Chopin Etude Op.10 No.1 - Tutorial (pt 1) - Paul Barton, piano

[fapestar]

Thank you so, much for this video, it has me on track on how to play it. I am self taught and was completely lost on this one.

[UKpiano]

still cant play this piece properly, I have been practicing it for over 10 years and still cant play all the notes properly, thats not right...either the piece is actually bordering on impossible or I am just useless, I have spent that many years learning it/studying it...but it beats me still.

[PaulBartonPiano]

@UKpiano -- Chopin's Etudes seem to get less difficult to play the more of them you play. For example, I'd say the best way to play 25/10 is to play 10/2.  25/8 helps 25/11. My guess is you are well capable of playing this very well indeed, you just need to move to 10/2 and really master that - and go back and forth. Master that 10/2 and 10/1 will flow from your fingers just the way you want it to - I promise.

[UKpiano]

@PaulBartonPiano thanks for your advice, greatly appreciated. Although after much study of reading up on this particulr etude, it seems many pianists do have problems with this one, you clearly dont because your brilliant. I do play bits of 10/2 yes, but dont get very far, I really love the fingering in 10/4 as it feels nice and logical when playing it. 25/12 is another I cant quite get right, too many mistakes like in 10/1 that I make whilst playing, 25/6....no chance.

[seansea37]

@UKpiano Do the Cortot excersises on this etude, as well as the rest of the opus 10.

[Haamidpianoman]

play like ur floating sound tricky, it sounds incredibly loud(ish) coz of the flurry of note but whrn i was tired i cudnt help to play this so quietly , and it really helped! made it so much easier

[WeiserShare]

Fantastic! Thank you very much for the wonderful videos you have posted. I have loved this piece (Chopin Etude Op 10 No 1) since I first heard the Pollini recording some 30 years ago. Watching your videos has brought me new and more enjoyment from this piece that I have listened to hundreds of times. I especially appreciate your discussion of the melody notes. As bad an untutored piano player as I am, you have inspired me to give this piece another try on my own.

[RolnikSadysta]

Paul, could you make a tutorial of Chopin's Polonaise op. 44?

It's also difficult but very nice piece :)

[mariachibuster]

thank you so so much for your uploads. For someone who never had any teacher this is absolutely priceless. Thank you in the name of music :)

[crushonJune]

Holy god damm good

[Carrilloascolta]

Great sound and clarity!

[zurzica51]

I think Chopin on the bar over 7:45 wrote a Piano (not Karl Mikulli edtions or something) .

[zurzica51]

Hey Paul! thanks for the nice work!

What you think about in 4:47 with the fighers: 2 - 3 - 1 - 3 ? i prefer the legato on that part then the pedal down and those kind of things you know? i use crescendo and descrescendo on the pedal for this etude. thats the why i try to make always legato on both hands!

[elmaster1414]

Very helpful. Keep on the good work!

[Caigga900]

This needs more views.

[12klarks]

bravissimo

[fierydog]

This is very helpful. Thank you.

[mattcabideinchrist]

I LOVE your tutorials!! Please Make More!! :)

[CheekyVimto08]

this is really helpful. thanks. can you do the godowsky studies on the chopin etudes?

[Jogab37]

I do not see or hear you playing the D in the 4th bar you play E intead of D. Your tutoring is wonderful anyways.

[Jogab37]

I do not see or hear you playing the D in the 4th "compas", you play E intead of D. I do nto know how to say "compas" in English , sorry.

[PaulBartonPiano]

@Jogab37 -- yes, you are right, see part 2 for the correction.

[orreguin]

@Jogab37 "compas" in english is " bar"

[richclayderman]

@Jogab37 it's "bar"

[Jogab37]

I do not see or hear you playing the D in the 4th "compas"

[dbharcadia2]

Paul, your tutorials are absolutely the best. Even as a life-long violist/violinist in a few regional orchestras and therefore having to quickly learn some very challenging works, I still need the objectivity and insight an accomplished pianist as yourself provides, as I pursue my love of the piano.. My technique is growing as well as my insight into the music of Chopin. Thank you for your teaching. It really is making a big difference in what I'm accomplishing.

[Ongeschikt93]

Hello, its really nice. I really want to play this at my school to show ppl that I can play the piano but can you please send me the notes? Because I need some help )

I'm from the NL btw!

Go along! Gl

[PaulBartonPiano]

@Ongeschikt93 -- the link to the free score is in the info. Good luck.

