Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Pianist Corner Etude series - recommendations

I have been learning nouvelle etudes by chopin and currently the last one. I think they have been great to learn and like they are quite short so not too lengthy to learn either. I think the other chopin etudes a few of them are doable but I find them a too long. Is there another good etude series that are like little short pieces. I am looking for something of is similar standard to nouvelle etudes (grade 8-actl) and also similar length (less 2-4 min pieces)? Thanks.

The Opp. 10 and 25 Etudes of Chopin are considerably more difficult than the Trois Nouvelles Etudes. With the exception of Op. 25, No. 2, they are all Diploma level pieces in the RCM syllabus.

Moreover, with the exceptions of Op. 10, No. 3, and Op 25, Nos. 7, 10, and 11, none of them - when performed at a professional level - are more than three minutes long. I wouldn't consider that "long."

Why not try some Burgmuller, Op. 109 or Heller, Op. 45. And, of course, there are numerous sets of Studies by Czerny.

Regards,

I'd like to second the Burgmuller Op. 109 recommendation. I'm currently going through Burgmuller's Op. 100 (easier than Op. 109) and love them because they're both good exercises and sound beautiful. I've listened to the entire Op. 109 played by a professional pianist and they're lovely. My plan is to move on to them once I'm done with Op. 100.

Thank you. I have had a listen and I couldnt find anything that jumps out at me. Sorry I have changed my mind. Maybe I should look at music from composers that are short, rather than etudes which are often technical pieces. I have played most of mendelssohn songs without words but I may look into grieg series of lyrical pieces. I think this would be a good one to learn.



Sorry changed my mind but thank you for the suggestions

The Grieg Lyric Pieces are filled with lovely music, some of it quite challenging, but all of it quite pianistic. They certainly get my vote ahead of some of the 19th century studies which, in themselves, may be beneficial as well but perhaps less inspiring, musically. One is more likely, I think to add Lyric Pieces to ones repertoire than Studies by the likes of Bergmuller and Heller.

Regards,

I have last played a piece from this series in 2016, March of the dwarfs, which is the only one I learnt with my teacher so I think the series needs a look into again.



Thanks

I think you might want to reconsider whether you have really reached performance level with the Chopin Nouvelle Etudes.
I have watched one of your videos and it is nothing near performance level.
Please see below for how the tempo, voicing of the chords and the trill at the end should be as an example.

There are lots of short, not-too-difficult pieces composed by great composers - from Scarlatti and Soler sonatas to Beethoven bagatelles to Chopin mazurkas to Scriabin and Shostakovich preludes to Prokofiev Visions fugitives to Sibelius Impromptus etc.

Here are a few varied examples:

Scarlatti's study in passagework & scales;


Prokofiev's little firecracker:


Sibelius's haunting runic-like piece:

The chopin nouvelle etude 2 recording was an old one from last year but thank you for taking the time to listen. I really like the suggestion but I think the last one was really amazing and will buy this series. It reminded me of this aquarian piece but it doesnt work as well for piano (i think it is an orchestra piece) but the sibelius really works well and is an excellent suggestion so thank you for posting this. I am sure I will learn it.

Moo, IMO you are attempting to play pieces over your technical level. And then you are considering them done and decide to move forward.

But in reality you are leaving them unfinished and as a result you are not improving your technique as much as studying those pieces should provide.

Most of Edward MacDowell's 24 ètudes (divided into 2 sets of 12; Opus 39 and Opus 46) are based around sonority rather than technique, with a few notable exceptions.

(In Opus 39, those exceptions are Nos. 8 & 12; in Opus 46, they are Nos. 2, 3, 5, 10 & 11.)

If I were to look for a good ètude from MacDowell, I'd look at the Opus 46 No. 9, somehow-ironically named "Traumerei".

MacDowell is basically an American Grieg.

I suggest Duvernoy Etudes.

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_kYfqRUFnHq3YRodOXp7filIo0mIrPPLWY

Moszkowski's op.72 is very good to prepare for the more ambitious Chopin series, why not give them a try?

Hummel’s op. 125 etudes include some absolute gems.

Thank you for the suggestions. I really liked the Sibelius suggestion but will have to wait until I am ready to learn this impromptu suggested. It did remind he that he wrote a good etude which is not too hard so I have ordered this one as well.



I did get critic about my nouvelle etude 2 recording but this was from jan 2020. I have uploaded a current recording of both of them. Enjoy

Thank you for the suggestion. I didnt intend to play the chopin etudes and was looking for other series that were easier n. I hope one day to get to this level as I really like the op 72 no 2 but I think it will take a long while !

Moo, to be honest your Chopin Etudes are not performance level. Maybe it is the recording but it is like almost sounds the same level. Also it sounds muddy, maybe you might use less pedal (but that could be from the recording as well).
The technique is not there too.

Also, the two Chopin Etudes you have posted are mainly on polyrhythm and IMO, not something crucial to learn at this stage.

Anyway, if I were your teacher (btw, I am a total amateur, so this is just hypothetical) I would let you concentrate on the basics.
Like:
Finger independence, dexterity and strength.
Extreme attention to evenness. Both in rhythm and dynamics.

So, instead of the pieces you are posting, I would like you to spend more time on exercises.

That is why I recommended the Duvernoy Studies. At first look these may seem elementary. But to play them as the recordings on the link I gave is not easy at all.

The reason why I suggest studies instead of pieces is to let you concentrate on your technique only.

Trying to play as evenly as possible and becoming aware of your weak points is the main objective.

We are always generous when judging our own performance. That is one of the reasons a teacher is very helpful.

But not all teachers might be willing to insist on technique if they feel the student is not patient and he/she is willing to jump to pieces before being ready.

So, if you want to have a good technique then you have to spend a lot of time on basic repetitive exercises.

Try some of the Duvernoy op.276 studies first. And see if you can honestly play them masterfully at the tempos I have given in the link. If so, move on to op.120.

You might also want to speak to your teacher that, you want to improve your technique and you are ready to undertake whatever hard work it requires.

Btw, here is an example how the first nouvelle etude is played.

The 15 Études of Virtuosity by Moszkowski are nice fun études that seem to be about your level. They aren't too long. I had a lot of fun learning Op. 72 No. 2.