Chopin Etude op. 10 no. 1 practice

[thenerdicpianist06]

Hi everyone!
I had a question about Chopin Etude op. 10 no. 1. I am practicing this etude for one month now and I can play the notes true when I play it in a slower tempo than it should be. But when I try to play faster, then the notes aren’t clead and I alao play some wrong notes too. Which practice methods would you recommend to play this etude faster?

[lelle]

I have not mastered this Etude at a professional level but my experience with it though is that suppleness of the hand is very important. If there is unnecessary tension, you quickly run into trouble like exponentially more wrong notes. I do not know any practice methods that can guarantee relaxation though. I find a lot of it has to do with awareness and patiently developing better physical habits. This is certainly not an easy Etude and it punishes problems in your technique mercilessly.

[comma]

I remember a pianist who played this etude in a competition and failed. One of the jurors consoled him and said: This is a piece you should play before breakfast, not after breakfast .

[fftransform]

Lelle's comment is good.  I also don't play this one, but in pieces with similarly wide arpeggios (esp. Scriabin) I found that slow practice mixed with a lot of effort to reduce tension is good to 'get to the next level.'  You're probably keeping your hand too stretched out, which always happens to me in such passages for a while.  You need to trust your fingers to find the right notes, rather than making a variety of big claws.

Pretend your hand is on Benadryl and relax; more horizontal/"gliding" hand motion-per-arpeggio, less big claws and tight wrists.  Make a very concerted effort to get to a completely supple wrist.  Let your hand contract back to relaxation more and practice hitting a few of them at a time with total comfort.  In spots where you want a lot of weight, try to get it from your bicep rather than forearm and practice feeling for that.  Also make sure that your torso is shifting along with the RH as it gets down toward the lower registers, where your right wrist will be at a more tense angle.  You may be 'going tense' down there over and over which will tire you out everywhere pretty quickly.

Anyway, only one month?  People routinely spend years on these hard Chopin etudes before they're "totally polished."  Give yourself more time.

[ahinton]

Anyway, only one month?  People routinely spend years on these hard Chopin etudes before they're "totally polished."  Give yourself more time.

Some 30 years or so ago I had a telephone conversation with Ronald Smith and he politely but firmly brought it to a close by saying that he must go and practise as he was to perform the complete Op. 10 Études in a recital the following week and needed to learn them. I said "but you've been playing them for at least 60 years!" - to which he replied, indeed - not long enough, though!". He regarded the entire set as considerably more problematic than Op. 25.

Best,

Alistair

[visitor]

Those feeling like they truly want to make it tough on themselves may want to give the Chavez inversions a whirl, they're super cool I read through them a bit years ago meant to go back but been distracted but they are worth having on the long-term goals list

[fftransform]

Those feeling like they truly want to make it tough on themselves may want to give the Chavez inversions a whirl, they're super cool I read through them a bit years ago meant to go back but been distracted but they are worth having on the long-term goals list

Hah! I'm left-handed, this first one at least is no problem

I dunno if it's helpful to play the Chavez to learn the real version, but maybe if OP is also left-handed they can get a better 'feel' doing it with the dominant hand and then try to replicate it with the right.

[anacrusis]

Those feeling like they truly want to make it tough on themselves may want to give the Chavez inversions a whirl, they're super cool I read through them a bit years ago meant to go back but been distracted but they are worth having on the long-term goals list

Haha this is neat! However, I can't find them on IMSLP, at least not after a basic google search. Where can I find the sheet music for these?

[visitor]

Hah! I'm left-handed, this first one at least is no problem

I dunno if it's helpful to play the Chavez to learn the real version, but maybe if OP is also left-handed they can get a better 'feel' doing it with the dominant hand and then try to replicate it with the right.

I sorta lolled but you're probably right from "feel " point of view :-)
Ok so  your LH is a cheat haha
He did do it to op 10 no 2 5 and 7 and well so you'd have your work cut out for you , op25 no 9 as well ƪ(˘⌣˘)ʃ

[visitor]

Haha this is neat! However, I can't find them on IMSLP, at least not after a basic google search. Where can I find the sheet music for these?

I don't think you'll get them easily via usual channels I'd probably have to share the. Directly privately to you (I'd been on a sharing. Hiatus after some leaks od my old scores found their way to YouTube and reseller /scan seller sites :-( ), but these I only hold i didn't physically scan these myself they just sit on my to do list /collection pile

[lelle]

I don't think you'll get them easily via usual channels I'd probably have to share the. Directly privately to you (I'd been on a sharing. Hiatus after some leaks od my old scores found their way to YouTube and reseller /scan seller sites :-( ), but these I only hold i didn't physically scan these myself they just sit on my to do list /collection pile

Are they still under copyright? Otherwise it should be legally ok for you to share them

[visitor]

Are they still under copyright? Otherwise it should be legally ok for you to share them

I am pretty certain these are both under coyright and been subjected to rights owners strikes in the past hence why they are scarce, Chavez passed away in 1978 so 2028 would be earliest not counting longer periods the may be allowed allowed under intl law exceptions and I'd the editor was post or later then the edition would be subject to longer protected etc I can probably share them on a limited bases discreetly privately via email or message etc :-) xd

[lelle]

I am pretty certain these are both under coyright and been subjected to rights owners strikes in the past hence why they are scarce, Chavez passed away in 1978 so 2028 would be earliest not counting longer periods the may be allowed allowed under intl law exceptions and I'd the editor was post or later then the edition would be subject to longer protected etc I can probably share them on a limited bases discreetly privately via email or message etc :-) xd

Ah damn, thanks for the info!

[anacrusis]

I don't think you'll get them easily via usual channels I'd probably have to share the. Directly privately to you (I'd been on a sharing. Hiatus after some leaks od my old scores found their way to YouTube and reseller /scan seller sites :-( ), but these I only hold i didn't physically scan these myself they just sit on my to do list /collection pile

Neat, might message you later!

[jim19130]

Agreed.  suppleness of the hand seems important for this one.