[Ongeschikt93]

damn your goooood :D

[atlantargh]

Thank you Paul for your very UNIQUE tutorials. I've had a love-hate relationship with 10/1 for years, but your comments and demonstrations are quite helpful. One question re bar 29 (i.e. C-G-Bflat-E ...) My version (mikuli) shows the last note of the bar to be a C whereas you play a B flat (keeping with the previous arpeggiated notes in the bar). I know there are variant reading among different editions, so I wonder which version you are playing from. I very much look forward to your reply.

Thxs

[poondoonproductions]

for an upright, your piano sounds beautiful

[ilnonnogigi]

hello Paul, thank you for your usefuss tutorial. I'm not a great pianist, but you give me the strength to try.

[zxcvxcvbcvb]

Could you give some suggestions for me? :) You see, I just started learning it and my right hand can't seem to get the right notes all the time... I played it like so many times but my fingers keep pressing the wrong note :( thanks :D

[lonewolf604]

Question, were you a child "prodigy"?

[cefinow]

when i first saw/heard this etude a few weeks ago on youtube (ashkenazy), i just thought it was pretty to listen to, and no more thought to play it than to climb K2, then found this tutorial, and so now, at least have the experience of sight reading it through, instead of just watching an impressive performance and thinking Wow. To my surprise it is very comfortable to play, at least very slow... probably faster tempo changes everything. But to PLAY IT, even slow, I never woulda dreamed...!! thx

[bazardeux]

Thx cefinowfor the translation.

[bazardeux]

Hello, bars 29-32 ( 4:41 ) is very very very hard , how do you do ?!

(i'm french i don't understand when paul speack on video.someone can write on board what is saying plz?)

thx

[cefinow]

@bazardeux (bars 29-36) "in section 4, chopin addresses something so fundamendal to modern piano technique that the next 8 bars are unplayable without it (at least not at the marked tempo, 176). This is, Chopin used the word 'souplesse'... flexibility of wrists and independence of fingers. If there's any tension in your wrists, you can't play these bars quickly. So, relax your hand and let it flow lightly. The first notes of each beat will serve as an anchor to guide your hand...

[cefinow]

@bazardeux "Look out for these key notes with total concentration. If it helps stay focused, say the names of the notes to yourself as you play them. I'll play the section slowly, then at full tempo." (correction, above should read "let it flow lightly over the keys." or politely over the keys? lol) Hope this helps.

[chaz567123456789]

Hi, really good tutorial really helpful as im learning this piece now! By the way you repeatedly played an E in the last beat of bar 4 .......its actually a D (as you highlighted in your helpful diagram!) lol this caught me out a few weeks ago, so easy to miss these tiny changes!

[PaulBartonPiano]

@chaz567123456789 -- yes!

[peinscoot]

yes! i have wanted to learn this sooo much and now i finally find a video! thanks :)

[chutdigadut]

you play INCREDIBLY well and your tutorial was EXTREMELY helpful! Thank you very much. I discovered that my personal tendency was to tighten up my hand and wrist too much thinking that it was needed to stretch out for the chord, but thanks to you I discovered that that was the exact WRONG way to approach this etude and it's become MUCH easier to play!

[Maharishiification]

Thanks for your really helpful video. Very useful!

[lukatherknopfler]

in how much time did you learned and mastered this etude?. You play great

[PaulBartonPiano]

@lukatherknopfler -- You know, as time goes by, I feel less and less that I've mastered anything at all, but thanks for your encouraging words. I think it took a week to get, more or less, but those tricky middle bar stretches needed going over for days at a time, playing nothing else.

[123ElijahGoesPee]

I love Chopin's work, but I don't have enough octaves..I'll start playing and next thing I know my hand aren't even on the keys anymore. :-\

[PaulBartonPiano]

@123ElijahGoesPee -- I know what you mean :) but you can play Etude Op.25 No.2 on a 5 octave keyboard ... do you like that one?

[reneweissabythe]

excellent tutorial. it was especially nice when you made individual moments/frames red in sync with the accented notes being red on the sheet music.

[rouliann]

PER FECT

Thank you so much

[afertyus1000]

hi notice when you do the demonstration of joined octaves in L/H you use fingers 3 and 1 on the octave of G you must have large hands which helps in playing this piece without strain?

[TheJusio]

Wonderful playing! And the sound you manage to get out of an upright piano!

[RemovdSande11]

Hey Paul , thanks allot for this very nice tutorial !

and wow which Yahama upright is this ? I am in the progress of buying my first upright piano and where Impressed by the Kawai K3 and Yahama U1. But this Yahama's bass is so rich and its tonecolor is so full..!

[somedood1]

Paul, great performance, but I thought I'd let you know that you have two mistakes in bars 4 and 5. If you check the score carefully the first note of the last 4 semi-quavers is not the same as the rest of the chords. I've missed them myself for months until I heard a CD recording and noticed that it sounded different.

