Demi Tasse is a parlor piano piece by American composer Henry Lodge, known for his ragtime influence integrated into salon forms. It is distinctive for its syncopated charm and concise structure.
At Henle 3 this is a late-beginner piece — comfortable hands-together playing is assumed, and musical shaping starts to matter. The main demands: precise articulation — the difference between crisp and blurred is the piece; fine finger independence within the hand; and a waltz lilt that needs charm and a flexible left hand.
Maintain rhythmic precision while navigating the subtle syncopations throughout the main theme.
Comparable difficulty and character — good candidates for what to learn next.
A level or two down with the same spirit — ideal if this piece is still out of reach.
Where this piece's skills lead: slightly harder works making similar technical demands.
Demi Tasse is rated Henle level 3 of 9 — late beginner repertoire, roughly ABRSM grades 4–5. In the RCM system it corresponds to about level 4.
You should be comfortable at Henle level 3 — meaning you can already play level 2–3 pieces cleanly. Learning it one level early is possible as a stretch piece, but more than that usually leads to months of frustration.
A typical performance of Demi Tasse lasts about 3 minutes.
Demi Tasse is available as free public-domain sheet music on IMSLP — the score is linked directly from this page.
Pieces at a comparable difficulty and character include Black Diamond Rag by Henry Lodge, The Entertainer by Scott Joplin, Waltz No. 2 by Dmitri Shostakovich — see the full similar-pieces list on this page.