the path to the chopin etudes

[sznitzeln]

    Hi!
  I have a very great desire to play the chopin etudes, but I think I am not ready for them yet...
  Currently I am practicing Mozart 21:st piano concerto, and I would say I will overcome the technical difficulities there...
  I want to evenutally play more virtuosic pieces, my first goal being the Chopin etudes.
  I am also facing a dilemma... I have never trusted the stability in my fingers... always trying to elevate my playing position and sometimes add weight to get the stability. On the other hand my new teacher thinks that everything that has with fingers to do is not so important because "you play with your arms and back ... mostly back". 
  I am also reading "indispensables on piano playing now".
  Does anyone have some suggestions for what pieces I should play before the etudes, or should I just dive in there? 

Best regards,
Jacob

[steinwayguy]

If there's a will there's a way. I didn't think I was ready for them when I started them a few months ago and now I've only got 11 more to learn  . Make sure you do them all.

[pianiststrongbad]

If you can play a Mozart piano Concerto, then I don't see why you shouldn't try the Chopin Etudes.  They are marvelous studies.  Op. 25 no. 1 isn't too hard, and it is absolutely beautiful.

[lenny]

i went straight for a chopin etude

25/12 was my 1st piece

[sznitzeln]

Thanks guys, you make me happy 

I think ill start with inventions and sinfonias by bach, cause I like that stuff too...

Jacob

[BoliverAllmon]

Thanks guys, you make me happy 

I think ill start with inventions and sinfonias by bach, cause I like that stuff too...

Jacob

yeah I started on those, but you seem to have a greater technique than I do, so I think a chopet is in your ability.

[Hmoll]

If you're playing the Mozart C maj concerto #21, and are able to handle it well technically, you should definately be able to study Chopin etudes. Some of the ones people typically start with are Op10#3, #5, #9, Op25#1,#2,#12.

You may want to try some other Chopin first, though. Have you played any of the Nocturnes, Waltzes, Mazurkas, Preludes? They are good introductions to Chopin's style of writing for the piano.

[SteinwayTony]

If you're playing the Mozart C maj concerto #21, and are able to handle it well technically, you should definately be able to study Chopin etudes.

It's possible he's only playing the popular second movement.  Would the original poster like to clarify?

[sznitzeln]

It's possible he's only playing the popular second movement.  Would the original poster like to clarify?

No, I will learn all movements... I have a friend who is a conductor, so he has arranged for a concert in october  *nervous*

Its not a very big concert... will take place in a church... but its my first one...

Btw, I didnt say I am in technical controll, but I think I will be...

[march05]

hi sznitzeln,
i was in similar situations before.... i could play the difficult parts of the classics (mozart/haydn/beethoven ...) but i didn't have much experience with the chopin/liszt type of virtuosity. looking back, i now believe it's better to jump right into the etudes. just play around with a few of them and have your teacher give suggestions. it takes several months at least to get used to chopin's virtuoso style, but it's worth it i think... loosen the stiffness! my experience was that mozart's kind of fingerworks cause rigid wrist & arm, I think we play those things a lot more loosely after we practise,  say,  chopin's op25 no12,no11, op10 no1,no12. ravel is also great for loosening up wrists/arms!

[marialice]

I fell in love with the winterwind etude, and I decided just to try and start it. I have been making some progress, but at this rate it's going to take a lot of time. Are there any pieces I could use to "pave the way", so to speak?

[steinwayguy]

I fell in love with the winterwind etude, and I decided just to try and start it. I have been making some progress, but at this rate it's going to take a lot of time. Are there any pieces I could use to "pave the way", so to speak?

Playing the Winter Wind Etude is the only way you're going to be able to play the Winter Wind Etude.

[bernhard]

This is what Chopin did to prepare his students for the etudes (only his most advanced students were given the etudes):

1.   Scales and arpeggios (always with thumb over)
2.   Clementi Etudes (both his “Gradus ad Parnassum” and the “Preludes and Exercises” especially no. 1 in Ab)
3.   Cramer “Etudes”
4.   Moschelles op. 70 and op. 95 (apparently he especially liked those)

These studies were worked out in every possible way: Slow, fast, legato, staccato, forte, piano, etc. The aim was equality and delicacy of touch  without feebleness.

5.   J. S. Bach – WTC (usually he prescribed individual fugues), and the Suites and Partitas. (In his own words, “Practise Bach constantly  - this will be your best means to make progress”)
6.   Scarlatti sonatas.
7.   Hummel
8.   John Field’s works (Nocturnes, Concertos, Sonatas, etc.) and his own Nocturnes. (Apparently he genuinely liked Field)
9.   Beethoven sonatas and Concertos
10.   Mendelssohn – the G minor concerto and the SWW
11.   Schubert – Landler, Waltzes and four hand music
12.   Weber: Sonata in C (op. 24 ) and in Ab (op. 39)
13.   Liszt – Only his transcriptions of Rossinis’s Tarantella and of the Sextet in Lucia (But Chopin did not really like this sort of piece)
14.   His own works.

Best wishes,
Bernhard.