You can download the sheet music from the video: Etude, op.10 No.4 - Chopin
Chopin Etude Op.10 No.4
Can this Etude be self-taught? Chopin Etude Op. 10 No. 4youtube.com/watch?v=7XX538sybMUHow much years in piano is need do you think is needed?Also, what are some sight reading, ear, and technique skills that are required?Thanks!P.S. I am pretty good at the piano, so please don't flame me about getting a teacher, although I know it will benefit me =)Alright, I'll add a bit more about me:Ear training has never been a problem - perfect pitchTechnique - Able to play scales, arpeggios, and etc. fully memorized, no mistakes whatsoeverSight Reading - Able to play Grade 5-6 RCM pieces no problemsMost difficult piece I can PLAY right now: Heroic Polonaise Most difficult piece I can PERFORM is: Chopin Scherzo No. 2
You can download the sheet music from the video: Etude, op.10 No.4 - Chopin
I seriously doubt if you could teach yourself to play it like Horowitz does, but if you have the sheet music, you could try it. There is really no way to answer your questions; some people with 30 years of playing might not be able to play it; others might could learn it after 15 years.
It's impossible to say for sure without hearing you play. Lots of people claim to be "pretty good" some are some aren't, I don't have enough information to judge.This is technically and musically demanding. Could you learn this without a teacher, sure, but it's going to be much more difficult. If you're the kind of person who can take the time to study and analyze the score and take the time to and figure out fingerings on your own then yes. If that doesn't describe you then you need a teacher to help you out.
Ok, first off, ANYTHING can be self taught. It's the quickest way to improve your musicianship and your ear. If you want a challenge, learn it without sheet music. Don't just listen to one version, either, listen to how different performers shape their phrases and notes and try to apply that to your own playing. Learning the notes is easy, it's the fluidity and phrasing that you want to copy.Sit down at the piano with it and just dig in. Start plucking out notes and catching some of the phrases, you'll get it in no time. Take it slow.After you think you've got it check yourself against the sheet music, and correct your tendencies. The more pieces you learn this way, the quicker you'll be the next time you wanna learn something, you'll recognize the patterns and transpose them. And the quicker you'll be on the job when a guy hands you a recording and says 'I'm not sure what this is but can you play it for my wedding?', etc.
If what you say is absolutely true, and you indeed can play the Op. 53 Polonaise and the second Scherzo, learning this etude should not be that hard.
Piano: Could some rate these from easy to hard? I want to know which one are harder, so I can progressively play them.Fantasie Impromptu | ChopinHungarian Rhapsody No. 2 | LisztRachmaninoff 2nd Piano Concert | RachmaninoffEtude Op. 10, No. 4 | ChopinEtude Op. 10, No. 12 (Revolutionary Etude) | ChopinPaganini Etude, La Campanella | LisztThis is all I want to know, I know they are extremely hard, but I'm just curious to know.
Fantasie-ImpromptuChopin Etude op. 10 no. 12Chopin Etude Op. 10 no. 4I'm not sure about the two Liszt ones, but they are both more difficult than Chopin, but less difficult than the Rachmaninoff. I think it'sHungarian Rhapsody no. 2and then La CampanellaAnd Rachmaninoff 2nd Piano concerto is the hardest.I forgot to mention, Fantasie-Impromptu and Chopin etude are similar in difficulty. FI has continous polyrhythms and requires both hands to have a level of dexterity, but RH more. The Revolutionary Etude has a few polyrhythms, but nothing too hard. It have a lot of emphasis on LH dexterity. Also, there are a few difficult octave passages in the RH. Think of the left hand of RE as a more complex version of the FI Left hand
Etude Op. 10, No. 12 (Revolutionary Etude) | ChopinFantasie Impromptu | ChopinEtude Op. 10, No. 4 | ChopinHungarian Rhapsody No. 2 | LisztPaganini Etude, La Campanella | LisztRachmaninoff 2nd Piano Concert | Rachmaninoff
The Chopin pieces are definately the easiest; I would say that the Impromptu and the fourth etude are slightly easier than the 12th etude, but the Impromptu is probably more difficult if you haven't mastered simple polyrhythms. Liszt's Hungarian Rhapsody #2 is the easiest of the remaining three, and I personally would rate Rachmaninoff's second much easier than La Campanella. Liszt's etudes are ridiculously hard because he knew, probably better than anyone ever, how to write idiomatically for the piano, and he took this ability to extreme lengths. Rach 2's main challenges are tone colour, balance with the orchestra, and the occasional technical passage. La Campanella is pretty much entirely composed of delicate and intricate passagework that demands utmost attention to fingering, rhythm, tone and touch (which are, yes, all separate considerations). The differences in opinion you will find surrounding the question 'which of these pieces is hardest' stem from the different depths of interpretation to which a performer takes a piece. Ten of ten concert pianists would rate La Campanella more difficult than Rach 2, but this is not immediately apparent to the amateur player (which can still indicate a very advanced player) because he doesn't have to worry about the things I mentioned above. By definition, however, Liszt's etude was destined to be more challenging than Rachmaninoff's concerto; not only because Liszt was probably a much better pianist and writer for piano, but also because a concerto must balance with the orchestra in many ways, while an etude must captivate the audience with a single performer on a single instrument. All the things that can be done by changing instrumentation or doubling in an orchestra must be achieved by quality of tone and resonance on a piano. Therefore, despite their 'surface' appearances, I would rate La Campanella significantly harder than any of Rachmaninoff's concerti, even his third.
