The Piano Music of Chopin

Are you passionate about Chopin's beautiful piano music?

If you play his music but want to dig deeper into the poetry, the magic, the romanticism, the lyricism and freedom of his pieces, this course is designed for you.

The goal of the Course is to provide the students with the strongest foundations for performing Chopin’s Piano music at the highest level. It is a practical Course: students will learn the best practices to adopt when facing the challenges of Chopin’s magnificent music.

It is fun and educational, and your teacher (that's me) will guide you through the hard work necessary to complete it.

Each module explores a particular piece: the Course is structured so that each class draws from the topics addressed in previous modules. While a student might be interested only in a few of the individual pieces covered and will be inclined to begin from the corresponding module, I invite them to follow the Course from the start. This will have two benefits: 1) the student will become familiar (if not proficient) with more than a few of Chopin’s works, and 2) the techniques presented throughout the course follow an order of incremental complexity; the last modules rely on the previous ones being thoroughly assimilated. The best value from the Course comes from approaching the pieces, techniques, and concepts comprehensively rather than individually.

While each module lasts less than one hour, it is recommended to watch them at the piano and stop the video as often as necessary: while a technique can be addressed in few minutes, the student might need more time to practice the suggested exercises/solutions. It takes weeks to master a single piece!

We will look at:

• fluency, tone control, coordination, phrasing, pedal techniques, ornaments and trills;

• we will explore the concept (and solution) of Chopin’s Rubato, his treatment of the left hand chords and arpeggios, his unique approach to piano dynamics;

• we will develop fingering strategies that will make the phrasing and memorization easier and more effective;

• we will address issues of tempo and fast playing coordination.

The course is intended to music students who are passionate about Chopin’s music, already have experience with music notation, and play the piano at a beginner/intermediate level. Important: the approach adopted in the course assumes the student’s independent ability at reading musical scores; with a few exceptions the modules won’t address notes/values/rhythms, or anything that is already evident on the score. The course aims at developing what is NOT on the score!

With that in mind, get ready for discovering the poetic, elegant, unique, beautiful, heart-stopping, mind-blowing music of the greatest piano composer in history: Frederic Chopin.