F. Chopin - Etude Op. 25 no. 2 in F minor - analysis - Greg Niemczuk's lecture

[@pecfexfextus]

one of my favourite tutorials that i've seen on youtube. especially because this gets into the rhythmic complexity of this etude that a lot of people missed (even i did at one point)

[@vivienbenthem]

Really love your genuine one-take recording without any video editing. It isn't easy to manage all the shooting gears in place and then you need to teach as well as performing the entire piece. This needs extra effort to stay focus. I've learnt a lot from you. My respect to you Greg for making this project happen. 💎♥️

[@gregniemczuk]

Yes!! It is really hard! You know? I had to destroy my perfectionism to be able to do that.....

[@vivienbenthem]

@@gregniemczuk I fully understand Greg! All the best with the coming episodes. I'll keep watching your videos. 😉👍

[@LRPMQLRPC]

This one-take recording I found it so honest and open, I learnt a lot from this video, I really appreciate it as I'm staring this (my first Chopin etude), thank you!

[@gregniemczuk]

Thank you. Bravo!!! Good luck with that!

[@winfriedg.hallerbach6249]

Thanks very much again, Greg, for expertly explaining the intricacies and pitfalls behind the beauty of this particular etude !

[@Chopinette807]

Love that lecture ❤ as i am playing this right now. Definitely NOT an easy Etude… But it even reinforces my deep love and admiration for Chopin. Thank you for your work- it is of so much value!!! 🙏

[@Vinodivinoguay]

Siempre tenia duda cada vez la tocaba. Nadie me enseñaba asi aunque eran profesionales. Gracias a ti❤ me dio mucha enseñanza

[@gregniemczuk]

Me alegro mucho!

[@jenskluge7188]

It's reassuring that I realized all of this as a 16-year-old and even without any explanations or teacher. Even though I didn't quite have the technique back then and no one cared about it anyway. It's very reassuring and I agree to 1oo%.

[@gregniemczuk]

Wonderful!!! Of course, for smart people it's obvious. But I've heard so many bad performances during many masterclasses which I was giving in many schools/universities in the world....

[@ferencbuzas]

Being an amateur, I only realized the problem at about 55. :) What was sad: I asked my teacher, who teaches pianists at universities, but he did not even understand my problem. Thank you, Greg, for sharing the analysis. :)

[@panagiotismatsinopoulos]

Thank you very much for this video. You are an awesome teacher.

[@gregniemczuk]

Thank you so much!

[@khureldeulaanbaatar3958]

Was calmly waiting for you to cover this one as I’m learning it currently. All the more videos, all the more exciting.

[@gregniemczuk]

Khurelde thank you! Good luck with this! Thanks for the comment

[@Pianosemmisterios]

Love this etude, I learned about the hidden polyrhytm several years ago and it totally changed the way I play it.

[@KatiaMelkamini]

You are so passionate in your teaching, bravo!

[@idapiano]

I never finished this etude because of the triplet in the right hand. My teacher wanted it in the 6/8 .. now I’ll study it. Thank you.

[@יגאלנמני]

Greg, I love Chopin and his music with all my heart, your project is wonderfull and interesting, I saw all your videos in this project and waiting every day for a new video. Wish you big success with this project! Yigal

[@gregniemczuk]

Dear Yigal, thank you so much!! I'm happy with your words!

[@joannawronska4100]

SO WONDERFUL AS ALWAYS, MAESTRO!!!!! Thank you for one of my favourite Chopin's "The Bees" Etudes in an excellent rendition and for your great analysis/tutorial, congratulations for 6.110 subscribers to your channel, you deserve more and more...,again my best regards, have a nice evening. Joanna

[@mikhailuchitelev]

Thank you a million, Greg, for this fantastic insight into inner multidimensional God's zamysł of great Chopin. I started revisiting this piece after watching your phenomenal analysis.

[@gregniemczuk]

Thank you for your comment!

[@ll1773]

Thanks Greg for another wonderful analysis. Could you share which Chopin Etude do you like to suggest for first Etude to learn?

[@gregniemczuk]

Op.25 no1 or no.2 or op.10 no.5

[@naTure-vs2ef]

The best pianist person i have ever known u are mr greg♡♡♡ Damn ur always happy positive...i feel happy while watching ur videos pls never stop themm

[@gregniemczuk]

Thank you!!! Well.... When I'm analyzing dark pieces I don't have a good mood. All the best!

[@naTure-vs2ef]

@@gregniemczuk 💝

[@lindama7890]

I really enjoyed your teaching and the content. Very helpful to my practice, and enjoy the piece even more. Thank you!

[@gregniemczuk]

Thank you so much!

[@HARU-nb4xb]

5:45 Thanks for the video! It's very helpful. I will watch come back here again and practice more:)

[@ТерехинаСветланаНиколаевна]

Greg, thank you very much) You’re the best teacher)

[@nowmeow5649]

wonderful explanation! Thank you for this video.

[@gregniemczuk]

I'm so happy you like it!

