So I listened to Chopin's Etudes - Chopin: Etudes Op.10 | Classical Music Reaction 

I am playing op 10 No 8, op 25 No 10 and 12 at the moment. They are my first Chopin études :). For op 10 No 8, it’s all about keeping the shape of the right hand right hand and releasing the thumb. Here is some of my knowledge on this: 1. It shouldn’t twist around on every turn 2. it should be very relaxed 3. A good trick is making sure your elbow is right elbow is hanging and being moved by only your hand. 4. You get a lot of places to have breaks for your tired fingers which is great 5. Left hand must be played rly musical playful along with the right hand. No mechanical Asian robot 5 year old style playing. You must think of your phrasing. So far practicing this particular etude, I have “unlocked” the gist of this etude. It seems that once you understand it and have tried it out a few times it’ll be easy enough. For op 25 No 10 however it’s a different story, I still haven’t really unlocked the “gist” of this one. I think having large enough hands is an advantage for this piece but it is still really hard, probably top 3 hardest of op. 25. My Advice: 1. From the get-go you have to try to feel the bottom of the keyboard to then feel like your hands are part of the keyboard. 2. Definitely follow fingerings because they are so, so, so important in keeping Legato! You shouldn’t Staccato at all because that isn’t what the etude is about! 3. Wrists and arms should be really relaxed or else you just won’t make it 3 lines into the piece 😂. 4. Don’t depend on pedal because it can sound horrible if you over pedal. 5. Use the beautiful B section as your break that Chopin kindly gave you. Take it slow, the tempo marking is “lento” so you must rest. The difficulty here is musicality and how delicate the melody is. 6. More octaves After as well 7. Try to find little moments of rest by decrescendoing (is that a word?) at appropriate and effective points. Warning: this etude takes lots of stamina. For op 25 No 12, it’s more of a challenge for your fitness. This etude is actually a lot easier than it sounds which I am glad of! Here’s a few tips: 1. The key to unlocking this etude is being as relaxed as possible to shift from one position to another. 2. One difficulty is making it sound clean enough without too many wrong notes which can ruin your pedalling because there is a lot of pedal used in this etude. So keep it clean. 3. You can try practice (this goes for op 10 No 8 as well) by playing each hand position as a block chord and quickly switching to the next, then the next. This’ll help you get more of an idea and a habit in keeping hand position. 4. Save your stamina for the end! You are playing the same thing for ~8 pages with power and It says play as loud as possible near the end and you need to make it sound convincing! There are particular points on the etude where it has diminuendos which you can use as little rests. 6. Think of the accented notes as a melody. This etude is actually very musical like all of Chopins études so you must be smart about it! Idk I might add more but those some of the things I’ve learnt. I hope this helps and good luck if you are trying to choose one. o7

Annique Göttler who owns the RU-vid channel “Heart of Keys” has made Chopin etude rankings on that channel. She is a concert pianist that just finished her Concert exam where she performed all 24 Chopin études in one sitting! I think she may know a bit more than me 😂

I’ve played op 25 no 1 and I do have to say, the hardest bit is getting the voicing right. Oh ye and that killer ending Arpeggio run T^T. The technique most people can’t get is the wrist rotations, making it 10x easier to play. :D

For opus 10 this is from easiest to hardest: 6,9,3,11,5,12,10,8,7,4,1,2 (obviously just my opinion but I’ve learnt them all though I still struggle with no2 to get a good performance!)

@@cheesyingot7374 in fact I am studying that one and I need it done in 3 months. Any tips on how you are studying it? I think I still don't get the idea of the movement, I see people moving their elbows up and down but also they move their wrists, is it played with that type of exaggerated movement? Do I have to lift the rest of my hands when I play the melody notes with the pinky as many people say?

It’s indeed a beauty!!!

Got you! I appreciate the donation too 💜

YES!

Op 48 no1 is my favorite nocturne and in my top 5 Chopin pieces for sure

​@@giovannib27 This is probably the top most priority for Chopin pieces that he should be listening to. Op. 48 No. 1 is easily one of his best Nocturnes.

Op 62 is amazing

@@kaysonpiano I actually am finishing up learning it rn, just cleaning up that last part, ill be posting a recording on my channel soon :)

Chiu did a very nice recording of the Mazurkas, but for me, Pollini mastered the etudes.

10-6 is a great starting etude as well, since the difficulty lies more with the musicality of one's performance, which is also an important dimension that any aspiring pianist should tackle.

