How old were you when starting Chopin Etudes?

[nanabush]

Just post what age you were when starting Chopin Etudes... I can play 1.5 of them...so in other words one and then almost finished another.  Curious to know when other people have attempted one of these masterpieces...

[ted]

The poll states "completed" and the topic states "starting". There is a gulf between these two states as, I'm sure, we all know. I "started" a few of them a good few months before the word "completed" could be remotely applied to my playing. I answered the poll in the sense of being able to make a reasonable job of at least one of them.

[Kassaa]

13, and now am I - 13. Going to play Op25-2 for my exam.

[quantum]

Learned my first one at 12.  I play 4 of them up till now.

[nanabush]

Sorry screwed up title, yeah it'll be your age when you could decently play an etude, like for example get through it with minimal mistakes...

[jlh]

The first etude I completed (able to play at speed) was the Revolutionary and I was 15.

[paris]

my first chopin etude was op.10/9  when i was 15

[chopinetta]

OMG i've forgotten that i'm 16 and i still can't play an etude properly!!!! and i'm starting to be senile!!! i'm senescent!! nooooooooo!!! the next thing i know i'll be visitng my gerontologist!!!!!

[aerlinndan]

I am 18 and have only played and am still in the process of polishing one: Opus 25 No 1. I am blessed (cursed?) with large enough hands that the skips make me move but they are not incredibly difficult. I've found mine to be incredibly helpful for my technique, much moreso than a Hanon or a Pischna exercise that my teacher gives me. And I don't regret not having learned one earlier on, either.

[ranakor]

This is a bit off topic but i thought i wouldn't create a topic just for that:

Which do you consider the easiest of the chopin etudes? (i started piano 4month ago so it's not that i expect to play one anytime soon but i'm wondering wich are easiest even if i'm a few years away from tackling them) I know most of the time it's hard to answer wich is "easiest" as it can depend on many factors but i'd be happy if someone could name a few that are on the easy end of the pack

[Awakening]

I recently turned 18 and started the revolutionary when I was 17.  I'm probably a month or two away from having it at a performance level. 

In regards to Ranakor's question:  It sort of depends what you mean by the "easiest."  It's highly subjective, obviously, but my opinion would be that the slower etudes are among the easiest ones.  Though they do require a lot of cerebral playing (as all the etudes do) they require less finger dexterity and coordination than most of the faster ones.  So, whenever you're ready to try one in 5, 10, 15 years--whatever--I'd recommend looking 10/6, 10/3 and 25/7 (though the last two have some very difficult fast parts).  For etudes that aren't slow, I'd say that 10/9, 25/2 and 25/9 are fairly manageable (I've fooled with all of them).  People (like myself) often start with the revolutionary (10/12) because it's so popular, and quite impressive to an audience.  I wouldn't say it's the easiest, but it is on the easier end, and you could always consider starting with that as well. 

All that being said, the entire repertory of Chopin's etudes range from early advanced to very advanced/virtuoso.  Playing either 10/2 or 25/6 (arguably the hardest) is considered a major pianistic accomplishment.  None of them are easy, but if I had a student who didn't know where to begin, I'd introduce him to 10/6 first. 

[ranakor]

thanks i'm perfectly aware of how subjective this is & this is the exact type of answer i was looking for =) (well except i'll hope it'll take 5 or 10 but not 15 years hehe=)

[bearzinthehood]

10/9 I think is pretty easy, maybe even "easiest".  I'll get back to you on that when I've played them all and can know for sure. 

[anda]

op. 25 no.1 was my 1st attempt at 9. i abandoned it after a few weeks, seeing i can't play it, and i re-started (and "completed" and played) again after 6 years. my 1st "completed" chopin etude was op. 10 no. 4.

[pies]

­

[nomis]

I haven't started yet, and I'm 18.

[Autumndark]

Must have been 13.  I remember performing it at 14, and I know I was playing it the summer before . . . so 13.  Op. 10, No. 3.  Then I started No. 9 at 14, but I got bored and moved on to the Fantasie-Impromptu.

