First Chopin: from the Preludes to the Nocturnes
In Chopin, sound and singing line are harder than the finger work. Rather than starting with a famous big piece, learning the pedal, the voicing of chords and a melody sung over an accompaniment one at a time, in short pieces, gets you there sooner.
The path opens with three short pieces from the 24 Preludes, Op. 28 - each under two minutes, each a concentrated lesson in how Chopin uses the piano. Then a waltz and a nocturne written in his youth and published after his death, Op. 69 No. 2 and Op. 72 No. 1, teach singing freely over a steady accompaniment; the "Raindrop" Prelude follows, and the best-known nocturne of all, Op. 9 No. 2, closes the path.
Where a piece carries pedal information, the player shows the pedal indicators. See where the pedal changes, then find a clean change by ear at your own instrument.
- Who it is for
- For players who have finished Burgmüller or a sonatina and want to play Chopin, but are not sure where to start.
- Where it takes you
- Clean pedal changes and a melody that sings over its accompaniment - and the Nocturne Op. 9 No. 2, played through.
The pieces, in order
What this piece teaches
Prelude Op. 28 No. 7 in A major: sixteen bars in triple time, a dotted rhythm recalling the mazurka repeated as its notes gradually change. As a first Chopin piece, it teaches the dotted rhythm and the pedal.
How to practise it
- Watch the pedal indicators to see where the pedal goes down and comes up, then pedal the same way yourself.
- Keep the dotted rhythm exact. At 0.75x, make sure the short note after each dot does not stumble.
- Near the end the harmony opens out once. Make that the high point, and let the rest settle quietly.
What this piece teaches
Prelude Op. 28 No. 20 in C minor. There is no melody as such: chords in both hands advance one step at a time in the same rhythm. The lesson is the sound of a chord, and changing the pedal with each one.
How to practise it
- Sound every note of the chord together, with the top note marginally stronger. Check them one at a time at 0.5x.
- Change the pedal on every chord. Check the timing in the pedal indicators, so nothing of one chord lingers into the next.
- The same progression is repeated at a different dynamic. Decide in advance how much quieter the repeat will be.
What this piece teaches
Prelude Op. 28 No. 6 in B minor. The melody lies low in the left hand while the right hand only marks chords above - the reverse of the usual layout. The lesson is singing with the left hand, like a cello.
How to practise it
- Follow only the left-hand colour, and practise until the left hand alone can sing the melody.
- Hold the right-hand chords right back, until the left-hand melody is clearly heard.
- Low notes ring for a long time. Check how long each one is held in the falling notes, and do not cut them short.
What this piece teaches
A waltz in B minor thought to date from Chopin's late teens, published after his death. It is a waltz for listening rather than dancing: a wistful theme that keeps returning, with a major-key episode between. The lesson is singing freely over a steady triple-time accompaniment.
How to practise it
- Practise the left-hand accompaniment alone until it no longer wavers. If it does, the ground of the waltz gives way.
- Do not force the ornaments into the beat; let them flow out of the note before. Check them at 0.5x.
- Loop the major-key episode with A-B and make its colour different from the minor-key theme.
What this piece teaches
A nocturne in E minor thought to date from Chopin's late teens, published after his death. The left hand keeps up triplet broken chords while the right sings quietly above - the basic shape of the nocturne, with comparatively light technical demands.
How to practise it
- Finish the left-hand triplets first, until they run without attention. Loop the left hand alone at 0.5x.
- The left hand spreads its broken chords wide. Following the pedal indicators, change the pedal where the harmony changes.
- Once the right hand joins, keep the left a level below it, and listen that the melody is not buried.
What this piece teaches
Prelude Op. 28 No. 15 in D-flat major, the "Raindrop". A repeated note sounds throughout while a calm theme sings above it. The middle section turns to C-sharp minor, and the repeated note moves into the bass as the music builds heavily.
How to practise it
- Keep the repeated note always beneath the melody. Varying its weight slightly with the harmony keeps it from turning mechanical.
- Treat the middle section as a separate piece and loop it with A-B. The contrast between its build and the quiet either side is the drama of the piece.
- Check the pedal changes in the pedal indicators. Changing where the harmony changes keeps the repeated note clear.
- At about four and a half minutes it is a long piece. Logging your sessions in the practice journal shows the progress and keeps you going.
What this piece teaches
The goal of this path: the Nocturne in E-flat major, Op. 9 No. 2. In 12/8, the left hand plays a bass note and chords to each beat while the right hand sings. The melody appears three times, more ornamented at each return.
How to practise it
- Settle the skeleton of the melody without its ornaments first, then lay the decoration on top. Loop the most ornamented passages at 0.5x.
- Whether the left hand stays even decides how stable the piece sounds. Make sure you can play the left hand through on its own.
- This MIDI carries no pedal information, so no pedal indicators appear. Use the changes you have learned on the way, checking them by ear.
The routine every path shares
- Listen through once with the falling notes to get the shape of the whole piece.
- Slow it to around 0.5x and learn the notes and fingering one hand at a time.
- Cut out the hard spots with the A-B loop and repeat them until they run without a stop.
- Put the hands together and bring the speed back up a little at a time.
- Log the time and what you noticed in the practice journal - it is where you pick up next time.
Other paths
The classic first pieces after a method book
Bach's minuets, Schumann's and Tchaikovsky's Albums for the Young, and on to Clementi's sonatina.
- Album for the Young Op.68 No.1 "Melody"
- Menuet in G major, BWV Anh. 114
- Menuet in G minor, BWV Anh. 115
- Album for the Young Op.68 No.2 "Soldiers' March"
- …
From Burgmüller's 25 Etudes to Für Elise
One technique per piece: twelve numbers from a collection Japanese piano teachers swear by, ending with Für Elise.
- No.1 La Candeur
- No.2 L'Arabesque
- No.3 La Pastorale
- No.4 La Petite Réunion
- …
Schumann and Tchaikovsky: pieces that paint a scene
From Morning Prayer, The Happy Farmer and First Loss to Träumerei: short titled pieces for learning tone and expression.
- Children's Album: Morning Prayer
- Album for the Young Op.68 No.10 "The Happy Farmer"
- Children's Album: March of the Wooden Soldiers
- Album for the Young Op.68 No.16 "First Loss"
- …
Sonatinas and Inventions, on to a Mozart sonata
Kuhlau, Beethoven, Bach, Chopin: the intermediate standards, leading to every movement of Mozart's K. 545.
- Sonatine Op.20 No.1: I. Allegro
- Piano Sonata No.20 Op.49-2 - II. Tempo di Menuetto
- Piano Sonata No.20 Op.49-2 - I. Allegro ma non troppo
- Invention No.1 in C major
- …
From Bach's little pieces to the Inventions and Sinfonias
A fingering study written for his son, a minuet from the Anna Magdalena Notebook, two little preludes, then two-part Inventions and a three-part Sinfonia.
- Applicatio
- Minuet in A minor
- Praeludium 2
- Petite Prélude No. 9
- …
Satie to Debussy: sound, space and the pedal
From the quiet of the Gymnopédies and Gnossiennes to Debussy's First Arabesque and Clair de Lune.
- Gymnopédie No. 1
- Gnossienne No. 1
- Gymnopédie No. 3
- Gnossienne No. 3
- …