Is it neccessary to play czerny op.740 to get ready for chopin's etudes

[karnta]

One of my teachers said apart from regular lesson pieces, I should also play supplementary pieces to make more improvement. She suggest czerny op.599, 299(shool of velocity), 740(finger dexterity), ordered by difficulty. And she said once after I have finished czerny op.740, I will be ready for chopin's etudes. So I follow her suggestion, now I have finished op.599 and currently in the middle of 299. Do you guys have taught in the same way? I can't hardly wait to play chopin's etudes.

[jlh]

Not a bad way to go, though not altogether necessary.  I've played 7 or 8 of the etudes, but nothing by Czerny.

[Brian Healey]

I don't see why you can't work on both simultaneously. I personally don't believe in the teaching philosophy of "first you learn this, and then you'll be ready for that." There may be something to be said for that method, but I find it to be somewhat old hat and unrealistic. I think you should frequently be working on pieces that are "above your level" so to speak. You may not be able to play those difficult pieces well for a while, but overall I think you'll improve at a much faster rate. Just my opinion though, and I'm sure your teacher has his/her reasons.


Peace,
Bri

[SteinwayTony]

I certainly hope not.  I haven't played a note of Czerny.

[ted]

"I personally don't believe in the teaching philosophy of "first you learn this, and then you'll be ready for that."

I am entirely in agreement with Brian on this. Apply this damaging method to the extreme and, like Achilles in his race against the tortoise, you'll shoot yourself in the foot with the starting pistol. I think this imposition of serial learning is one of the reasons we have so many musically inhibited people. How many times do we hear, even from talented and advanced players, some absurdity such as, "Oh, I can't improvise or write anything because I don't know what counterpoint and dominants are - I'll have to attend harmony classes first and I can't do that just yet because I've no money"

The foremost teacher of classical piano around here when I was very young told me I "must" stop playing ragtime and "must" play hundreds of scales every day for months. Only if I did these things could I dream of learning Chopin.

Absolute poppycock ! Just do whatever you want to do in music and play whatever you want to play. Chopin's studies aren't really studies in the sense of Czerny anyway - Chopin wrote pieces of music.

[bernhard]

Is it neccessary to play czerny op.740 to get ready for chopin's etudes?

No.

Best wishes,
Bernhard

[anda]

nope. but it sure helps.

[jazzyprof]

nope.  Playing Chopin etudes helps you play Chopin etudes.

[pianodude]

Most people say that you do not need to practice 740.

I agreed if only you can play the 299 with ease. It is such a big jump from 599 to Chopin etude. Czerny 299 is actually an excellent exercise. Do not practice the whole book though. Just practice the first 9 exercises. If you can play correctly with a good speed, I think you can start playing SOME Chopin etudes.

[Glissando]

my teacher has me playing 299.
bleh.
I'd rather be learning.... anything else.
It's kind of like doing agility exercises, hate them and they make me hurt sometimes (< most of the time), but... they do help with speed.
And the etudes, weeeelllll, they do kinda help. If not with anything else, they help people with smaller hands get a larger stretch.
I wish they weren't so ugly, and I envy jlh for never having played it!
I bet there's quite a few Chopin etudes you could start learning now, look over some sheet music and start playing!

[lenny]

nope.  Playing Chopin etudes helps you play Chopin etudes.

yes, go straight for the chopin etudes

my 1st piece was a chopin etude

[DarkWind]

Like all the other, you do not need Czerny. I have been learning my first two Chopin Etudes, Op. 10 No. 4, and Op. 25 No. 9, at the moment with considerable progress, and I have never touched Czerny for over three years.

[lenny]

i dont believe in playing ANY piece in order to play another piece

if i want to play a chopin etude, i play a chopin etude!

[Hamfast]

If you like play Chopin's etudes, do it!
If you "must" play all Czerny's Etudes because you can't play Chopin, your teacher "must" be a crazy fooler!!!    stupidity!!!!!!
You should change teacher quick
I recommend some Moszkowski pieces-nice; but CHOPIN is CHOPIN the most beautiful

[lenny]

yes, actually it might be a good idea to learn a technically similar yet easier piece alongside or before it, but only if you love both pieces

for example while learning the 10/12 i would also learn moszkowski's g minor etude with a similar left hand figuration, however this is only becuase i love both.

