25/6 initial fingering

[cloches_de_geneve]

I am learning (or rather trying to learn) Chopin's etude op. 25/6 (thirds).

To pianists who have studied this etude I ask:

What fingerings do you use for the thirds in the initial few bars? I started with 13-24 because it felt natural and comfortable; but I am realizing it might not be resistant to high speed. So, now I am trying 13-25 which allows for greater speed, just that sometimes it gets very irregular. Now, I am torn. And I don't think 14-25 is a real alternative. Any suggestions?

[gyzzzmo]

I use 14-25, works great for me...

[m]

I use whether 13-25, or 24-15.
The later fingering allows you to play it almost like a trill but sometimes does not work well on some instruments. 

[claude_debussy]

1-3 & 2-5 allowing the use of 2-4 crossing over to play A#-Cx in the 4th bar.

This piece has many interesting fingering challenges. 

The bigger question: how to practice them. 

peace, CD

[mike_lang]

I always used 23-15 in the beginning...

[cloches_de_geneve]

Thanks, guys, for all your suggestions. The 23/15 or 24/15 solutions are ingenious; however, they would require a lot of practice to work reliably for my hand and I am not sure how to manage the transition/cross-over in the 4th bar arriving there with 24/15?

14/25?!? This is the fingering I would tend to switch to at the very end of the trill sequence (played 13/25) to appraoch the cross-over with 14/25-14/23-14/24(slide on 4 there)-15/23 etc... But playing it 14/25 from the start -- only with very warm fingers!

[m]

I'd suggest you to not really think about it right now, but just methodically work on every combination.
Once you get used to the pattern, your hands will tell you themselves what works best for them.

[ahkow]

i use 1-4 and 2-5 too. the fingering provided in the text is quite good i think. if u're lost, the Cortot edition of Chopin provides some really useful fingerings.

[gyzzzmo]

Thanks, guys, for all your suggestions. The 23/15 or 24/15 solutions are ingenious; however, they would require a lot of practice to work reliably for my hand and I am not sure how to manage the transition/cross-over in the 4th bar arriving there with 24/15?

14/25?!? This is the fingering I would tend to switch to at the very end of the trill sequence (played 13/25) to appraoch the cross-over with 14/25-14/23-14/24(slide on 4 there)-15/23 etc... But playing it 14/25 from the start -- only with very warm fingers!

You shouldnt be playing Chopin etudes fast anyway without warm fingers :S

[ramseytheii]

I'd suggest you to not really think about it right now, but just methodically work on every combination.
Once you get used to the pattern, your hands will tell you themselves what works best for them.

I think that's very good advice.  I've always felt that part of solving a problem is finding a solution from within the problem itself, rather than applying the answer from the outside, whether that answer is right or not.  Practicing to me is in the thrill of the hunt!

Students complain, but if I tried everything in the first two bars, it would take forever to learn the piece.  But would you want to learn the rest of the piece without being able to play the first two bars?  Think about it!  Also, when one is truly concentrating, perception of time changes, and with good concentration, a little bit of work always goes a long way.  Never worry about how long something will take; worry only about achieving quality!

Walter Ramsey

[ferret_dance]

24-15

[jpshippee]

For me, 14-25 is great for speed, smoothness, and transitioning to the chromatic passages following that initial thirds trill.

[thierry13]

I allways used 14-25 and it worked quite well for me, but I never tougth about the 24-15 option, will try it!