Hey guys this is my first post XD. Anyway, i was wondering if anyone could give me the difficulty out of 100 of all the Chopin Etudes as i would be wanting to start my first one . Also if possible rank them in order in YOUR opinion and give the approximate ABRSM grades of each one. Thanks in advance

Welcome to the forums Lalapianolala

I will have a go at your question. All are the Op28 ones , there's just Op45 otherwise.

All would be Grade 8 or Dip level except:-

No1 Grade 6
No2 Grade 7 (awkward left hand !)
No4 Grade 5-6
No6 Grade 6-7
No7 Grade 4 (easiest)
No9 Grade 7
No11 Grade 6
No13 Grade 7
No15 Grade 7 ('Raindrop' Prelude)
No20 Grade 6
No21 Grade 7-8
No23 Grade 7

fsm - those are the preludes? (Op.28 no.15 should be manageable at Grade 5, I'd say - I can play this! )

As for the etudes, Op.10 No.1 is easy to read, but to get it playable at any sort of speed is...interesting, to say the least.

All the Etudes are included in the Licentiate syllabus (LRSM). I find it difficult to rank them, because they each focus on a particular technical problem.

I agree with Tom piano ... each of us finds different etudes difficult, and different ones relatively easy. Also ranking out of 100 would be allocatging a completely spurious precision to a very subjective ranking and as for allocating ABRSM grades, well lets say that until you are good enough to pass Grade 7 you aren't going to play any of them especially well. If I remember correctly Eleanor Baillie in her book on Chopin's works ranks most of them as Very Advanced (meaning diploma or higher), a few at Grade 8 or Grade 8+, and just a couple as approachable at Grade 7. But before you rush out and buy that book - it is not very helpful for the etudes. She is only really helpful with pieces that she thinks appropriate for Grades 4-8.

More useful is to look at what technical problem each of the etudes deals with. The introductions to each study in the two volumes edited by Cortot do that very well. On the web there ia a lot of information. TO get you started there is a nice description of the Op 10 etudes here:

http://www.ourchopin.com/analysis/etude.html

I think its more like Gr 7 to play well, and Edexcel also rank it as Grade 7. They have a guidance list of lots of pieces for the purpose of practical exams.


I accept Toms statement that they all test different aspects

well yes i am grade 8 but what i meant is personally for you, like what techniques do you find difficult in the etudes. oh, and thanks for the link:)

Personally? As I said everyone is different. Some top class pianists (e.g. Gulda) played them in private but refused to play them in public because they were not satisfied with what they could achieve.

Anyway, here is what I have found in the few that I have made a serious effort to learn.

The Revolutionary (Op. 10 No. 12) is the only one I studied in my previous piano-life - i.e. 20-odd years ago. I had to learn a few new techniques in the LH, but it is definitely one of the less challenging of the 24.

No. 3 would be easy(ish) if not for that Bravura section in the middle. You might be one of the lucky few that does not find it troublesome. Most people make the mistake of learning all the rest then finding that the Bravura - though musically simple - is harder to play than they ever imagined - and giving up on it. You should really do it the other way round. Slowly and patiently master the Bravura section (it might take months) then learn the rest to wrap around it!

Op. 10 Nos 1, 2 and 7 are supposed to be three of the most difficult, but I did not find them difficult at all. I never doubted that if I did the work systematically and regularly I would eventually master them. I am sure that I could have learned them when I had recently passed Grade 8, if not sooner, if I'd had any interest in them back then. Also Op. 10 No. 4 is supposed to be horribly difficult, but I am learning it now and there is really little to fear in it. You just have to decide on a workable fingering, learn the notes and repeat them carefully 'til it becomes fluent.

On the other hand Op. 25 No. 2 is supposed to be one of the easier ones (at least according to Eleanor Baillie) but I find it anything but easy and cannot make it sound convincing. Op. 10 No 8 is another that seems to have been composed especially to frustrate me. I despair of ever being able to play those semiquavers with the smooth-flowing elegance they deserve. Another tough one (for me) is Op. 25 No 4, with its big LH skips up and down the keyboard, at speed.

Op. 10 No 9 and No. 11 (nasty huge broken arpeggiated chords) are two more that I am still struggling to get to grips with.

Oops ! I apologise. I reported in post#2 on Chopin Preludes not Etudes !!

I havent done much with the Etudes, except I agree with Tom that the Revolutionary isnt all that diffuclt once you have the left hand reasonbly mastered.
Oh yes and that E Major ! Again just the middle bit needs good practice.

To a mere grade 8-er like myself, they're all supernaturally difficult. Op 10 No 3 starts and ends with music that mere mortals can hope to master, but the middle section makes it a seriously tricky proposition.

At risk of boring those who aren't new around here, might I suggest that you check out Valentina Lisitsa's YouTube channel - she made a DVD of both Op 10 and Op 25 and has very generously put them all on YouTube. Here is Op 10 No 3 to get you started. What makes this collection interesting is that you get a very good view of her hands and arms - there is no - I repeat - no tension there at all - an object lesson to us all.

Edward

At Grade 8 you are definitely capable of playing some of the Chopin Etudes. Exactly which ones you'll get to grips with quickest depends on your own specific strengths and weaknesses. And if you work hard enough you can master them all. Of course by the time you have done that you will no longer be a Grade 8 pianist!

The only thing you have probably have not realized yet is just how much HARD WORK it takes.

Don't be fooled by those little child-prodigies that you see playing them on YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KrW_cQibcis
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W8d0P6zd1Hs

If little kids of 10 years old and less can play them like this, just how how hard can they really be?

How do they do it? They weren't born able to play like that! They have ten fingers, a pair of ears and a brain. Nothing that you have not got. What is the difference? Perhaps they are not hampered by thoughts of how "difficult" these pieces are. But mainly, they have done the work (they started young). You haven't ( ... yet )

I could play the 'revolutionary 60 years ogo, but now. I can't play any of them properly. They are all very difficult.

Check out Paul Barton on YouTube - he gives brilliant tutorials on how to master a few of them and other challenging pieces and you can put pieces to him and he'll explain them for you - here's the 'Revolutionary':

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O4wsh9oO0Lw

Wow! Great guy.

ahaha thanks all of you for answering my question:). Thanks for the links, yes he is a great guy.
yep i've officially decided to learn Chopin Op.10 No.3. I find that the middle section is quite easy HS, but VERY difficult HT . And also the first section is quite flowing, and has such a wonderful melody .

thanks again

~lala~