the most USEFUL chopin etude ?! /! ?! ?! ?1

[andhow04]

i READ somewhere that the edtude in sixths op 25 is the MOST USEFUL chopin ETUDE!! but What do YOU THINK?  which one is the BEST For ALL AROUND TECHNIQUE, that you can use in LOTS OF DIFFERENT SITUATIONS

actuallyl, you can VOTE TWICE, because i am more interested in the FINAL TALLY.  IF you think one is really useful, VOTE FOR IT TWICE

[etudes]

voted for op.10 no.2 and op25 no.6 

[counterpoint]

It depends on what your musical/technical problems are. I think, all Chopin Etudes help to play other music from Chopin better. But they don't help much to play Bach, Beethoven, Schumann better. Chopin's music is a world for itself.

[pianogeek_cz]

Meh vote goes for 10-4.

10-4 is all about wrist rotation and relaxation, you have tight runs, you have wide runs, you have runs that don't fit into any of this category, both hands have quite a lot of work to do, plus there are LH accompaniment arpeggios in places, RH (and LH, too) gets chords in all variations - staccato, portamento, tenuto, legato...

What we miss in 10-4 is generally double- and more-note figurations. Dunno about one other etude to fix that, you'd probably need 25-10 plus 25-6. I also tend to think that 10-10 could be quite useful for the wrists.

[dnephi]

I actually voted for 10-4 and 25-12.  What gets ignored in 10-4 is double-note technique and chord execution.  The changing of location on keyboard accurately technique is covered well in 25-12.

10-2 and 25-6 are good, but highly specialized to one specific function each, while 10-4 and 25-12 are fairly applicable to a lot of things.

[houseofblackleaves]

I chose op.10/10 & op.25/8.

The contrast of touch (I think) is the most crucial part of interpretation.  It affects speed, tone, pedaling and tone-coloration.  I think that broadening ones range of touch makes for much more interesting interpretation of all pieces.  Chopin's op.10/10 is a prime example of a piece that exercises this skill.  The perpetual motion of the right hand figurations also helps facilitate multiple note tremelos, and also develops dexterity in the center of the right hand, and stretches your left.

I forgot what pianist said that 25/8 was the most useful... but I think I know what thing you read that said that.  I agree.  The nickname "Sixths" doesn't do the piece justice.  It's more of a study of double trills (there are sixths and thirds) and big leaps, as well as some octaves.  It's alot like 25/6 in the way that it requires a relaxed wrist and coordination but for both hands this time.

Not as musically interesting as some of the other etudes that are sometimes considered "more difficult," but IMHO the most useful in and out of Chopin's music.

[amelialw]

I voted for Op.10 No.2 and Op.10 No.4

Op.10 No.2 to strengthen the 4th and 5th fingers as they tend to be a common weakness for us pianists.

Op.10 No.4 because it can teach you so many things in both the R.H and L.H as well as being on of the more difficult etudes especially at full speed

My favourite ones are: 10-2,10-3,10-4,10-5,10-7,10-8,10-10,10-11,25-1,25-2,25-5

[zheer]

  Hmmmmmmm good one, well  op. 10 No.1 and Op.10 .No.12 , helped me a lot.
Infact the first Etude at a slow tempo is really recomended by Chopin.

[leonidas]

All music helps with other music in some way, but I'd say the most useful ones would be 10/1 and 10/2.

[cygnusdei]

Another vote for Op. 10 no. 10! This one is useful because every repeat of the main theme has different articulation.

BTW what happened to the 3 Nouvelle etudes?

[dnephi]

So instead, how about we decide on a set of etudes which would be best:
10-4, 10-10, 25-12, 10-1, 25-6, and 10-2.

[ramseytheii]

I voted for op.10 no.7 (looks like I'm the only one).  I think this is the etude that really teaches you the action of the arm, rather than the action of the finger.  It is so hard to control the subtle harmony, the extremely subtle melody, in all its amazing range.  On this one, you are forced to play with weight, rather than with fingers.

I hate it when people say this is an etude for "chords in different intervals," thirds, fourths, sixths, seconds, etc.  That's like saying op.10 no.1 is an etude for "arpeggios in different intervals."  The people who describe op.10 no.7 like that, prove that they don't understand it at all: it is an etude for arm action. 

Here is what the classic James Huneker has to say about this etude:

"It is a genuine toccata, with moments of tender twilight... and is as healthy as the toccata by Robert Schumann.  Here is a brave, an undaunted Chopin, a gay cavalier, with the sunshine shimmering about him.  There are times when this study seems like light dripping through the trees of a mysterious forest; with the delicato there are Puck-like rustlings, and all the while the pianist without imagination is exercising wrist and fingers in a technical exercise!  Were ever Beauty and Duty so mated in double harness?  Pegasus pulling a cloud charged with rain over an arid country!"

Walter Ramsey