Which is the best Chopin Etude to learn first?

[gelato123]

I'm learning my first Chopin Etude this week.  I have previously played lots of Chopin: waltzes, several preludes and mazurkas, a polonaise, and a ballade.

These are currently my favorite etudes:
Op. 10 No. 1 in C major
Op. 10 No. 4 in C sharp minor
Op. 10 No. 12 in C minor
Op. 25 No. 1 in A-flat major
Op. 25 No. 6 in G-sharp minor
Op. 25 No. 10 in B minor
Op. 25 No. 11 in A minor
Op. 25 No. 12 in C minor

Which would be the best to start with?  Eventually, I want to learn them all, but technically speaking, I'm open to any recommendations.  Thanks.

[the_duck]

Of the ones on your list, I would start with op.25 no.1 (that was also my first etude!) Not easy by any stretch, but manageable. But since you said you eventually want to learn them all, there are  shorter and less complicated ones than 25/1. 25/2 is probably the simplest in my opinion, and also very beautiful.

But as with anything, WHAT you learn is far less important than HOW you learn it 

Edd

[chopinspride]

Play the one you love the most! I started with op.10 no.12. It is not too difficult if you practise it until your fingers bleed. I would recommend this because of what it does to you left hand - makes it strong!

Good Luck and Happy Practising

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[philb]

Interesting, I started with 10.2. Probably not the best etude to start with but very beneficial  .

[scott13]

Op 25 #7 is manageable to most grade 8 level players.

Op 10 #3 is also a good one to start with, but unless you are comfortable with 6ths, you may struggle in the middle.

I would echo what has already been said and pick your favourite and learn it correctly from the beginning. All the etudes will be beneficial to your technique so none will be wasted time and effort.

[nanabush]

I'd definitely say Op 10 #12.  It's exhilarating to practice, not too long, and is one of those pieces that will really make you work (the left hand has stuff you probably won't have seen in the 'level' right under this piece).  It isn't so much an etude for both hands (actually not many of them are), so you can get a lot of beneficial practice from working on the left hand alone. 

I wouldn't say to go right to a slow etude just because it's slow... that's ridiculous.  Op 10 #3 would be a good choice though (work on voicing, musicality, and it's got a really technical bit in the middle).

You should probably play some Rachmaninoff or Liszt before tackling Op 10 #1.  The stretches are inhuman in a lot of the bars (I'm working on this currently, and regardless of how much your hands can reach/stretch, it's a monster).  You need a super elastic hand.  Again, Op 10 #12 has more scaler passages than massive arpeggiations, so you will have some familiar material (chromatic bits, C minor scales, crossing over the thumb).

It's unfortunate that the really 'cool' sounding ones are typically the more difficult ones (this is a subjective statement, but if you do a search... Op 10#1, Op 25#6 and Op 25 #11 are on the top of most peoples' lists... but go to the extreme with the technique in question, and are loooooong!)

[werq34ac]

Op 25 #7 is manageable to most grade 8 level players.

Op 10 #3 is also a good one to start with, but unless you are comfortable with 6ths, you may struggle in the middle.

I would echo what has already been said and pick your favourite and learn it correctly from the beginning. All the etudes will be beneficial to your technique so none will be wasted time and effort.

I disagree. You could start these as your first Chopin etude, but they really are very different from the rest. 10/6 as well. Both are beautiful, but I wouldn't exactly say they would be a good introduction to the etudes.

I'm surprised no one has mentioned 10/5 which I feel most people begin with. 25/2 is another good one to begin with.


As for the pieces you mentioned, 25/1 and 10/12 aren't bad to start with. 25/12 i would play at least one other etude before you start this. 25/10, 10/1, and 10/4 I would play at least 3 other etudes before you start one of these. And 25/6 and 11 are the most difficult along with 10/2 so definitely wait on these 3.

Just going through the ones I played,
10/1 everything falls under the fingers easily, except for the awkward passages (trust me you'll know what they are) which are absolute hell to play. The whole thing is extremely difficult to play clean. Same with 25/12
10/4 one of the more difficult etudes, top 8 at the very least. It's a workout for both hands and any lack of dexterity in either hand comes out as a mess. The impressive coda is the easy part..
10/5 not very many issues except right before the main theme comes back and the octaves at the end. Everyone fakes those anyway..
10/7 its easier than it looks at first, but later it gets tiring and relaxing isn't exactly easy.
10/8 its much much harder than it looks, especially the middle section
10/12 good left hand workout, some issues in the right hand, but if you have good octaves, they won't be much of a problem.
25/1 sometimes you don't "stretch" far enough to hit the right note, but otherwise not too bad.
25/12 just plain tiring. Easier to clean than 10/1 imo, but much more tiring.

hope this helped

[nanabush]

Just going through the ones I played,
10/1 everything falls under the fingers easily, except for the awkward passages (trust me you'll know what they are) which are absolute hell to play. The whole thing is extremely difficult to play clean. Same with 25/12
10/4 one of the more difficult etudes, top 8 at the very least. It's a workout for both hands and any lack of dexterity in either hand comes out as a mess. The impressive coda is the easy part..
10/5 not very many issues except right before the main theme comes back and the octaves at the end. Everyone fakes those anyway..
10/7 its easier than it looks at first, but later it gets tiring and relaxing isn't exactly easy.
10/8 its much much harder than it looks, especially the middle section
10/12 good left hand workout, some issues in the right hand, but if you have good octaves, they won't be much of a problem.
25/1 sometimes you don't "stretch" far enough to hit the right note, but otherwise not too bad.
25/12 just plain tiring. Easier to clean than 10/1 imo, but much more tiring.

hope this helped

Pretty much what I think about them.  That's the best description for 10/1 - you'll know where the hard passage are when they come up.  If the first bar takes you a while, the piece WILL be too tough.

[gelato123]

Thanks for all the very helpful advice.  I think I am going to approach op. 10 no. 4 initially and, if I encounter too much difficulty, will switch to op. 25 no. 1.

[jeffkonkol]

if it's not too late to take another look... 10-9 is comparably not that difficult, and it functions as a really nice left hand training exercise for many other pieces.

quite easy to memorize as well...

based on your previous pieces and the etudes you listed, I am guessing that difficulty isn't a major concern for you..... but even with that granted, given that you want to play all or most of them, I would recommend starting with an easier one, provided of course that you don't dislike the piece.

from my perspective... they are all largely playable.. it is simply a game of loving the piece enough to be able to put in sufficient practice to do it justice........ if that math equation doesn't quite work out, it's best to choose something else and return to it later.

[richterfan1]

i learned op.10 no.9, its "not hard" if u have a big hand, also i practiced a lot 1st 2 pages of op.10 No.1, and i got the real speed , but start with Op.10 No.9 f minor, and theres 1 more in f minor, i think its leggiero in op.25, those f minor arent that hard  

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[revanyoda777]

Just play the Etude that either A. you love the most or
B. Introduces the technique you want to work on the most.

My first dive into the Etudes started with Op.10 No.1. I'm really only dabbling in them right now, but I can't tell you how much that etude has helped with my technique. It's also a great warm up as it gets the fingers moving ( I only have the first page so far)

[point of grace]

I would study this:
Op. 25 No. 2
Op. 25 No. 1
Op. 10 No. 3
Op. 10 No. 12