[Bouter Boogie]

I think it was this year 
So 16-17 years.. Started with the 5th and 8th op. 10 

[C-A]

I started playing one when I was 14, and I'm 14 1/2 years old right now.
My 1st one is 25/1
The next one my teacher gave me is (DAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAMN) difficult- 10/1.
Any advice how to play those stretchy arppegios with ease?
My hands can stretch for up to 10 keys.

[C-A]

I forgot to add this:
Etude 25/6 was my 2nd etude. The 10/1 my teacher gave me is the 3rd- and  for me this is more difficult than the notorious "Thirds" etude.

[thierry13]

I started playing one when I was 14, and I'm 14 1/2 years old right now.
My 1st one is 25/1
The next one my teacher gave me is (DAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAMN) difficult- 10/1.
Any advice how to play those stretchy arppegios with ease?
My hands can stretch for up to 10 keys.

I can reach a tenth and is not comfortable , and I am comfortable with this etude. You are doing something wrong. You are NOT supposed to stretch your hand by any way to play this etude. You must move your hand and fingers. You are doing something wrong. Ask advice to your teacher on the movement.

[C-A]

 Now I'm very comfy with this etude. Just need to clean it up and increase speed, then it's all done. Thank's a lot for your advice, thierry!

I can reach the tenth comfortably, but my right hand can't stretch up to the eleventh. Meanwhile, my left hand can reach the eleventh but it's very uncomfy.

[paris]

Now I'm very comfy with this etude. Just need to clean it up and increase speed, then it's all done.

just?  it IS the whole thing of this etude, clarity and speed 

[Etude]

Just post what age you were when starting Chopin Etudes... I can play 1.5 of them...so in other words one and then almost finished another.  Curious to know when other people have attempted one of these masterpieces...

It was op. 10 no. 1 at 14  -  I think

[danyal]

I'm 16. Started learning opus 10 no 4 last week, should have it perfect and up to performance level in a week or two.

[pianojems]

My first was Op.25 No1 at 16, then followed by Op. 10 No12, No 8

[eins]

I haven't yet started with any Chopin, left alone Etudes. I'm 57 now. Give me the rest of this year or the next two, and I'll start. Once I start, give me a month or six for my first. There, I'd have been the major lowball in your poll 

[nanabush]

Ok How did you get op 10 no. 4 in like 2 weeks. I don't understand how you can perfect that in 2 weeks.....Unless that's all your doin for two weeks...

And is op 10. 8 very difficult, or is it just once you get right hand notes it comes in place...Is it easier than revolutionary which is like complete opposite............  and also I don't think the butterfly looks too easy... Sure it's the shortest one but wow look at it, absolutely no breaks... It looks harder than all of the slow etudes plus both F minors, and maybe Black Key?!  I don't know just took a quick glimpse but it looks pretty difficult..And one more thing the 25/3 f major is very very difficult.. i think... anyone know about this?  Or is it just getting the jumps in left hand and that's it..

[pianojems]

The Op. 10 No 8 is quite harder than it looks. On one side it looks logical and if you just learn the notes you can get pretty fast...on the other it requires amazing wrist technique and pg. 2 particularly requires stretches that could bewilder any person with small hands like me. Actually I did not quite get this etude into performing mode...I think I will work on it some more.

[ako]

I haven't yet started with any Chopin, left alone Etudes. I'm 57 now. Give me the rest of this year or the next two, and I'll start. Once I start, give me a month or six for my first. There, I'd have been the major lowball in your poll 

It's never too late to make beautiful music! I'm 33 and still at it after a 10-yr-plus hiatus. To get back to the poll...I played my first one in performance/competition at 15. It was the revolutionary. That was followed by the A-flat major Op.25 No. 1 and the G-flat major Op. 25 No. 9. My sister had slightly bigger hands and she played Op. Op. 10 No.1, No.3 and No. 9. We both switched to ballades after playing a couple of etudes. Learning some of those etudes was a very challenging yet rewarding experience. I am now working on some nocturnes. When I was a teenager, I thought they were too "easy" and "uninteresting". But now I find it very emotionally rewarding to practice them.

