Chopin Etude discussion

[Fastzuernst]

I would love to hear from you about your personal experiences with the chopin etudes, like, which ones you have learned, how you practice them, which are the hardest, the most accessable, which are your favorite, which you recommend!
This is all the questions I can think of at the moment, any more input would be great

I am currently working on
Op.10 1,2,4,12
Op.25 1-5, 12
I have found that the most difficult have been  op.10no1,2,
I am in love with Op.25no.12
I have found that Op.25no.1 is quite easy
Op.25no.2 is harder than it seems
Anyways thats my two cents!
What about yours...................................................

[JK]

I have done:

op.10 no. 4, 12
op.25 no. 7, 10,11,12.

I found op.10 no.4 difficult due to my small hands, the revolutionary was no where near as hard as I thought, and nor was op.25 no.12. The winterwind is the hardest in my opinion, especially when played after the double octaves one, op.25 no.11!

[Max]

I've finished..

10/9 - 12
25/2

And I'm learning 10/5 and 25/1.

They're great fun to play, but I don't know exactly how much good they do for technique...

[mh88]

I have studied all 24.

The hardest for me to complete were:
Op. 10 - No. 1
Op. 10 - No. 4
Op. 25 - No. 6
Op. 25 - No. 11

My favorite piece out of all of them is by far Op. 25 - No. 12.
minor to major to minor again...then gloriously ending in major.  Great pieces.

If you want a really good recording of it, track down Boris Berezovsky's rendition...awesome.

[maxy]

I totally agree!  Berezovsky is awesome in op25 #12!

[mh88]

ah well met....yes, out of all the renditions i've heard, i give berezovsky the title....the 12 from op 25 is amazing in how he plays it....when he hits major the melody just jumps off the keyboard and is stuck on your mind for days

[abe]

I'm working on op. 25 # 9, and its giving me trouble. But thats because I'm just bad. then I'm going to learn Op. 10, #12.

[eugene_oneg]

I started with op 10/1 then
op 10/2
op 25/2
op 25/7
op 10/12
the winterwind op 25/

op10/1 takes a long time to learn and play well, so does 10/2 but it only gets easier as you learn them. I agree that op25/2 is harder than it seems for the correct rendition. How difficult really depends on how much I like the piece.

[cloches_de_geneve]

I found this somewhat dated thread but I found it fun and interesting to read. Why not keep it going? So: I've played:

- op 10/2
- op 10/8
- op 25/1
- op 25/8
- op 25/9

I would like to pick two additional ones that are both good for technique and fun! I was thinking of
op 10/11 and op 25/12. If you had to choose another two; which ones would you pick?

(Btw: Everybody says op 25/9 is very easy, but I found that sound-control is a real challenge in that etude; in addition my wrist tends to get tense...Op. 25/8 is easier -- at leats to my hand.

[etudes]

I found this somewhat dated thread but I found it fun and interesting to read. Why not keep it going? So: I've played:

- op 10/2
- op 10/8
- op 25/1
- op 25/8
- op 25/9

I would like to pick two additional ones that are both good for technique and fun! I was thinking of
op 10/11 and op 25/12. If you had to choose another two; which ones would you pick?

(Btw: Everybody says op 25/9 is very easy, but I found that sound-control is a real challenge in that etude; in addition my wrist tends to get tense...Op. 25/8 is easier -- at leats to my hand.

op.25 no.8 is by far most difficult for me

[mikey6]

I would love to hear from you about your personal experiences with the chopin etudes, like, which ones you have learned, how you practice them, which are the hardest, the most accessable, which are your favorite, which you recommend!
This is all the questions I can think of at the moment, any more input would be great

I am currently working on
Op.10 1,2,4,12
Op.25 1-5, 12
I have found that the most difficult have been  op.10no1,2,
I am in love with Op.25no.12
I have found that Op.25no.1 is quite easy
Op.25no.2 is harder than it seems
Anyways thats my two cents!
What about yours...................................................

Op 25 no.2 is considered one of the easier ones along wiih the black key etude.  25 no.1 is a pregnant dog to voice and connect all the inner lines.
I'm working on 10 no.1 at the moment which I'm finding really difficult to achieve equal sound between 5 and 1. (then again it's all personal anyway)

[e60m5]

Op.25 no.2 in my opinion is one of the most difficult. A 9 year old can hit the notes. (Personal experience.) But I'd like to see a 9 year old who can maintain the quicksilver transparency required of the perpetual motion at the same time as imbuing the work with all the splashes and shades of colour it requires.

One of the most difficult to play well.

[nanabush]

Wouldn't Op.10 #7 be one of the most difficult ones?  It's all double note combinations, and I have seen some rating saying this piece is one of the easier ones. ??

