Yes i think I am playing it loud, but I think it should sound loud or not? In this etude, it is almost always "forte" and if I play it "piano" it loses the revolutionary spirit, or not?
Now, to help emphasize the contrast, you're gonna use the UNA CORDA PEDAL- the leftmost pedal on the instrument.So, in summary:1. Always play the left hand softly.2. Dynamic contrast is done primarily with the right hand and the una corda pedal (i.e. use the pedal to play softer at piano).3. Experiement with different depths of the damper pedal at softer sections; remember, less sustain = less sound lingering around. (On this note, when you listen to Wagner's Tannhauser overture, do you know why the trombones sound so damn loud? It's partially because the trombone players are sustaining every note to the full value. Here, we're using an opposite idea of that approach to help things sound softer).
In this etude, it is almost always "forte" and if I play it "piano" it loses the revolutionary spirit, or not?
Pianists for some reason always have an aversion to admitting that there is a physical aspect to playing the piano. They will always tell you that if something tires your hand it must be because you're doing it wrong rather than that the passage is difficult and physically taxing. But pianists are a sort of finger acrobats. The muscles of their hands and arms get in shape just like those of athletes. This etude is meant to help get your left hand in shape, so to speak. I can tell you from experience that your left hand will find this piece easier with time, if you continue to work at it. It has probably never had to work this hard, but the muscles will learn how to cope. This is the purpose of the etude after all.
Pianists for some reason always have an aversion to admitting that there is a physical aspect to playing the piano. They will always tell you that if something tires your hand it must be because you're doing it wrong rather than that the passage is difficult and physically taxing. But pianists are a sort of finger acrobats. The muscles of their hands and arms get in shape just like those of athletes. This etude is meant to help get your left hand in shape, so to speak.
Sorry, ajspiano, to have angered you. I was just trying to be helpful. The OP sounded to me as if he/she was similar to me and at about the same level, doubtless far your inferior. I just thought that if I related my own experience with the piece it might be helpful. Perhaps I was mistaken. Anyway, when I learned this etude a little while back, I too at first experienced fatigue with the left hand, but it gradually went away as I continued to work on it. When I played it for my teacher she didn't say anything about my left hand being technically deficient - if anything she had more to say about my right hand. I assume my teacher (master's Juilliard) would be looking for the same sort of technical problems you're suggesting OP has. If she saw any, she didn't mention them.
So when you first played this piece up to speed your wrist did not burn at all?
Et tu, j_menz.
The OP has been studying the Chopin for a year (first post). If the approach were correct and this were simply a question of endurance, his/her "fatigue" problems would have been gone a long time already.
I give. It seems that I'm the only one open to the possibility that there might, just might be nothing wrong with OP's technique and that he/she is experiencing what is pretty common to students beginning work on this piece: At first the left hand is a little shell-shocked by having to do so much more than it's used to. It will get used to it with practice. It doesn't mean your technique has to be totally revised. This seemed a reasonable possibility to me, but apparently I'm alone in this.
My purely amateur impression from having worked on Op. 10/1, 10/2, and 10/12 is that these etudes are not designed to build strength and endurance. They are designed to be virtually impossible to play until you find the right technique. And once you find the right technique, they are designed to be pretty comfortable, not to torture you, not to be easy, but not to make you miserable, either. For example, the opening LH bit in 10/12 uses the alternation of white and black keys, and the choice of intervals, so that a slight up and down movement of your upper arm and a small opening and closing of the hand makes it flow without any stress at all. Again for the LH, the bit where the theme goes into Bb major in measures 25 and 26 is designed so that with the right lateral arm motion and a flexible wrist it will feel relaxed and comfortable. 10/2 is, I think, designed to force you to relax and close your RH after each of the chords in the first and second fingers - unless you do that the tension builds up really fast if you do the chromatic scales in 3,4,5 without relaxing the other fingers quickly. But in none of these cases is just powering through with determination and repetition likely to help. That doesn't mean that the OP's technique is deeply flawed, it just means he may need a teacher to show him the trick. And multiple repetitions might help, if by chance you stumble on the right motions, but then it might take a long time.