The Ultimate Guide to Learning and Mastering Chopins Op 10-12

[presto agitato]

Hi guys. Please i need your help. I want to learn this piece in 4 months. I know many of you have played this etude, so any help would be useful.

Thanks in advance

[Awakening]

Practice it slowly and make sure everything is clean.  Then again, this is one of those pieces where the pedal can be used to cover up your mistakes.  The etude is almost entirely arpeggios, so practice playing these evenly and smoothly.  I've heard a variety of interpretations of this piece, and my opinion is that the more mechanical renditions are less appealing.  There is a lot of emotion in the etude, and what you want not to do is turn it into a droning exercise of precision and speed.  Certain sections need to be slowed down and dynamic variance is key throughout the piece.  I've never actually played it, so I can't provide much more insight than as a lover of Chopin who has listened to a few recordings of the etude.  One which I felt was a good example can actually be found in at https://www.soundclick.com/bands/7/ytanddwmusic.htm  I got the link from a member of a different forum, who was asking for feedback.

Anyway, your piano teacher should know what to do.  And if you don't have one...well, get one.  Learning a work such as this one really does require an experienced second opinion in order to give advice and help shape the piece.  Other than that, listen to some recordings, pick which one you like the best, and try to make yours sound like it.  Chopin wasn't as clear as some other composers as to exactly what he wanted (such as Mozart) and his pieces are therefore more open to interpretation than most.  You shouldn't go contrary to anything written in the sheet music, but if there's some ambiguity, do what you think sounds or feels best.  Try to think of the piece like a poem, and try to figure out what Chopin might've been trying to communicate and express it in the best way you can.  You probably know this stuff already, anyway.  Good luck with the etude. 

[lostinidlewonder]

Like all etudes, make sure you highlight all the little groups, and understand how they change. These small changes need to be memorised so that you can increase your speed of course. Understand all the elements being used, section out the music, even circle the changes.
To master it you have to listen to it being played by many different people and you have to choose what you like and dislike. A subtle mastery of tempo control, not too much rubato because the peice needs to have a pretty steady flow through it. But on occassion there begs for the LH bass to sound first before the RH, or the very top note to be held off before it is struck. These ideas are common in all Chopin music.

[jazzyprof]

Here's a little guide from the chopinforum:
https://www.chopinforum.com/pdf/etude-12.pdf

[presto agitato]

I saw the guide...no pedal??

What about the pedaling? Do you have any advices?

Thanks