# Best Chopin etude for a Grade 8 student?



## flynflynfly

Hi, i have just finished my Grade 8 ABRSM exam and my teacher wants me to choose a song i would like to play next. Right now, i really want to play Chopin Etudes, and i want some advices about which one suits me best, so please help. 
I'm a 14 year old girl with small hands. I cant stretch it more than one octave or so My fingerings are not very skilled and i've tried the Revolutionary Etude, which i failed to play because it was too painful, and etude in f minor op. 10 no. 9 which i could play but it sounds kinda horrible and totally has got no music in it. 
Some pieces i could play are Chopin's Nocturne in F minor op. 55 no. 1, Bach's Capriccio from Partita no. 2, Mozart's Fantasia in D minor and Beethoven's Pathetique Sonata third movement. 
I know those aren't great but it could give you a hint what level i am on. I also really like Mendelssohn's Rondo Capriccioso and Moonlight Sonata mov. 3, but which Chopin etude eould you recommend for me? Thx!!


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## Sofronitsky

If the Revolutionary Etude and the Op. 10 No. 9 don't work for you, I think Chopin Etudes might not be the best fit for you right now!

However, it might be worth trying the Op. 25 No. 1 in Ab, or even Op. 10 no. 5. Chopin Studies are not as difficult as they seem, to be honest, so you don't need to be intimidated by their difficulty! Judging by your current repertoire a well placed Chopin Etude and Bach Prelude and Fugue could help you out a lot. Try working with your teacher to find pieces that don't hurt your hands, and make sure you aren't putting too much pressure into the keyboard!


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## kv466

etude op.10, no.3 in e or my favorite, no.6 in e-flat minor

And,...maybe you don't really understand the no.9, op.10 because just hearing it in my head right now I hear nothing but haunting melodies and complete musicality.


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## Klavierspieler

flynflynfly said:


> i really want to play Chopin Etude


Aramis? That you?


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## Ukko

Something from the 6th book of Bartók's 'cosmos. One that rings your chimes.


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## beethovenian

I am grade 8 and have small hands too(max span of 9 white keys) and i am learning the Op.10 No1. My fingers hurt at first because i wasn't practising it properly. So i suppose there is something wrong with your technique on the No12. 

The No.1 is supposedly the hardest of all etudes, because of the speed required. But the notes are easy to learn as they are just repetitive arpeggios and it would also help stretch those little fingers on your right hand.

After months of practise, i still cannot achieve the speed dictated on the score(able to play about 3/4 of the required speed) for the No.1 but it is getting there soon enough....hopefully.


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## Il_Penseroso

Sofronitsky said:


> Chopin Studies are not as difficult as they seem, to be honest, so you don't need to be intimidated by their difficulty!


With your huge hands it seems so !


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## flynflynfly

Thank you so much!


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## David Batta

I don't know really my grade, but i'm 12 yo and i did arabesque n.1 and flight of the bubmlebee of rachmaninoff, mozart sonata k 310.
I can reach a tenth uncufortably and a ninth without any problem.
I used rachmaninnoff to "enlargen" my hands  
Always follow your dreams and do whatever you want!


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## Rogerx

David Batta said:


> I don't know really my grade, but i'm 12 yo and i did arabesque n.1 and flight of the bubmlebee of Rachmaninoff, Mozart sonata k 310.
> I can reach a tenth uncufortably and a ninth without any problem.
> I used Rachmaninoff to "enlarge" my hands
> Always follow your dreams and do whatever you want!


Very nice of you, however, seen this post is eight years old I don't thing OP is been around much. 
But you to, and let us know how your going on.


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## pianozach

OP is 8 years old, when the poster said she was 14 years old.

She'd be 22 years old now.

Back then she gave a short list of pieces she'd played, but we don't actually know how wonderfully or awfully she played those. 

If she played them well, there would have been a wealth of pieces that would have been suitable.

It does make you wonder . . . what pieces did she eventually choose to work on? Does she still play?

.

Now, David, on the other hand plays the Flight of the Bumblebee, posted today, and is only 12, so I'm guessing there's some skills there.

It's time for some Bach inventions for him.


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