[mikey6]

Op.25 no.2 in my opinion is one of the most difficult. A 9 year old can hit the notes. (Personal experience.) But I'd like to see a 9 year old who can maintain the quicksilver transparency required of the perpetual motion at the same time as imbuing the work with all the splashes and shades of colour it requires.

One of the most difficult to play well.

Well in that case, they're all going to be difficult! Some are gonna be more difficult coz they require a specific technique to develop which is not common practise.
Then again, difficulty is always based on the person's capability's.

[bearzinthehood]

Op.25 no.2 in my opinion is one of the most difficult. A 9 year old can hit the notes. (Personal experience.) But I'd like to see a 9 year old who can maintain the quicksilver transparency required of the perpetual motion at the same time as imbuing the work with all the splashes and shades of colour it requires.

One of the most difficult to play well.

You know what, I totally agree.  This is one is deceptively ****ing hard.

[rimv2]

Op 25 no.2 is considered one of the easier ones along wiih the black key etude.  25 no.1 is a pregnant dog to voice and connect all the inner lines.
I'm working on 10 no.1 at the moment which I'm finding really difficult to achieve equal sound between 5 and 1. (then again it's all personal anyway)

Dohnanyi

Ah can play the 10-1 and the 10-12

Ah used to think the 10-12 was a hard piece. After practicing the 10-1 for more than a year now ah can say the 10-1 spanks the 10-12 on its butt then sends it back on the street corner.

Ah can only play the first couple of lines of the 10-2 and they seem very fun

[henrah]

Op 25 no.2 is considered one of the easier ones along wiih the black key etude.

Which etude is the black key etude? And while I'm here, which one is the butterfly etude?
Cheers,
Henrah

[gymnopedist]

Which etude is the black key etude? And while I'm here, which one is the butterfly etude?
Cheers,
Henrah

The black key etude is number 10/5, the butterfly number 25/9.

[henrah]

Thanks!

[sissco]

hi....how hard is 25/1? i love this piece! 

[bearzinthehood]

hi....how hard is 25/1? i love this piece! 

On the easier side.  Perhaps not a bad starting point.

[jamie_liszt]

Theres no exact list of easiest to hardest, it varies for every person, it all depends on what part of your technique sucks, eg: if you suck at those thirds youll hate the opus 25 no 6 in thirds etc.

[bearzinthehood]

But there's no doubt that that's one of the harder ones...

[steve jones]

Iv toyed with a couple of the easier ones - 10-6, 25-2.

Cant play them properly yet, but I love these pieces so I'll stick at it.

From my very limited experience, Id think that these might be among the toughest:

10-1
10-4
25-6
25-11

Atleast, these are the ones that seriously intimidate me. I love 10-4, but it scares me to death! Same with 25-11.

Another one thats seems tricky is 10-2. Funnily enough, the technique for this piece doesnt feel uncomfortable to me, even though I can play at much speed. But I can play individual bars up to speed HS. Maybe this is one to try in the future.

10-1 is just nasty. I can see why they say this is the hardest. I dont undestand the technique of this piece at all - are you surposed to open and close the hard, or are you meant to quickly switch between positions??? God knows. I have some vids of people playing it, but none clear enough to get a good look at their technique.

Tell you what though, I repuse to believe this bs about 10-1 requiring a large reach. I have a 10th reach, but I dont see how extending the hand is going to be any help - surely a constant motion would be more suitable.

[shasta]

The etudes that kick my @$$ seem to be the ones not commonly played in concert but are instead more exercise-based:

10/7 - the tocatta of 3rds and 6ths

10/10 - 6ths and broken octaves

25/3 - "ornament etude"

25/4 - off-beat chords

25/5 - "wrong note etude"

25/8 - triplet 6ths etude

[musicsdarkangel]

I have played Op 10 no 1, half of op 10 no 2, op 10 no 12, op 1

[musicsdarkangel]

I have played

Op 10 no 1,
half of op 10 no 2,
op 10 no 12,
op 25 no 1,
op 25 no 2,
i'm working on op 25 no 6,
op 25 no 11,
and op 25 no 12


Out of these, I found op 10 no 2, op 10 no 13 were the easiest.  

The medium level would be op 10 no 1 and op 10 no 14

The most difficult level would be op 25 no 11, op 25 no 12, and op 25 no 6

I do believe that the hardest is the winterwind (it is easy to lose if you don't keep it up) but the one that gave me the most trouble is the Ocean Etude.... to get it a tempo is quite difficult but once you have it, you can always relearn it pretty quickly.


Op 25 no 6 is giving me some trouble... i've been playing it for almost 3 weeks now and still can't get it a tempo.  I hate it when the nasty cross overs come in the right hand on the beginning of the 2nd page.  To get those unaccented/fluent is difficult.

