Chopin Prelude No.8 - Tutorial - Paul Barton, piano

At first sight Prelude 8 looks confusing. If you've wanted to play it but been put off by all those tiny notes and accidentals, this tutorial suggests few simple ways to make it easier to learn.

[@JJTownley_Classical-Composer]

I remember my piano teacher putting me through the Preludes at about the age of 14 or so and when I turned the page to this one she immediately skipped a few pages with "You won't be playing this one today or tomorrow. Let's skip to No. 11" I later was very grateful because seeing all those little notes scared the hell (and something else) out of me; I realized she had spared me a shattered confidence...and no, I never returned to it. If I'd watched your tutorial, Paul I might have found the courage to attempt it. Excellent tutorial, Paul.

[@Scrungge]

should've tried it

[@TheOfficialXedus]

This is one of the best tutorials I've had for any piece. Well thought out and I can tell how effective it is because you have an excellent #8! Thanks!!

[@peterbrenton410]

Paul, you're the one of best things on KZbin, . with your detailed descriptions and technically assured playing. A compliment to your wonderful artwork .

[@1955robyn]

Wholeheartedly concur.

[@pianoplaynight]

Wow Paul, you make it look so much easier and accessible to amateurs. Thanks a lot, this means so much!

[@karlakor]

I haven't read all the comments for this video, but there is one important point I think is worth mentioning. You'll notice that Paul Barton does not hold down the melody notes for their full value, allowing his hands and fingers more time to get where they need to go. Holding these notes as a way of obeying the score can really slow you down. Quick movement of the hands helps a great deal.

[@1234musictime]

I love the photocopy support idea. I have often wondered about the impact of the size of the notes even at beginner levels. Very creative and helpful tutorial. I will continue to recommend your channel to my advanced piano students. Thank you !

[@azulpiano]

paul Thank you, I love you . every time I hear chopin more I fall for his work

[@fwf246]

This channel is worth subscribing

[@gerardbedecarter]

An excellent tutorial, Paul, followed by a beautiful and expressive performance of the prelude.

[@SHINYamAHA21]

Brilliant! The best piano A+tutorial channel on YT, Paul gives us clear and efficient instructions(for moi it helps English skill too :P), creative ideas, combination of video visual beauty too... most of all, we feel so close and not scare to play~ Cheers!

[@RoelekesPlace]

This is really fantastic, Paul, although I will never make it to a Chopin Prelude myself, but it is so good to see these so complicated pieces make them more clear and look different to them. Great tutorial, I enjoyed it! And you play it so great in the end of the video! Roeleke

[@rodrigofratin5141]

Wonderful tutorial!! You have been my biggest inspiration in the last month! Thanks Paul!! Greetings from Brazil!

[@leozingy]

This is superb! A professional tutorial indeed - thank you!

[@VyvienneEaux]

You're the most helpful person EVER!!! Thank you!!!

[@pianogirl98]

Wonderful tricks to make starting the piece easier! Great tutorial!!! Thank you for posting! I also like the Elephant and Giraffes artwork in the background.

[@stevebethhayward858]

Thank you, I would not have been able to attempt this without your tutorial. Very grateful ❤

[@leonoliber6201]

So helpful ... I am endlessly grateful.

[@nicholasbouloukos]

Very helpful, Paul, thanks for making this tutorial.

[@Martel211996]

you know, this is so creative, you could have more fun learning the piece than playing it when already learned. Thanks Paul!

[@misselsass4087]

Thank you for your tips, Paul! They are really helpful! I like this piece very much but I was afraid to play it just because it seemed too difficult. Now I'll try it!

[@gonzalomunozg]

I love this piece. Thanks so much Paul for posting this tutorial.

[@bossel100]

thank you very much for making the effort to make this tutorial! ive currently given up to learn this and play the c major etude of chopin instead, but if i come back to this piece again, i will take this as an inspiration!

[@clauzane]

Thank you very much Paul for the wealth of information you so freely give. I have put your recommendation in to practice and have divided pieces by means of enlarging them and placing the sections on a board just like yours! Blessings from South Africa.

[@TheXPV]

Cher Paul, Encore un magnifique tuto, merci beaucoup! L'invitation Paris-Piano-Champagne is still on in case you fly near by, Amicalement, Xavier

[@camomile988]

Acurate and beautiful analysis and performance. You are good, Barton. Thank you.

[@gabrielrueda9085]

thanks for sharing. And congratulations, what a fine musician

[@hassanbale7844]

Thanks Paul from Egypt, you make it seem too easy!

[@glasnevin2009]

Absolutely fantastic and most helpful tutorial.