Probably my favorite, I also love it very much…

huh, really? this is the most beautiful classical music there is in your opinion? a set of piano études? edit: that being said, you have a really interesting channel with some cool music!

Very beautiful, but not even close to be The most beautiful music.

@@Ziad3195 Thanks a lot!!

@@Dylonely42his op 25 no 1, op 10 no 3, op 25 no 6 is some of the most beautiful and unique music that exists so you’re wrong asf

Beauty cannot be measured objectively, it’s entirely opinion based/subjective

Oh wow, the interesting thing to me as the listener is how some of them sound easy but it’s just the pianist that’s really good. Enjoyed it tho

@@GIDIREACTS It really is. Especially 10-1 and 10-2.. Sounds very easy but they are one of the most difficult chopin etudes, or even one of the most difficult pieces Chopin wrote.

I don’t even think I’d put 10-4 at 3rd among the opus 10 though, I’d probably give that to 10-10; notoriously difficult to play because of the phrase markings Chopin scattered across it lol. Chiu does an unbelievable job with these weird accents, slurs, etc.

@@skillbomb8823 ah okay, I have the sheet music for 10-10 but I haven’t checked it out or attempted the piece yet, thanks for letting me know

@@鶴-j5ior even the hardest pieces for piano that have been ever written

I actually think it’s harder than faux follets. Sure the double notes on 4/5 are harder but it’s a smaller part of the overall piece where as this study from start to end is tiring on 3/4/5 such that you actually feel muscle burnout by the end.

⁠@@joshyman221definitely not, the double notes in feux follets aren’t the only difficult technique in the piece, there are lots of very difficult parts in the piece. not to mention the fact that the double notes appear many times throughout the piece, even towards the end where you may be fatigued. feux follets has extreme difficulties for both hands whereas it’s mainly just the right hand in op 10 no 2. and feux follets is about 2x longer if not slightly more which makes it more likely that you’ll be tired by the end. and it’s harder to voice feux follets well

He has already, etudes 1-5 are about 3-4 months ago as a video and the other 7 were on his first live stream if you scroll back on the live section of his channel

He did it with Traum's performance.

YES

You Philistine! ;)

@@Kavala76 ?

@@yuk_notkim7658 philistine (adjective): Lacking in appreciation for art or culture (becuase you said "I usually don't like Chopin") ;) = an emoji indicating a wink (i.e. not serious/ a joke) I was attempting, apparently unsuccessfully, a humorous "insult".

All that means is that maybe you did not hear the very best performance. Not all accomplished pianists bring out the best of every piece... And with Chopin, you have to be in the right frame of mind, to listen... Don't try to listen to Chopin while having a conversation (I mean, texting, or scrolling through social media). Set everything aside and drink it in, measure by measure like sip by sip - exactly the way you would sip a fine wine... And then revisit it, a little while later, and listen again. You will recognize it the way you would a long-lost friend. With classical music, you need to know a little bit about their life (Chopin was fleeing Russian atrocities, exactly the way some Ukrainians are fleeing now); later in life, he was battling tuberculosis... As an immigrant in Paris, even though he was famous and acclaimed, he had to go through all the difficulties of "adapting" and "starting over." The performances selected here by GIDI are superb! And I can always recommend listening to anything at all, including Chopin, with Lang Lang at the keyboard. He is very emotive & he has such a light, thoughtful, quick touch, I am always astonished. So give it a try. And how about taking 5 minutes to hear "Lang Lang plays with his father" (at Carnegie Hall), a video here on YT that is eye-popping and just a ton of fun! You'll be glad you were adventurous and gave this kind of performance a chance to surprise you.

@@Kavala76 Oh, I see. I just prefer composers like Mozart, Beethoven, Bach, and Scarlatti. I just dislike Chopin for some reason.

out of the op 10 etudes, no 4 is maybe the 3rd or 4th most difficult no 2 is by far the hardest of the group and second is no 1

@@VicoMMIII Seems everyone has a different opinion on that topic. Some guy once said to me, that op 25 no 1 is the most difficult of them all.

Thats not true. Op 10 nr.2 is by far the most difficult one,and by a pretty long shot. It doesn’t sound as difficult as some of the others, but op.10 nr 2 (chromatic etude) takes several months to master for even very accomplished pianists. The story says that even Rachmaninoff struggled big time, with Op.10 nr.2 due to his big hands.

10-4 is not one of the most difficult etudes

@@WEEBLLOM I always thought it was. True.