[chopinfan_22]

I've not played any of them. But after I master and can play 4 or 5 Czerny studies at a decent speed, I'm going to start working on them, because that's what my instructor wants me to do before attempting Chopin's etudes. I love them all. When I learn them, I'll probably start with Op. 10 No. 3, then Op. 10 No. 6, and then move onto Op. 10 No. 12, and Op. 25 No. 12.

[countchocula]

I have performed them all (in a row) a couple of times.
The hardest thing about them is playing no1. and then no.2  immediately afterward.
That is the test, my friends...
- of course op.25 no.6 is not easy either...

[pianoperfmajor]

I have played

Op 10 no 1,
half of op 10 no 2,
op 10 no 12,
op 10 no 13,
op 10 no 14,
i'm working on op 25 no 6,
op 25 no 11,
and op 25 no 12

There is no Op. 10 no. 13 or no. 14!  haha

[pianowelsh]

I have studied in some form all of them now BUT they are not pieces I ever eel particularly comfortable playing in concert.  I dont know whether that is because they are exposed or just because I have done so many of the for exams and know just how hard they are and how discriminating pianists are about the way they are played.  Interestingly enough I studied Op25/12 at the same time as 25/6 and I found Op25/12 far more difficult than no6 - which everyone says is one of the hardest.  I really think it does depend on you technical strengths and hand shape.  I have pretty small hands for a guy and the doubled 6ths one is one which i will only every play in the warm up room or for technical study.  I do however find the 8ve one strangely more manageable again its more i think to do with the shape of the hand. I actually think the Revolutionary is harder than people think.  Yes mechanically its not hard BUT Ive rarely heard a really good performance of it.  Ive heard far more really good student performances of op10/1 which its true IS mechanically more taxing than no12 of the op10.  Op10/8 is frequently underestimated - its a real stinker! you have no preparation and all of a sudden your darting up and down with one hard and trying to phrase the jaunty LH melody and ooh that middle section with hands in cont motion and the little cascade of notes at the end! I still have nightmares about that one - its so pretty BUT very hard to control in performance! The winter wind is I find more straightforward in a lot of ways because it is all under the hand all the small notes that is. The LH isnt so bad except for the odd corner. Its the scale at the end after youves spent the previous few mins exhuasting yourself that is hard to nail. Op10/7/10/11 are also ones i personally dont feel ready to play publically yet again because of the extended hand positions I may never perform these!

[mwf]

Hi,

Think op10.4 is not one of the hardest as people have said, its got its patterns and is easy to remember, also one of the more beneficial etudes improving the strength in the left hand as well as right and creating a smoother hands together technique, a great not too dificult etude. Op10.1 is not as hard as people say with plenty of practice its ok and sounds amazing. Op10.2 is very difficult to play technically and to play well, easily one of the hardset etudes along with the 'thirds' etude and the 'winter wind' etude. Op10.8 is very difficult also and the 'ocean' etude is just ridiculous to get right in my opinion at the tempo required I think its one of the hardest to master, I cant play it without more than one mistake, and it hurts after playing it, have to rest the hands for a bit after playing this one.

However I dont think these etudes Chopin wrote are anywhere near as difficult as Liszt's transcendental studies, who agrees? they are in a different league, the highest one there is possibly, you cant even dare to look at some of them without feeling anxious.

[letters]

i have never played any etudes, but i would very much like to. If you had to say one which would good to begin with which would it be? they all sound pretty fast and difficult! ive done grade 8 so r they too difficult? thanks

[gruffalo]

I am currently polishing off 25/1, first week on 10/7, and will be starting 10/12 and 25/12.

So far, 25/1 has been fairly easy to learn and i have applied new memorization methods to it so i have learnt it slightly faster due to efficiency. Though one problem i encounter, when i play it to speed my upper body is generally relaxed and the same to my wrists, but my hands get quite (but not very) tired. I have long fingers, so it might be the fact that i dont feel the need to jump keys, so i just give my fingers stretched. i think it might be the problem, but i will check with my teacher.

as for the 10/7, i cant comment on technical difficulty because i am memorizing at the moment. in terms of memorization, i find it slightly more difficult than the 25/1 because the 25/1 comes in chords which can easily be depicted and remembered, where as the 10/7 has weird stuff. but the only thing affected is the speed of memorization, nothing that cant be handled with memorizing so far.

[musicsdarkangel]

There is no Op. 10 no. 13 or no. 14!  haha

ahhh sorry, it was past 4 AM (night for me) when I typed that.


I meant op 25 no 1 and op 25 no 2

[stevie]

However I dont think these etudes Chopin wrote are anywhere near as difficult as Liszt's transcendental studies, who agrees? they are in a different league, the highest one there is possibly, you cant even dare to look at some of them without feeling anxious.

[pianowelsh]

I find the chopin etudes harder than Liszt ones and many of glittery liszt ones are not as musically satisfying in my opinion as the chopin etudes.