Study Group #1: Chopin's Prelude in E minor
Welcome to our very first Study Group — a space for collaborative, peer-led learning!
We’re starting with one of the most moving works in the piano repertoire: Chopin’s Prelude in E minor, Op. 28 No. 4.
Why this piece? Because we’re leading up to the International Chopin Competition, and what better way to prepare than by immersing ourselves in Chopin’s language together. This isn’t a formal class — it’s a chance to learn side by side, share ideas, and discover new layers of the music. I’ll be working on the piece right along with you, and I can’t wait to see what insights we uncover as a group.
🗓️ What to expect:
Starting September 8th, we’ll explore:
Melody and balance — bringing out the singing line above the chords
Left-hand harmony — keeping the pulse steady and clear
Rubato and expression — shaping time without losing flow
Tone and pedaling — finding colors that bring the Prelude to life
Your own questions, discoveries, and perspectives!
We’ll also meet for two live Zoom sessions to share progress, exchange ideas, and celebrate our work on this piece. (Times and clickable links below!)
Livestream Presentation: September 11th at 11am PT
Zoom session #1: September 11th at 11:20am PT
Note: This zoom session will start with approximately a 15-20 minute short lecture and deep dive on the piece with Dominic, before we dive into all of your questions and conversations!
Zoom session #2: September 19th at 11am PT
✅ How to participate:
Sign up Here!
Download or open the score for the Prelude in E minor
Introduce yourself below!
Join the prompts and discussions
Share your thoughts, questions, or even a short recording if you’d like
65 replies
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Hey Everyone, looking forward to working through this Prelude with you guys, and seeing you at the zoom meetings!
Please signup here if you are interested!
Signup Link -
Will there be replays of the sessions?
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There will be replays of the zoom session!
The zoom times are set, but feel free to come to either one, or if you can't make them, you can still practice along with us and interact here! -
Hey Everyone!
Looking forward to starting work on Chopin's Prelude today!It has been a minute since I last worked on this piece, and I am excited to get started. For me, one of the main focuses on my mind is working on the LH. There is no doubt that all of the harmonic interest is driving from there, and with constant 8th notes, I am curious to try and find the most transparent, yet harmonically resonant way to approach them (I know, it seems like a contradiction of each other!)
Looking forward to hearing what you guys are focusing on this week!
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I love that you sre offering this study group! I’ve signed up at least to follow along. I’ll be traveling, so I’m uncertain how much practicing I’ll be able to do, but this is a piece I’ve very much wanted to learn.
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Bar 17, the scariest of bars in this piece.
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This is the very first Chopin piece that Yihan learned. Beautiful. I remembered that left hand chords challenged him, coming from the alberti bass of the classical music.
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Hello, I've played this long time ago and I have a high schooler (student) playing this now. I'm wondering how much expression we should give to the LH. We have a lot of repeated chords but then the harmony is changing.
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This will be fun! I hope you're using the Ekier edition.
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Hi, it’s so nice to have such a specific study group! I’m sure we can learn a lot from each other. Chopin is always a challenge for me as I can’t easily tune in his energy for some reason. For a start I listened to several different performances, did the rough harmonic overview and went through the piece on the piano. LH for sure will be tough to do properly - for the beginning I was thinking how to get into the flow and which chord tones should be brought slightly up to the surface. I’ll start with LH solo to see what can be done and how.
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A study group is a really great idea, thanks, Dominic. And the Prelude is the perfect piece for us to start with.
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Hi... everyone 😊
Looking forward to sessions 😀
Glad you include sheet music... and give detail of edition
... curious, is this a good book... I popped in music shop and got this... is it any good? Not got a clue 😕 🙃
