OURCHOPIN FORUM

[wanderer]

Anyone knows what works/exercises Chopin taught to his students? His own compositions?

[lol_nl]

He was very fond of Clementi's Gradus ad Parnassum, using it in the same way as Czerny and Hanon are used today.
Furthermore, yes, he thaught his own compositions sometimes, but also a lot of classical compositions, like Mozart's works (but probably not Beethoven's, not sure about this though) and of course Bach, like we still do.
He didn't teach them many pieces of his era. He taught Liszt very occasionally, and never taught Schumann.

That's all I know.
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Yiteng

"Music is enough for a lifetime, but a lifetime is not enough for music." - S. Rachmaninov

[PJF]

He saved his Etudes for only the most advanced students. He knew the danger of technically over-extending one's self.
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Outwardly Limited,
Boundless to Inward

Pete

[MorrisseyMan]

In respect to scales, he would begin teaching his students B Major (5 sharps), and would gradually go through the scales until he reached C Major (no sharps/flats), which he believed to be the most difficult. He believed that C Major was difficult because of the shape of the hand. I checked it out, and it makes sense.

For example, in C Major, the fourth is F. To reach this note using 'correct' technique, you put your thumb under. In B major, the fourth is E. The length that the thumb has to travel under the hand is slightly shorter from D# to E than from E to F. And, because the thumb is naturally 'under' the other fingers, the movement is easier because the third finger is on a black note, which are obviously higher then the white notes. The same principle is applied at the end of the B major scale, when the thumb has to move under the hand to reach B. A# to B is a shorter length then B to C, and the hand is raised on the black keys, so it makes it easier.

[enchantedpianist]

Wow ! This is so interesting ! I'll tell my teacher to make me practice the running up and down with B major first. I don't know if she thinks the way Chopin did.

[lol_nl]

He believed the movement should come from the fist, not from the arm, as thought before. His technique is said to be revolutionary. He formed the base of the thought not to over-practise.
_________________
Yiteng

"Music is enough for a lifetime, but a lifetime is not enough for music." - S. Rachmaninov

[enchantedpianist]