[@azulpiano]

GRACIAS GRACIAS PAUL, AMO A CHOPIN Y AHORA MAS. ABRAZO DESDE ARGENTINA

[@valgoldthorpe1377]

Thanks Paul, I've just started tackling this - good tips.

[@prodig3music734]

This tutorial is very enlightening. I have played a few of Chopin's other pieces (his Grande Valtz Brillianté Op. 18 and his Prelude No. 1), but I have been dying to play a tough Prelude or Etude. I will work for this one. Thanks for giving me the courage, Paul!

[@PlayBetterJazz]

Thank you for another great tutorial Paul! You certainly make this piece seem a lot less "daunting" .

[@jeanlucchapelon]

Thanks you’re an excellent teacher ! It’s exactly the manner i analyse the pieces !

[@herculesraphaelolimpio3569]

Paul, you're extremally virtuoso!!! Bravo!!

[@yasongcong]

Paul, you are excellent!!!!

[@OriginalBasaliskos]

Wonderful tutorial. This is my favorite prelude, but I've been ignoring it out of fear.

[@michaeltierra6388]

Thank you Paul. Im currently working on this piece now. It is such genius! full of poetry, harmonic ambiguities abound. I love the way you broke it down -- makes learning it so approachable. comparing it to creating a fresco is perfect -- one little phrase connecting to another. Your final performance was the best -- the expressive use of rebates, the abslute clarity -- bringing out the music meaning of each phrase. I appreciate how with your cbined skill as a graphic artist, love of nature and animals and then music -- you have chosen a path to create and share your art on your own terms. if you ever decide to play in the US be sure to let us know. There may be a wonderful venue for you to perform here in Santa Cruz, California. Let me know.

[@scricco4646]

Well, this is simply brilliant...

[@pablosalast]

Thanks You Paul!!! Great tutorial.

[@1955robyn]

Brilliant! I feel like I could almost play this - following your break down of the steps. Can’t wait to give it a try. I should at least be able to play it as badly as I do the Fantasie. When I meet up with Chopin on t’other side I will apologise to him then.

[@PaulBartonPiano]

Go for it!

[@EtiduProd]

Thank you for this; I entirely learnt the piece without the tiny notes and the first bars with them, but I really enjoy playing the piece without so I don't think I will learn them !

[@viktorpianist]

Thank you! That was very helpful. :)

[@FirstGentleman1]

I tried to learn the beginning of this prelude yesterday, because I like the contrast between no. 7 and no. 8. But this is so complicated and difficult. I wasn't prepared for that.

[@ruyfaco]

Paul, I really love prelude number 16 of this opus. It would be great for me and for other pianists who practice Chopin music if you make a video tutorial of it, because, although it is very beautiful it is also very difficult. Greetings from Ecuador.

[@pablosalast]

Great vídeo!!

[@cecile-petit]

Thank you so much master

[@VyvienneEaux]

You need a hand with a little xenomorph alien hand inside it to come out and play the four inner notes of each group.

[@TheCocolocuelo]

Hahaha

[@hassanbale7844]

Hahaha, its hard we all have to admit!

[@hassanbale7844]

Funniest comment on KZbin haha i laughed twice

[@Forgetit2697]

What a great Channel.

[@republiccooper]

Paul, do you know that you're the best? 🙂🤗☺

[@d.43.f18]

Excelente ojala estuviera subtitulado en español

[@kayenta33]

In all Chopin, the notes are meant to be held for as long as they are written. That's not always possible though, unless you have massive hands.

[@Curiousonic]

Did you know, Chopin was the first to use the thumb on black keys making it easier to play hard parts. It's just unbelievable there used to be a rule where we were not allowed to do that.

[@SHINYamAHA21]

Can I find PreludeNo.8 from your music score gallery? Deviding sections is such a great invention :) the cardboard and clip..cute~ cheers!

[@Drachentraenen]

The fantasy impomptu is also like similiar to this piece,

[@mike76543210]

I love your videos, can you do a tutorial of LISZT《Un Sospiro》,thank you so much.

[@Curiousonic]

I am a composer and here to see how the pianist interpret this piece of sheet music. In the sheet music the thumb is supposed to hold the key the length of a dotted eight note while playing the small notes, but the pianist play them as a thirty-two note. I wonder if Chopin wrote them to be hold down that long or just to highlight the melody line. The use of pedal in this piece will also substitute for the length of the note, but curious if Chopin would approved it.. Hmm..

[@bennaarsongidi9269]

I’m also curious. Same as opus 25 no 1

[@borodach6789]

Aren’t you supposed to hold the melody notes with the thumb?