[@CarmenD79]

Thank you very much, I'm learning it in this period for my exam.

[@AnSmith-w2z]

You could also enter this music into a notation program like Sibelius or Musescore, add accents to the beginning of each RH triplet, and then you would hear a mechanical version with the triplet RH accentuated. But in real life I think alla breve means just put more emphasis on the 1st and 7th notes in RH -- which is how Greg actually plays his RH when he demonstrates at 15:35.

[@gregniemczuk]

Yes I agree!

[@SharonaClarkeOfficial]

Sweet. Great breakdown. I'm working on this etude currently. I feel what you're putting down. :D

[@luigibaglioli6014]

Thanks for the analysis, this really help me a lot to improve my way to learn the F minor etude, the triplets is very hard for me yet ahhaahhaha, greetings from Brasil. I'll watch the other videos from the playlist! :)

[@erggish]

there is a slight difference in the essence of the recap of part A , since in bar 57 we have some stacatos that are not there in bar 7 (and a slower drop of volumes in bar 54). Something nice is that I was able to understand the beat differences only after 1 day of playing the right hand, while I could not during the first view of this video. Especially at fast tempos it becomes very subtle.

[@gregniemczuk]

Yes! In these staccatos I normally make a little ritardando, it's like a little slower.

[@erggish]

​@@gregniemczuk nice. So, in order to make sure I understand the piece, the (micro)accents on the two hands are supposed to be (in counting the bars in 12) 1,4,7,9 (RH) and 1,7 for the LH? And in the end the piece needs to be played counted in 2? That indeed looked mindblowing (and I haven't even tried the LH yet, as that starting 10th E to G is scaring me).

[@gregniemczuk]

@@erggish yes!

[@DelaCruzHJesus]

Hello Maestro, bravo! I got a question. What is your score's edition? Do you any recomendation about that? Thanks so much. Greetings from Perú, I had the opportunity of listening to you in Lima, playing Chopin.

[@gregniemczuk]

Hola!!! Que bueno!! Mucho gusto! Amo Perú! Espero venir por allá otra vez!!! Uso Jan Ekier National Urtext Edition. Te lo recomiendo!

[@DelaCruzHJesus]

@@gregniemczuk Muchas gracias maestro, espero tener la oportunidad de conocerlo en persona de tenerlo de regreso en Perú. Un abrazo.

[@haidengmusic847]

This video is great Greg but it upsets me to not know anything about the pedalling! Thank you so much for your time and work

[@MrInterestingthings]

Everyone sounds like they are playing this in 6/8. When you hear experts play it you cant tell (easily) if the left hand notes are not playing exactly with or against the triplets . I'm surprised more pianists don't talk about this .

[@negarsadeghi8424]

It was perfect😊😊😊

[@gregniemczuk]

Thank you!

[@rothschildianum]

I listened to several world class pianists playing this etude. NONE of them played the right hand in a group of three, they just played them as a long 12 note grouping (they did evenly). They just made sure the left hand in two 3 note grouping per bar. In addition, if we play right hand in 3 grouping, it produces a musically annoying performance (busy rhythm). Therefore, I am convinced that we do not need to worry about the grouping as you said. I will just follow the world class pianists style so I can sound like them.

[@gregniemczuk]

You're not correct. Lugansky Perahia and a few others respect that what I say. I really wonder what Chopin would say ..

[@rothschildianum]

@@gregniemczuk Yes, I wonder what Chopin would have said too.... Litsisa told me personally do not play like a tarantella. Playing like tarantella will definitely make this etude becomes very difficult and exausting .....

[@franksteuerwald5171]

Interesting analysis. Chopin specified "alla breve" though. This means there's just a slight accentuation on the 1st and 7th note in the right hand (together with the left hand). None on the 4th and the 10th note (in the right hand).

[@gregniemczuk]

Yes, good point 👏👏👏👍

[@stefanolanza8018]

One of the few I know who understood what the main difficulty is. (from around 6.00)

[@jelicamatic4421]

Hello, Greg! Thank you for your wonderful lecture and interpretation. I have a question for you. My student learns this etude. In Mr. Corto’s redaction, it is written “una corda” or “soft pedal.” It sounds very good when the whole piece is played under “una corda.” But I haven’t’ heard anyone to play it like that and honestly l am a little anxious whether I will make the big mistake in that case. Could you give me a piece of advice? Is it ok to play the whole etude whit una corda?

[@gregniemczuk]

Hi! You should try! It should be magic and out of this world!

[@jelicamatic4421]

@@gregniemczuk Dear Greg, thank you very much for your answer.

[@jordidewaard2937]

Oof yeah I learned this wrong initially. Good thing I'm only 2 weeks in :P. It's much harder with the proper rythm for sure

[@giuseppetarabella4018]

Hei Greg, could a solution be as follow? to play the 3th note on the right hand of the first triplet in the time with the second not of the triplet of the left hand, that is like in the wrong mode, but puttin the accent on the triplet, that is the 1th and the 4th note. In this way it become more easy to study, preserving the aim of Chopin. More in velocity the schematics is not audible. What do you think? ... I mean to play the the triplet on the right hand correctly, and playing the left hand in time as in the wrong mode...

