Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Pianist Corner Chopin Etude

I have recently been recommended to play a Chopin etude, I have never played one before, any recommendations for one (not one the "Trois Nouvelle Etudes")





Thanks

Who made the recommendation and why?
What other Chopin have you played?
What other repertoire of similar difficulty have you played?
What technical aspects do you want/need to work on?

Until you give some indication with more specifics, the field is pretty well open; there are twenty-four Etudes.

Regards,

The recommendation was made by a small time concert pianist. Other Chopin I have played are: the nocturne no.13 in c minor, 3 waltzes, and quite a few of the preludes, the reason he said it is because I have great facility in my fingers, but apparently I don't play every note properly, in the words of Schnabel I skate over the keys, so this is what I must work on, as well, what are you currently studying? because you never say, I have read some of your posts and they are interesting, its just me being nosey, but what sort of stuff are you studying?


Thanks

I'm not sure that a Chopin etude would address that particular technique issue ("skating over the keys"). There are many possibilities why that particular issue occurs. If you do, in fact, have good technique, then the first possibility is the very reason why Chopin etudes won't work: you're trying to play difficult pieces at speed too quickly in the learning process, and not ingraining the notes properly. So, in other words, you have good technique otherwise, but are teaching yourself bad technique by your practice methods with difficult pieces. This problem will not be cured by a Chopin etude. It could be addressed with Chopin, but there are so many other things to worry about that I'm not sure it's the best place to start.

Other technique issues, which are actually technique issues, will have to be retrained. For this, Chopin almost assuredly will not work.

Let me ask you this: what's the easiest piece you can play with the greatest facility and fewest mistakes that is a major work? (So, in other words, I know "Mary had a little lamb," but I am not looking for an oversimplified answer.)

Is the "small time concert pianist" your teacher? What does he recommend among the Etudes?

A couple of the Etudes that could help you get "deeper" into the keys - if you approach them in that manner, that is -
- E major, Op 10, No 3
- E-flat minor, Op 10, No 6
- C-sharp minor, Op 27, No 7

Well, since you ask, my repertoire over the last year has been :

Haydn : Sonata in F major, Hob.XVI:23
Haydn : Variations in F minor Hob.XVII:6
Chopin : Polonaise in C minor, Op 40, No 2
Chopin : Etude in C-sharp minor, Op 25, No 7
Chopin : Nocturne in F-sharp minor, Op 48, No 2
Brahms : Rhapsody in G minor, Op 79, No 2
Debussy : Images, Bk I : "Reflets dans l'eau" and
- "Hommage à Rameau

and currently :

Bach : Partita No 1 in B-flat major BWV825
Mozart : Concerto in A major, KV488, movement 1 : Allegro
Chopin : Concerto No 1 in E minor, movement 2 : Romance, Larghetto
Rachmaninoff : Prelude in G major, Op 32, No 5
Rachmaninoff : Prelude in G-sharp minor, Op 32, No 12
Liszt : Etude in D-flat "Un sospiro," from Three Concert Etudes, S.144
Schubert/Liszt : "Auf dem Wasser zu singen"

Regards,

Thanks for that,, it was all very helpful

I second the idea of Chopin 25 no.7. It's absolutely gorgeous and, if learned carefully, will do wonders for your touch. I'm planning to learn it over the summer, it's one of my favorites.