Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Adult Beginners Forum Chopin Prelude in A major Op. 28 No. 7

The RH chord in measure 12 can best be described as anatomical torture. My Alfred version offers alternate fingerings for students with smaller hands, including an arpeggiated LH chord ending in C# to complete the RH chord. I have fairly large hands and can span a tenth without trouble, but I can't play the entire chord as written. I've watched several versions on Youtube, and some players opt for the arpeggio, while others don't play the lower C#. It may be the case that I simply can't play it as written, or perhaps my flexibility will improve over time.

I did the Alfred version this way and was happy with the result.

The usual trick here is to play the lower A# and C# in the RH chord together with the thumb. Even with large hands, this can be a bit awkward, but it is certainly possible. Otherwise, arpeggiating everything seems like the next best answer.

I usually do what packa said. Sometimes I have also arpeggiated it, particularly in the beginning.

Mark, thank you for sharing. Arpeggios seem perfectly appropriate for that measure.


Thank you! I can get there with the thumb covering both notes as you suggested. Not easy, but doable.

I have large hands (can block most 11th chords without much difficulty) and still can't block Chopin's A#-C#-E-A#-C# without considerable tension. I'd say as many as 95% of pianists should use the thumb on the bottom two notes.