[danyal]

Ok How did you get op 10 no. 4 in like 2 weeks. I don't understand how you can perfect that in 2 weeks.....Unless that's all your doin for two weeks...

Yeah, well thats all I was doing for two weeks. For technique.

[squinchy]

My first Chopet was Op. 10 No. 3--I probably didn't have the "emotional maturity" to play it properly at 13, but I did whatever rubato, phrasing, and "tell a story with the music" I could manage and played the right notes.

Then I tried 10.9 but couldn't play the left hand very well, no matter how much wrist I used.

I also tried 10.12 for maybe..2 weeks because my teacher said my touch was much too light, but I didn't have any skill at left hand arpeggios and gave up on it. 

[dudejan]

hello.. I'm new to this forum.. so I don't really know yet how to do all this

uhm I started playing chopin before fifteen, but I kinda lost interest in it, a long time ago.. Now I'm 18 and I have discoverd a great composer in Chopin, I'm playing his etude on 25 no.9 right now.. it's really fun to do, so I started at 15 & finished my first one really at 18

[026497]

Recently, I start Chopin Etudes, I am 15 now(with 3 years of learning piano).
Is it too slow? Most of my classmates have finished them.
They said that they are easy!
I think it is boring and difficult to play(compare to Tchaikovsky's Seasons

[dudejan]

Recently, I start Chopin Etudes, I am 15 now(with 3 years of learning piano).
Is it too slow? Most of my classmates have finished them.
They said that they are easy!
I think it is boring and difficult to play(compare to Tchaikovsky's Seasons

it isn't too slow.. I'm 18 & still playing them.. If most of your classmates have finished them at that age, that's nice.. But you have to do it on your own rythm.. It's like that in everything. Just try to play them masterfully & better then your classmates would be able to, like that you can teach them a real lesson.

[puppetmaster]

i did revolutionary when I was 14, played it at a competition and at the time did well with. Afterwards didn't play it for 2 weeks and then when I eventually tried to again, could longer get any kind of clarity i had previously, proving id never really mastered it in the first place. So now I'm just a little confused as to which etude would be a good starter. I'm going to try op. 10 no. 6 as mentioned above.

[rebel1ns]

i played op25 no1 when i was 11...its not that bad...then i played op25 no2 then op25 no 12 then op10 no4(most recently of course)

[nightmarecinema]

Well, I'm 16, playing for just under a year, and I've stared at the scores for 10/1 and 10/4, and almost kind of tried to play them, but no. It would be really nice to play any of them, but I don't really know which to do and get any sort of success out of.

[nanabush]

Aww everyone is like my classmates do this, my classmates are this much farther.. then there's me... the only person I know at my school who plays piano is waayyyy ahead of me... he's half a year younger than me, and he finished his performer's like 1 week after he turned 15... that's called determination, and he can play like 5 of the etudes, HE"S INSANE!!!!

[adriano cavalli]

It's never to late to learn advanced pieces like the Chopin etudes. I started op. 25 n.1 and op. 25 n. 2 at the age of 16, but I still working on it beacause mastering an instrument it's a life long objective and the pieces that we play are never 100% perfect, so we shouldn't feel bad about starting it in a more advanced age.

[keypeg]

A bit tongue in cheek but truthfully - I think age 65. 

[lelle]

Probably played my first one around 13, but only slowly and not too well. I only started approaching some kind of ease with a couple of them in my early 20s and had still a long way to go. I'm in my early 30s now and it's starting to work better and better, but the the Thirds etude (Op. 25 no 6) still eludes me.

[ravelpin]

my first one which i properly learnt to a good standard op 10 no 3 at age 15