Anyway, nevertheless a great video and excellent technique.

[SoliGrand]

how did you get such a wonderful sound?

Nice video!

[AndreAx1985]

This is absolutely a stunning top notch performance, which can be compared to the most repected renditions given by the all time greatest pianists. And you played on a vertical piano! I'm wandering what you could do with a gran coda and a well equipped recording studio!!

[mazurek42]

VERY USEFUL TUTORIAL. THANK YOU PAUL

[Levithian]

Do you do your own video editing?

[MusicClassical1]

Thanks so much! It helped me out a lot! Im having trouble on bar 22. Its hard to get the last note "B" because its a huge stretch! Any tips??

Also I have made a little tutorial on my other channel (scottg4life). In the end of the tutorial I play it quickly! Please tell me what you think!

[bossel100]

do you play legato?? i found it far easier to play it staccato or leggiero.

i suppose its quite impossible to play this legato at full tempo- or is it a matter of patient practice?

[nikipianist]

Great job indeed!

I've watched this one and some other tutorials of yours, and you are an excellent teacher. The method of studying sounds more than sensible, and the video is easy to watch, thanks to text notes and the score too. Thank you.

If you could take a look at my channel, it would be great. I've recorded some Debussy and Bach, mainly.

[TandBcomedycreators]

im a newer piano player and i am 15 but have been playing for i believe 9-10 months and i have learned alot of the songs i wanted through your tutorial. therefore i am very gratefull that you put the time into making these videos. and on the other etudes i have learned from you such as your rachmanioff tutorials. but this one here is so hard for me! idk what it is about this one. i am usually good with arpeggios like that but idk. much appreciation!

- trev

[robertslistening]

Sounded excellent. I have listened to at least 7 concert pianists play this etude. I do use the technique you were speaking about (not paying attention to every note when skipping to the next arpeggio, but using key visual notes). I have also been playing it slow making sure the volume is good and clear and even.

You play it very well. Have you ever been a concert pianist?

[PaulBartonPiano]

@robertslistening -- thanks for the feedback, sounds like you have a good practice strategy. I learned a good deal as a rehearsal pianist for classical dancers, working in sections, to stop and start from any point, and give as musical an interpretation possible at all times or dancers can't move properly, and do this mainly at a fraction of the final tempo. I still try to keep this habit now, practice in more enjoyable that way.

[tvb93]

my arm usually get tired after playing this piece, do you have any idea about that?

[Firesale92]

@tvb93 hey thats normal .. when I started playing this etude i was like what the f*** after 3 bars i couldnt move my arm^^ To my mind it's important that you try to relax ur arm ;) and my advice is to practice slowly and then faster EVERY day .. you need a lot of practice

[Martel211996]

my god ive been practising this wrong for quite some time! thanks for the tutorial, ill improve esepcilly in the middle section, where the streches are just huge

[bexgirl200]

I  just picked up this etude and have played through it slowly. My question is: Is this etude possible for small hands? I can reach an 8ve comfortably (although the parallel 8ves in Mendelssohn's 'Rondo Capriccioso' required much slow practice to master) and a 9th if completely stretched. Thanks!

[PaulBartonPiano]

I think your hand is average size in span and although there are advantages to having a larger span at times there are also some disadvantages such as playing a succession of unconnected octaves at speed. This piece is made of broken chords which are purposefully larger than the average hand can reach in order to develop, what Chopin considered to be the most important part of piano technique, a light, flexible wrist. So good luck with it and let me know if you post a video.

[gerardbedecarter]

The introductory phrase to the Bb minor Sonata is "forte" but it is always played "fff" as the pianist wants to be seen to be making a profound statement. Chopin's statement is however, meant to be mysterious and moody. You get numerous brilliant pianists at competitions vying with each other to pound the guts out of the piano in the left hand octaves of the etude opus 10 no. 1. Besides being horrible to the ear, and not what Chopin wanted, it is acoustically incorrect and outbalances the RH.

[gerardbedecarter]

Another wonderful tutorial! You mentioned "souplesse" and in this context referred to freedom of the wrist. Isn't it best to think of freedom and mobility (movement outwards) of the right ELBOW (and consequently the right arm.

May I also make the point that this etude is usually played too loudly and too fast (without getting into a discussion here on Chopin's bizarre metronome markings). Also, the dynamics AT NO TIME rise above one "forte".

[extremelyfatchicken]

wow this video really helped. especially on the difficult middle section where you have to flex the wrist. thanks.

