background
Excerpts from open reference works, reproduced as published (references, images and tables removed). Every excerpt names its source, licence and original article.
About “In the Hall of the Mountain King”
Overview
"In the Hall of the Mountain King" ("I Dovregubbens hall") is a piece of orchestral music composed by Edvard Grieg in 1875 as incidental music for the sixth scene of act 2 in Henrik Ibsen's 1867 play Peer Gynt. It was originally part of Opus 23 but was later extracted as the final piece of Peer Gynt, Suite No. 1, Op. 46. Its easily recognizable theme has helped it attain iconic status in popular culture, where it has been arranged by many artists.
Setting
The piece is played as the title character Peer Gynt, in a dream-like fantasy, enters "Dovregubbens (the troll Mountain King's) hall". The scene's introduction continues: "There is a great crowd of troll courtiers, gnomes and goblins. Dovregubben sits on his throne, with crown and sceptre, surrounded by his children and relatives. Peer Gynt stands before him. There is a tremendous uproar in the hall." The lines sung are the first lines in the scene.
Music
The piece is in the overall key of B minor. The simple theme begins slowly and quietly in the lowest registers of the orchestra, played first by the cellos, double basses, and bassoons. After being stated, the main theme is then very slightly modified with a few different ascending notes, but transposed up a perfect fifth (to the key of F-sharp major, the dominant key, but with flattened sixth) and played on different instruments.
The two groups of instruments then move in and out of different octaves until they eventually "collide" with each other at the same pitch. The tempo gradually speeds up to a prestissimo finale, and the music itself becomes increasingly loud and frenetic.
Source: Wikipedia, “In the Hall of the Mountain King” — CC BY-SA 4.0 — text excerpted; see the article for the full text and authors. Revision of 2026-07-01.
Sources and licences for the text, scores and recordings on this page are on the credits page.
Sources: Mutopia Project, "In the Hall of the Mountain King (piano)" (Coyau), Wikipedia, "In the Hall of the Mountain King" (scores 1 and 2 in the article: cellos, then the second phrase), Wikipedia in Norwegian, "I Dovregubbens hall" (scores 1 and 2 in the article: the two phrases), Wikipedia in French, "Dans l'antre du roi de la montagne" (scores 1 and 2 in the article: cellos, then the bassoon).