I am learning this etude for my piano diploma and I would be grateful if you could give me some tips. I am presuming that you have and/or familiar with the classic, HERTZ piano practice, techniques publication. If you aren't, it is a MUST for any would be accomplished pianist; and if you don't have it, you certainly should get it.
It is the one before the famous "Revolutionary" etude, correct?
I just checked it out on You Tube; and sounds like it's one of his easiest to perform. So, my only other suggestion is to try and memorize it by sections if you can - get these settled firmly in your mind - and then practice them at say, half tempo at first, and then gradually increase your tempo until it is at the correct speed.
Should you want to check the performance of it on You Tube, go to that website and type in "Chopin Etudes": there are quite a number of them; I located it in box # 2. The young man performing, is very competent, and it should give you a good idea of what a professional performance should sound like.
Good luck,
Wotan This etude is not the "Harp Etude" like the op. 25 no. 1 in A-flat major.
But this op. 10, no. 11 in E-flat major, comes pretty close. I call it "The Second Harp Etude" because of all of those arpeggio signs that appear on almost every eighth note of the piece which is all in chords.
Be careful of mm. 3-4....that is because chords change on every eighth and you have to make sure---check and double check--that you hear every change of note perfectly. Ditto also for mm. 35-36 and mm. 48 and 49.
Also be careful in the B section, where the key center changes to Cb major, and then Db minor, and then Eb minor, and then back to Ab minor, and then finally, the V of Eb major (Bb, or the dominant; remember music theory?).
Especially watch measures 17-20....lots of flats, especially the white key flats Fb and Cb in the notes, so watch for those accidentals...or you will miss some notes.
In m. 23, make a "sf" on 1st half of beat (Ab minor chord), hold back (meno "f") on the next eighth and "crescendo" to the first eighth of m. 25....this is the most dramatic section of the piece.
Watch for measure 27 for the three-against-two in the 3rd beat....and also measure 29-32 on the Bb pedal point, where the L.H. gradually expands from 10ths to 11ths to 12ths...especially in m. 31. Make a "piu stentato" (very held back tempo) in m. 32.
For mm. 34 and mm. 38, where you have a grace note D before the arpeggio C-G-C (m. 37) and also before the arpeggio C-Ab-C (m. 38), the right way is this.....play
the arpeggio first from down to up, and then the grace note afterward. Treat the grace note as if it was almost like part
of the arpeggio...but you play the grace notes last.
The piece will create a lot of stress on your wrist because of all of the stretching required to reach 10th and 11th and 12ths and 13ths, even with pedal.....even though it is considered a technical etude (it is an etude in "chordal arpeggios").....it is also a concert etude also.
Best to stretch your hands before playing this etude.
Watch for the last Eb chord arpeggio flourish in the last system of the piece (the 2nd measure and 3rd measure)....all in 10ths and 11ths. Think "Eb chord" all the way. If you play any other note there besides Eb, G, and Bb, then you are missing notes. |