[@brunoescoto9630]

i noticed that too, but because you use pedal on this piece you can barely notice the difference.

[@rodschmidt8952]

@@brunoescoto9630 Now I want to go easy on the pedal to the point where I hear the difference

[@brynmiller7547]

I wish I had a piano teacher this good. The one I had never played any pieces at all.

[@altudy]

Bryn Miller My feelings exactly. In all my years of piano lessons I rarely recall any piano teacher actually sitting down at the piano and demonstrating how it should be done.

[@dianeswanson8206]

Al Tudy I agree - it helps so much to hear how a piece should sound.

[@rodschmidt8952]

He skipped over the interesting thing about the timing: three notes in one hand vs four in the other. I learned in about second grade how to deal with this: "common divisors" and "commun multiples." Divide your total time into 12 little pieces (three times four). In the right hand, each note gets 3 of those little pieces; in the left hand, each note gets 4 of those little pieces. So, right: ONE two three FOUR five six SEVEN eight nine TEN eleven twelve; in the left hand, ONE two three four FIVE six seven eight NINE ten eleven twelve; in both together, ONE two three FOUR FIVE six SEVEN eight NINE TEN eleven twelve. You're welcome.

[@raleedy]

Possibly skipped over because it's not one of the more difficult aspects.

[@eliasspinas4117]

I am struggling very hard with the timing, and cannot find any videos to help me... Even Jane, the KZbinr who typically plays every price extremely slow, only plays the right hand unfortunately.

[@mralcina8726]

@@eliasspinas4117 bachscholar made a video on polyrithms. You should find it uselful

[@andre.vaz.pereira]

In this case the left hand is a triplet against four in the rigth. The third finger of the right hand comes together with the 5th finger of the left (wich is also dificult to do accuratly). It's a four per three only in half of the beat. There is a video where you can see a more clear graphic score of the rithmic diference betwen hands. Even so it is still hard work. kzbin.info/www/bejne/kGrGlHqnp9aWo6M&ab_channel=PianoRepertoire-SheetMusic

[@salvatoredilamatza]

@PaulBartonPiano hi¡¡ how bad is for a pianist to play the piano without the correct fingers as shown in the partiture even though the song sounds very good? does it matter??

[@Pablodabdoub]

Hello Paul, im curious in the 10th measure there is a D flat written in the measure and is never turned to natural before the next D. I see you play a D natural, can I ask why? How would I know to play it natural if the last D was made flat? Thank you!

[@interlectual_authority]

@salvatoredilamatza Something is only good or bad in the eyes of the beholder.

[@adrianoqwe32]

Wow

[@gbrollo1]

First finger in right hand must to be hold

[@Pietra430]

I can't be the only one finding the left hand MUCH more difficult to master

[@randykern1842]

His teacher would smack him for not holding down that note with his thumb, that’s the entire technique in this prelude

[@channelthechannel]

It's amazing how many skilled pianists cheat like this.

[@schutsheer_des_vaderlands]

Sheet music?

[@kevindam8694]

Yeah, maybe in my next life

[@MrChenweixing]

Would you mind setting auto generated English subtitles? I can't follow you…

[@walterkohler4223]

Lieber Paul, danke für diese guten Ideen! Sie sind sehr hilfreich! Ich habe in der letzten Woche einen neuen Notensatz für dieses Stück erstellt, um die kleinen Noten spielbarer zu machen. Der Satz kann heruntergeladen werden. Er ist auf www.walterkoehler.de zu finden unter walterkoehler.de/chopin-prelude-8/ Vielleicht gefällt er dir und hilft auch Anderen. Gute Wünsche von Walter Köhler Dear Paul, thank you for these good ideas! It is vera helpful. Last week I created a new notation for this piece to make the small notes more playable. The set can be downloaded. It can be found at www.walterkoehler.de or directly at walterkoehler.de/chopin-prelude-8/ Maybe you like it and it also help others. Best wishes from Walter Köhler, Germany

[@timotejbernat462]

If you can play it slowly, you can play it quickly

[@randykern1842]

I don’t know why this prelude scares so many pianists--yes it’s a challenge, but the technique is the SAME through-out, like an etude. Work more on the technique than the actual music and by the time you’re ready to study the music you’ll be good to go

[@gbrollo1]

First finger in right hand must tu be hold

[@republiccooper]

To me, playing it isn't so hard. It's memorising it that's tough for me (so far).

[@channelthechannel]

You're telling me you were able to sight read this piece? Sorry, not buying it.