[JHighland1]

Paul I just wanted to thank you for putting in the time and effort to create a tutorial on this particular Etude, I've been searching for help on this for a long time, the accenting and practicing with a metronome gradually faster has done wonders! Its about at 130-140 for me currently, never thought it was possible! Thanks again.

[PaulBartonPiano]

@JHighland1 -- I'm glad you are playing this etude ... it sounds as if you're enjoying working on it too -- Keep up the good work!

[mrJonnyBruno]

oh, so great ;) thanks ;) 5 stars;)

happy New Year! ;)

[m0203xfc9fl2]

Thanks for the excellent tutorials 5*

Could you please go on with uploading chopin-etude-tutorials they are very helpful. Regards from Berlin.

[Biscuitsruleface]

Wow thank you so much! I was having trouble with getting the arppeggios to "flow" smoothly so the piece sounded choppy. Your accenting tips cleared this up, now if i could only get it up to the suggested tempo! Anyways thanks again and i'd love to see more of your videos.

[PaulBartonPiano]

@Biscuitsruleface -- Thanks very much for the feedback, and glad you found accenting helpful. The answer to getting up to tempo is in the word itself :)

[MaverickMusican]

Thanks a lot!

[piano6861]

You play this beautifully, Paul, and provide great information for playing this demanding etude.

[Surfwtw]

Excellent tutorial man. THis is just how I practice arpeggios

[darx117]

can you do a tutorial for the apregiation in rachmaninoff"s prelude in c sharp it would help sooooo much

[darx117]

thank you you help me so much!

[pianopera]

I think Schirmer must have used as a source the copy of Chopin's sister, so this is a contemporary copy of the manuscript. All other first editions however (French and German) and Urtext and Cortot have the d. I am not sure if the autograph is still available, I never saw it...

Anyway, you are the first pianist I heard in this piece that actually plays an e in bars 4 and 52; so my guess is that not many of the pianists who recorded this use the Schirmer edition!

[pianogirl4ever]

Whoa, this is sooooo helpful! I tried the accenting method on a similar section of a different piece and it works wonders! (*^^*)

[pianopera]

What edition do you use? In bar 4 (and later in bar 52) on the fourth beat, I think it should be a d, not an e...apart from that, interesting tutorial and you demonstrate it by playing the piece very well.

[hohohee1]

this piano is very low in height .. which is not really good .. plase play on a lvl 3 yamaha piano

[pcma1970]

Priceless tutorial! It was wonderful !!!! Wow 5 stars !!!! You are an amazing teacher and player. I love all your videos !!!!

[sylvestermeow]

Beautifully described. A lot of work is evident. For those of us who just can't make the tempo, or might damage ourselves with poor technique (or we are older..), this work actually can sound lovely at a very leisurely tempo and a light touch throughout. You still receive several benefits; and it beats pedantic Hanon or Czerny. peace

[PaulBartonPiano]

@sylvestermeow

... couldn't agree more.

[EliGioCic]

great job Paul, thanks

[carr9790]

Love the way you describe this etude.

[hashirimedes]

Good tutorial as always.

I know that somebody voted for one star to this video, but perhaps think that it is simply a careless mistake.

I also sometimes do such a mistake.

[badbadger888]

thank you so much. perfect tutorial.

best regards, bad badger

[Tunyman]

:D 5/5

[chopianst]

perfect sound for an upright piano! sounds like a grand piano. great technique. very clear. love it

[Aul1kki]

I've practised this for a long time in a little bit different way. I'll test this way and see what it does. Your version of this piece is one of the best! Too many plays it like it's broken chords. Thank you for this paul! I really appreciate what you do with the piano! We need more people like you!

[abhikmazumder]

Priceless tutorial! Thank you for posting.

[kankudai1956]

Yep, another great video, and very instructive as usual. Have a great festive time (if celebrated), and keep up the good work in 2010.

[thomandy]

Great tutorial. Ill try to keep the tips in mind, but this isnt my first priority etude.. I think Ill go with No2 after new years :)

[Lalitamusic]

Thank you Paul I have saved this clip and will refer to it later. That's not to say I am a fan of Etudes, I'm certainly not, at least not for most of them, but I value your advice and thanks for that.

Lalita

[Juzbey]

Thanks! I had already practiced the first section and was looking those scary next sections... Luckily found this great tutorial ;) Very useful tips!

[GanonV]

You are an amazing teacher and player. Thank you.

[jmcqueen3]

Another excellent video. I hope your channel becomes more well-known; there are many out there who would benefit from seeing your videos. Pax tecum.

[kantmosq]

Thank you for share..... Thisis helpful....

[LogoHeli]

thank you soooo much =) you're great!!

[TzviErez]

Well done!