[@gregniemczuk]

Yes! I think it can be a solution!

[@nowmeow5649]

Also, I get a bit confused. I just watched another masterclass video (kzbin.info/www/bejne/epLXZn2td6ydd9k) and there they say it's should be played 3 to 2, not 3 to 3.

[@gregniemczuk]

??? Really??? Omg.....

[@larchmontmark1]

Greg -- no need to worry! It appears nowmeow5649 just misunderstood Ms. Vered. She says exactly the same as you do. (And by the way, the little girl in that video actually does this aspect very well.)

[@AnSmith-w2z]

Interesting, and something I have wondered about. BUT, at tempo you can't hear a difference. Even your example of "badly" then "correctly" at 12:55 mark sounds the same!

[@gregniemczuk]

Hmmmm.... Maybe.....

[@cyw225]

If you accent RH every three notes per group according to the book. It becomes two against three betwenn both hands!

[@gregniemczuk]

Yes!

[@peterbrenton410]

It would be good to hear opus 25 no.12?:

[@gregniemczuk]

Be patient. I'm doing all opus 25

[@rosealiyeva185]

Right hand etude?

[@gregniemczuk]

Yes we can call it like that

[@larchmontmark1]

I wouldn't! 🙂 As you explain, it's an etude in rhythmic complexity between the two hands.

[@imhassan9119]

arent u still playing 2 notes on the right hand for one on the left?

[@gregniemczuk]

I do but with different accents

[@wadysawgalic5008]

Panie Grzegorzu, Po polsku by się przydało jeszcze 😊 Bo po angielsku ani w Ząb Znaczy się mówię o sobie 🫣

[@karolynhenderson3772]

Studying this now for a Berklee class, thank you so much for the insight!!

[@gregniemczuk]

Great! Good luck with that!

[@ShelbyBryant]

He starts getting to the point at 5:53

[@gregniemczuk]

Really? What am I doing before that than? It's an analysis not for musicians but for amateurs and music lovers. That's why I'm talking about basics also

[@larchmontmark1]

@@gregniemczuk Shelby has a point! I *love* this video (and all your videos!) and how you explain the piece, and your playing immediately demonstrates the point -- but it's not until about the 6-minute mark that you say exactly what's the issue. NO PROBLEM! I'm just noting that Shelby has a point.

[@AndroidSon]

You play very nice! That etude absolutely not impressed. Nothing, just sounds. No sences.

[@ZiadHussien-ni9de]

Hmm you need more practice. There are many mistakes from notes to dynamics.

[@gregniemczuk]

I agree Ziad. But this is not a show off video. It's only an analysis of the music. You have to know the background of those videos to really understand. I made analyses of all Chopin's music in less than 2 years of COVID-19 pandemic. I was publishing videos every week and etudes/preludes even EVERY DAY. The reason was to give people some brightness in those dark times. And I had to hurry because I had a deadline - it was sponsored by the Polish Ministry of culture and I had to finish this by the exact date.

[@gregniemczuk]

Here you can hear more about the while project: kzbin.info/www/bejne/m5SmdoRuprOda5osi=LHSjkQBAx-kg01v5

[@svetavinogradova4243]

What weird facial grimaces you are doing with your face? Yuo are tense? all tense...

[@gregniemczuk]

Well, could you watch it with you eyes closed please?? Maybe you're right. Probably it's tension.....

[@svetavinogradova4243]

@@gregniemczuk I could - there are some errors creeping in, some swallowed notes... you are right about triplets though. I am not a professional musician, you sound like a trained pianist who cannot be in the top ranks. Not every note is clear - like marbles - some get muted randomly , this is a technical problem, not interpretation. "mush". You are obviously talented and musical. You also look like a person who can manage constructive criticism and come out on the other side improved and stronger. What I can judge though - your facial problems are very serious - you are a very handsome man, they make you ugly when playing, please work on it. I am not aiming to offend. But maybe you can take a mashmallow into your mouth and check your lips are not tightening when you play - your action should be in your fingers?

[@svetavinogradova4243]

@@gregniemczuk i would not mind if you delete my comment - I do not want to offend you, I want you to solve the facial muscles thing and become better as a pianist .

[@gregniemczuk]

@@svetavinogradova4243 thank you. It's ok. I'm aware of it. But you know what? When I try to control my face, I play much worse!! It becomes empty and cold.....

[@svetavinogradova4243]

@@gregniemczuk I looked at your website - Chopin etude 10 - there is no problem, face is fine, and your playing is definitely emotional, very emotional. To me it says - this problem is new, and so you can kill it easily as it is not ingrained - maybe by plaing jazz, to achieve relaxation? I loved etude N10 - I thought you are quite "free" with the phythm in the right hand - but definitely good. And your techinique is surely vERY professional... so do nto let any tiny muscle problems affect you! Your stage presence matters - a beautiful person playing beautifully - matters!