Do you need to be at a certain level to play the black key etude? I was thinking since it is an etude that it is completely instructional and therefore you don't need to be at a certain level.

Almost all of the Chopin Etudes require a solid technique to make anything of them, and, if one has that technique, seriously studying them can certainly help improve that technique.

That said, someone with a limited amount of technique may gain something (minimal) by working on this Etude, but would be better off working on scales and other exercises and studies that are more appropriate to his/her level and which would help build the technique towards that required to work on this Etude. If someone who wasn't "at a certain level" - whatever that is supposed to mean - attempted to work on this Etude, I wouldn't expect the results to be musical nor anything near acceptable tempo.

In answer to your question, then, I would say yes, one does have to be at a "certain level" but perhaps that level should be defined so we have a better idea of what we are talking about. If one is not possess a fairly advanced technique s/he certainly shouldn't expect to "play" that Etude.

Regards,

All of the Chopin Etudes are technically challenging. By attempting them before you have developed a solid technique, you run the risk of injuring yourself. If your goal is to play Op. 10 No. 5 well, it would be much more beneficial to work on pieces within reach before starting this etude.

I have tried in the past to play pieces that were too difficult for me. It was a counter-productive endeavour; I ended up with shoulder tension, arm pain, and a mess of sloppy notes that barely resembled the piece I was trying to learn.

One does not attempt calculus before mastering basic addition. One does not attempt brain surgery before learning basic anatomy. Sorry, these examples are kind of pathetic... but you will probably reach your goal much faster if you learn the basics first. As a bonus, you will have a nice little collection of easy piano pieces instead of one messy piece.

"Try to learn to play easy pieces well and beautifully; it is better than a mediocre performance of a difficult piece." - R. Schumann

I still want to know if Jason (Beet31425) was really able to get ahold of that passage near the end without doing the thing I said he probably needed to do.

About who should or shouldn't try the piece: I actually think almost anyone can give it a try without significant risk of injuring themselves, as long as they pay attention to how they feel each time after practicing and are ready to give it up if anything starts feeling not right and they can't find a way pretty fast to keep it from happening.

I absolutely agree that it's not the best way to learn or to advance if you take up pieces that are basically beyond where you really are, but people might sometimes be more interested in playing a certain piece than learning and advancing in the best way -- and who are we to say that's wrong. I mean, I wouldn't do it, because I'm not interested in playing something that I don't have a chance to play really well, but people might not care so much about that either....

Black key Etude 10-5 by Chopin

Note Chopin’s use of 4-note chords in the LH which barely rise above Middle C.

One of my findings over the years is that chords below Middle C progressively field a reduced number of notes with each octave ...
tending to 2-note octaves for the lowest two.

Black key (6 flats) compositions are perhaps regarded as somewhat easier to sight-read because the black notes are raised above the whites.

Good luck to anybody brave enough to attempt the Etude 10-5 hustling along as it does at a brisk Vivace tempo ... matching the triplet gait to the LH 4-note chords takes some work ... but then most of us start off slow ... and with practice might build up to the tempo.

I’ve just tried the first 20 measures at the piano ... and am decidedly rusty.

PS Those mighty 4-note opening chords put a mighty strain on
my weaker LH (being right-handed) and so I cut the corners by
reducing the chords to 3-notes picking up the mid-notes Ab,B,Ab.

My dog hasn’t howled as yet at the short-cut!

You have to be at 'a certain level' to play *anything* - including something 'completely instructional', which this etude, and any other etude with musical content, is not.

Try Op. 25 No. 2, this one is more doable than Op. 10 No. 5. Yet, it is not easy too to play starting around 90 beat per second. The metronome, I believe, is 112 per second.

Oh dear, that *is* fast. But well, it is marked Presto after all.

Minute.

Yup...