Chopin Etude Op. 25 No. 6 pedal problem

[nilee]

Hi. I'm practising Etude Op. 25 No. 6 from Chopin. I have a problem with the pedals, especially at the beginning, where the right goes chromatic up and the left hand goes down. Is there anyone who can tell me how to use it? My teacher says no pedal at all for the whole piece but that sounds so dry.

By the way when the piece starts, do you have to use the middelfinger or the ringfinger for the dis (D#)?
Because in a video I saw they used the middelfinger, but my teacher says you have to use the ringfinger which is much harder.

Btw sorry if my English is wrong I'm Dutch so I have to translate it and I'm 13 and I'm not those experts in piano:P

[stevebob]

Pedal is largely a matter of individual taste, the capabilities of one's instrument and the acoustics of one's environment.  As there are numerous possible fingerings, most editions offer more than one suggestion for the various figures in this etude.  The edition of Alfred Cortot, for example, lists seven for the double trill (e.g., at bb. 1-3) and ten for the ascending scale in thirds (e.g., bb. 5-6).

I recommend consulting a variety of editions, comparing the pedaling and fingering suggestions you find, and adopting the solutions that work best for you.  Unfortunately, there's no one-size-fits-all solution.