Group 4
Unlocking A deeper Understanding of Chopin's Music!
Together we will work on four etudes which can transform your approach to Chopin’s music as well as expand your concept of piano playing! In the first Etude from Op. 10 I will give exercises for tackling the right hand arpeggios, which will develop your ability to hear sonorities build upon one another across the entire keyboard. Through a discussion of Chopin’s use of the pedal and exploitation of the piano’s natural overtones, you will learn to pace yourself through this famously difficult work and achieve unity of sound within one harmony.
I will then focus on the Second Etude of Op. 25 where the lens will zoom in on Chopin’s use of polyrhythm and how this is integral to the fundamental “problem” of this Etude.
The discussion of the third Etude of Op. 25 will talk about the use of the thumb versus fingers 2-5 and how to achieve lightness and speed in this charming work.
Finally, we will revisit my lesson on Op. 10 No. 2 and dive even deeper into the secrets to being able to play this famously difficult work!
Improve your Chopin Etudes in Two Weeks with Henry Kramer!
- Sign-Up : September 14, 10 am PST
- Course Period: September 19 - 30
- Class Size: 4 Groups á 10 Participants
- Optional check-In via Zoom: tba
- Livestream: September 20th, 11am PST
FIRST TASK: SAY HELLO TO EVERYBODY!
Assignments:
Watch Henry's first of four assignment videos!
Download Cortot’s edition of Chopin etudes at:
- Choose 3-5 arpeggios in this Etude (eg c major, augmented 6th, a major etc)
- For each arpeggio show at least two octaves of playing each note of the arpeggio where you bring the thumb to the first finger joint of fingers 2-5 immediately after striking the key. For the thumb notes you should just play staccato
- Choose 2 of the Cortot exercises on pages 4 and 5 and apply them to your 3-5 arpeggio choices
- Share a video of you performing these exercices!
Watch Henry's second assignment video!
Watch Henry's THIRD assignment video!
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Thanks, everybody, for participating in this TWI with Henry! I hope you had a fantastic journey with the four Chopin Preludes and learned much over the past two weeks! See you in the next TWI, which we will announce next week!
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Hello! Looking forward to working through these etudes with everyone! I have practiced 10/3 and 25/1, but these ones are completely new to me.
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Vidhya Bashyam Hi Vidhya! Nice to meet you here.
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Kerstin Hi Kerstin! Nice to see you here too!
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Ohoy everyone greetings from Denmark, excited of this format, of sharing knowlegde, blessings Rasmus
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Hi everyone! This is Monika from the French Riviera. I look forward to learning these challenging pieces with this group!
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Monika Tusnady Hi Monika! Did you play any of them before?
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Hi everyone! Greetings from Germany. I will practice op10/1.
Practiced it some month ago but didn’t finish it at all. Nice to work in a group. I am also on op10/4 and op25/12 because they have for both hands a lot to do. Op10/2 I tried this year too but can’t get it in a fast tempo. So this is a great challenge. Lot of work.
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kramer group 4
First Assignments are posted!
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Wonderfull thanks
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Oh, Henry! How wonderful that you're in Montréal!! I was just there all weekend to judge gymnastics. I'll be back there often.
I'm a returning pianist, having last had lessons at RCM 10-ARCT level 40 years ago. I am focusing on jazz waltzes this season, but have a desire to get beyond simply dabbling in the Chopin Études which have never been in my repertoire. My goal would be to perform a Chopin Étude at one of my bi-weekly piano group meetings at Steinway Piano Gallery of Ottawa.
My daily practice includes Oscar Peterson's 13 jazz exercises and Nahre Sol's modified Chopin exercises, of which I'm still stuck on #1. Nahre's modified exercises are a pleasurable, jazzy progression toward's the Chopin Op. 10 Études, a contemporary exploration to the Cortot exercises, if you will.
The pandemic effect has reduced my attention span and pain threshold to practicing in 5-10 minute spurts throughout the day, however. Working on short exercises at each sitting will hopefully work with this virtual class.
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Grace I love Nahre Sol's work!
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I have an English translation of the Cortot (by M. Parkinson). I forget where I downloaded it from, but does anyone want me to upload it?
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Grace Sorry, I have only the German version.
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Kerstin is there somewhere a German version available as ebook? (I am German)
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matsek Didn’t find any. I have this edition. LG Kerstin
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Hi Henry! Thanks for this great introduction. I would be interested in which fingering you have in bar 30,31,32. I use always the third one.
LG Kerstin-
Kerstin bar 30: 5321, bar 31: 2313 etc, bar 32: 5321
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Henry kramer Thanks. I wanted to play bar 31 that way, but my teacher told I should try 1235. Let’s see. And what’s the tempo. Cortot is a little crazy with 176.
Unfortunately I can not be on Zoom today, because I have a important meeting at this time. Maybe for a short look in.
Have a nice day.
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Hello from Washington State. I have learned this Etude and had it memorized but I look forward to bringing it back with some new tips.
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Hello everyone! I have chosen bar 25-35. With this exercise it’s much better now.
https://youtu.be/jYY1680Zfx8
https://youtube.com/shorts/-trjKM19jTQ?feature=shareLG Kerstin
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Well, this was enlightening!
1> Finally, I had a meaningful way of practicing this Étude
2> A tenth and an eleventh have a certain feel, both in the hand – of course – and across the keyboard – intervals feel bigger in the higher register
3> I never knew how very fast a release had to be to effectively free up the thumb
4> Conscious awareness of which two fingers play the largest interval– whether fifth or sixth – is very useful, especially when it requires an awkward stretch.
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Monika Tusnady Great comments, Monika!
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I practiced the first few measures. Moving the thumb in was much harder than I thought it would be.
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Vidhya Bashyam Hi - you should be bringing the thumb all the way to the first joint in your second finger. You are not quite transferring your weight entirely to the second finger. These exercises are a bit like going to the gym. Take it slow to really study the movement. We are looking for the release of the thumb to the other fingers as a way to feel the entire arm supported behind the non-thumb finger.
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