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I know some of the chopin etudes are in fact a lot easier than they sound or look, for example the Revolutionary. Op.25 No.12 looks to be quite difficult on paper, but at a closer look it structure is pretty simple and repetitive. How difficult would you rate it as compared to the other etudes? Is it one of the hardest, simplest or somewhere in between.
Thanks

It falls in the easier tier of Etudes for me. It falls under the hands nicely, and the main technical difficulty lies in speeding it up. The rest of your time can be spent on interpretation. I would go as far to say that op.25/12 is one of the easiest etudes, however it is also one of the most impressive when played well.

Op. 25/12 is the only one of the Etudes I play reasonably well, the technique doesn't vary much from bar to bar and the notes are easy to learn. The prime difficulty is managing those 5-1 and 1-5 switches cleanly at full tempo and volume. It's an easy one to get into, but getting that last 10% of speed and accuracy down is quite a challenge.

Revolutionary etude is Op 10 No 12. Ocean(?) etude is Op 25 No 12. I think both of them are the easier ones of Op 10 and Op 25. Op 10 No 2, 4, 11, and Op 25 No 4, 6, 11 are probably the most difficult ones. Op 10 No 6 and Op 25 No 7 are probably the easiest.

It's Always that last 10% that makes all of them difficult. I think that's where the Music finally blossoms. Getting it unified and expressive is the challenge.

Ever notice how that last 10% takes as long or longer to accomplish as the first 90% ?

Couldn't agree more with you playliszt.

I can sight read the etudes well enough, but getting to that last 10% where you want to bring it up to a concert level is the hardest part of all.

This one is hard to fit the expression. I actually like the Godowsky transcriptio slightly better because it has more drama and pathos.