Chopin Etude Op.25 No.2 (reworked a bit)

[liszt85]

Thanks for listening.

[chopin2015]

That was lovely!!!

Steady your left hand a little more? Right hand is free, left hand is steady.
 That is just a general comment that I often like to hear. LOL

Other than that,

 sounded like a dream, that I would have about Chopin if I was standing under his window at night listening to him play

[liszt85]

That was lovely!!!

Steady your left hand a little more? Right hand is free, left hand is steady.
 That is just a general comment that I often like to hear. LOL

Other than that,

 sounded like a dream, that I would have about Chopin if I was standing under his window at night listening to him play

I'm glad you liked it, thanks for your nice comments!

[chopin2015]

How long have you been working on this one? Do you play other Etudes?

-Julia

[liszt85]

How long have you been working on this one? Do you play other Etudes?

-Julia

I worked on this for about 4 months (its difficult to come up with an estimate though because I don't get to practice every day). This really improved once I found myself a good teacher. After a lesson with that teacher, I probably spent 2 months on it and it improved a lot since then. This will probably continue to be a work in progress as I found that playing it helps my technique and that in turn makes me play this etude even better.

This is my first Chopin etude, I don't play any others. I would like to but I'm still working on my technique by playing simpler pieces first. The Chopin etudes are hard! I've been playing some Debussy (you can check that out on the recordings forum too), a Schubert impromptu, some Brahms, Bach, Beethoven and I've started working on Mendelssohn's rondo capriccioso which has to be one of the most technically challenging pieces I've worked on. So as you can see, I haven't really worked very much on advanced material before. I'm very excited about the progress I'm making with my new teacher. So I appreciate your comment!

[keelan]

Fantastic!

What kind of recording technology do you use?

[liszt85]

Fantastic!

What kind of recording technology do you use?

Thanks. I just use a zoom H2. I put it at a couple of feet from the middle of the piano (in the front) and it is positioned about 6-7 feet above the ground using a tripod. I do add a little bit of reverb in audacity. If not, the room acoustics make it sound somewhat dry.

[keelan]

Thanks. I just use a zoom H2. I put it at a couple of feet from the middle of the piano (in the front) and it is positioned about 6-7 feet above the ground using a tripod. I do add a little bit of reverb in audacity. If not, the room acoustics make it sound somewhat dry.

That's funny... I have the same recorder! I'll have to try your setup sometime.

[rachfan]

Hi liszt,

I enjoyed listening to your etude.  Your playing is marked by accuracy, evenness and clarity.  This is a very fine performance.

David

[liszt85]

That's funny... I have the same recorder! I'll have to try your setup sometime.

Oh, FYI, I also open the top lid of the piano.  I set the gain to the middle level on the H2.

[liszt85]

Hi liszt,

I enjoyed listening to your etude.  Your playing is marked by accuracy, evenness and clarity.  This is a very fine performance.

David

Thanks for your encouraging comments David! I have achieved a lot of accuracy and evenness on this etude in the past 2 months. I still go back and do a lot of slow practice with this etude as there are still some areas that I'm not happy with but I'm happy with my progress on it and I have my new teacher to thank for it. This is considered by many as the easiest of the Chopin etudes. The easiest of them is challenging enough. I gained a lot from it in terms of technique. I learned to have my arm/wrist lead my fingers. It wasn't really something I used to do before and I have applied this to many other pieces I'm working on with good results. So these etudes really do serve their purpose!