In an effort to strengthen the sinister side of my piano playing, I've decided to take up three Chopin etudes: Op. 10 No. 9 (F minor), Op. 10 No. 12 (C minor) and Op. 25 No. 4 (A minor). The problem is that I can only learn one etude at a time (long story, but life tends to do that). I am seeking opinions on what order I should learn the three etudes. Would a particular sequence have a benefit of building -- i.e., learning one would be easier because another was learned before?

After reading through them, I'm inclined to the sequence of F minor, A minor, then C minor. My hunch is that doing the F minor first would make the A minor easier, since extensions and leaps are related techniques. But the Revolutionary (Guard?) is a finger study, so I'm not so sure whether I should tackle it before or after the other two.

Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

I wouldn't think that it would matter greatly in what order you studied them, since each works on a slightly different aspect of technique. I can't see that learning one would to any great degree help in learning another.

Regards,

I don't think they particularly focus on any techniques in common.

I'd do F minor, C minor, A minor; just easiest to hardest from those three, IMO.

I would play a lot of stride pieces before doing the a minor.

Op.25 no.4 isn't really sinister imo... and it trains totally different techniques than the other two.

Op.10 No.9 is much easier than the other two. I played that one first and it probably helped me a little on Op.10 No.12 since both are etudes for the left hand, and in both the right hand plays octave chords.

All three offer different challenges, but opus 25 no 4 addresses "higher technique" training issues. I would start with the revolutionary, personally, as that is a measure of dexterity and speed. No. 9 is a touch exercise which would be a good precurser to the extremely difficult no 4. You would be advised to do all of opus 10 before doing any of opus 25. Even Opus 25 no 9 will have a whole new meaning after you have mastered the other set.

What is the rationale behind that statement?

Regards,

Janus,

Out of curiousity, how did you choose those three etudes in particular? Do they address specific technical issues you are looking to overcome, do you enjoy them musically, did your teacher recommend them, etc.

Tackling those three pieces is certainly a substantial undertaking, best of luck and keep us posted

Many thanks for all your responses. Keep 'em coming, please.
The left side of my pianistic mechanism simply isn't as good as the right side -- despite (or perhaps because of) being left handed. I'm hoping the three etudes will help in this regard (and maybe they'll serve as stepping stones to Ravel's Concerto for left hand). The Bach-Brahms Chaconne and the big Bartok Study in Bb (both for left hand alone) are in my repertoire. The three etudes are a continuation of this path.

It goes without saying that they're all musically appealing to me. IMHO Chopin is the most consistent composer of the first half of the 19th century.

Janus, I didn't contribute yet to this thread because I thought it would be redundant.

As has been mentioned, conventional wisdom is that (1) the order of increasing difficulty is 10/9 < 10/12 < 25/4, and (2) 25/4 is significantly harder than the first two.

I reckon that's because, generally speaking, broken chords are found less daunting than fast scalar passages, and unrelenting skips are considered more challenging than either.

I agree, too, that the specific techniques are sufficiently disparate that learning order isn't dictated by any one etude building upon another.

Steven