Description
The fifth study of Op. 10, known as the "Black Key" étude because the right hand plays almost entirely on the black keys. Choosing G-flat major and restricting the right hand to its pentatonic set lets melody and running figuration both be built from black keys alone. The nickname is not Chopin's own.
In G-flat major and duple time, the right hand runs in fine figuration across the black keys while the left supports with a leaping accompaniment. Over 1,600 notes are packed into about a minute and a half at a fast tempo, and the character stays light throughout, across six octaves.
Black keys lie further in and are narrower, so they cannot be played with flat fingers. Curve the fingers, use the far part of the keys, and keep the palm high — the shape of the hand itself differs from a piece on the white keys. The faster it goes the more the fingers slip, so the first task is to establish, slowly, the feeling of a hand that sits securely on the black keys.
A collection of études by various composers, including Chopin's famous "Revolutionary" Étude, designed to build finger independence and expressive technique.
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Sheet music provided by Mutopia Project
About the Composer
Frédéric Chopin (1810-1849)
Frederic Chopin was born in Poland and made his career in Paris, remaining unusual among great composers for writing almost exclusively for piano. He poured his longing for his homeland into mazurkas and polonaises, while his ballades and etudes combine poetic melody with harmonic innovation. This site includes the "Revolutionary" and other etudes, Ballades No. 1 and No. 4, nocturnes, and the Preludes, Op. 28.
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