[anda]

yes, go straight for the chopin etudes

my 1st piece was a chopin etude

may i ask how old were you?

[Brian Healey]

You should change teacher quick

That's probably a bit drastic. Just talk to the teacher and tell him/her that you really want to study the etudes, and maybe compromise by working on both Chopin and Czerny at the same time. If your teacher is really a stickler, just go along with him/her and practice the Chopin on your own. Or get a new teacher, but I think you should have a better reason than that to feel you need a new teacher.


Peace,
Bri

[lenny]

may i ask how old were you?

19, after only really imrovising beforehand

[Hamfast]

Sometime my teacher told me:
Try Moszkowski's F no.6 before you get 25/2 ; as no.11 - 25/8 etc...
but I wanted to play Chopin and I was half-heartedly to play it but when I can play Chopin, my enthusiasm brought about that I done good work.
Don't worry!
If you really want to play play Chopin's Etude, You will do it very good!

[chromatickler]

yes, go straight for the chopin etudes

my 1st piece was a chopin etude

cant you play it?

[pianowelsh]

Czerny have their didactic uses and do prepare the fingers well for transcendental etudes. However they are not nearly so interesting as the etudes of Chopin and Liszt. As ever it depends on the students capabilities and interests and whether they have the ability to cope with technical and musical virtuosity all at once or whether a more gradual pace is needed.One my old teachers used to regularly assign Czerny alongside Chopin Preludes as these are often like short versions of the Chopin etudes. Can argue with her method she has many competition winners amongst her students so it seems to work. To be specific It is certainly not NECESSARY to play the whole op740 first but then neither is it necesary to study an etude at all. Teachers have reasons for assigning the rep they do  - ask if it's bugging you and if they haven't got a good reason and are not prepared to be flexible I would suggest a change of teacher because you are obviously not enjoying studying them all and are ready for a change of challenge.

[johnnypiano]

Is your Czerny (journey) really necessary?  A thousand times no!  Enjoy Chopin a bit at a time.  Good luck.   

[wintervind]

I would imagine that the reason teachers encourage students to learn Czerny first is so that the one dosen't become discouraged by the difficulty of the Chopin Etudes. But this also depends on the student.

As a student; I was more attracted to Chopin than Czerny,and had no problem playing several etudes (granted I had an excellent teacher to guide me as well) I was also assigned Czerny, but I had a choice as to which I wanted to play, and I wasn't forced to play any I didn't like.

One should learn Czerny to play Czerny, and Chopin to play Chopin!

[fred smalls]

nope. but it sure helps.

TRUE. I am playing Liszt's transcendental etude No.1 (not the hardest piece heheh, sounds hard though ) The op.740 helped alot with it so i would assume they would help with the chopin.

[joaosousa]

The 740 aren't that ugly, I mean, sure they're not like Rachmaninoff's or Chopin's but actually they are good sounding comparing to others. Don't know about Chopin but will help in Beethoven (Czerny was is student).

[slane]

What everyone else said except .... if you try a chopin etude and there's some intractable technical issue that Czerny addresses, then learn the Czerny and come back to the etude. But I can't imagine that encompasses the whole opus 740!

[kevonthegreatpianist]

I think it's a good idea, but learning the entire Czerny Op.740 is bullshit. I think there's at least 200 etudes in that book, and there are only 27 Chopin etudes. Learning some of the Czerny's etudes are essential for having a good foundation in fast notes for both the left and right hand. If you're looking for three-part pieces, you could play Bach's Sifonias, Preludes, and Fugues. Chopin's Etudes are good to play first if you want to play Liszt's etudes. Liszt's etudes are freaking hard and would probably take someone like Rubenstein years to master all of Liszt's etudes. So here's the order: 

1. Czerny Etudes
2. Chopin Etudes
3. Liszt Etudes

btw Liszt was a student to Czerny, I think.