Chopin for intermediate and returning adults

Start with the Prelude in E minor, Op. 28 No. 4, then the Nocturne in B major, Op. 32 No. 1, and work down to the Fantaisie-Impromptu. The form and the opening chords are free on each piece page.

The twelve, in order

1. Prelude in E minor, Op. 28 No. 4

Prelude Op. 28 No. 4 is level 3 of 8, 25 bars, Largo. The left hand repeats chords that sink by half steps, usually one note at a time, under a melody that barely moves, and bars 14–16 take the same descent in half the time.

2. Nocturne in B major, Op. 32 No. 1

Nocturne Op. 32 No. 1 is level 4, 65 bars. The left hand is simple broken chords in a small span, and the right hand carries an ornamented melody into a bare unison recitative in B minor after the German sixth in bar 62.

3. Nocturne in E minor, Op. 72 No. 1

Nocturne Op. 72 No. 1 is level 4. The left hand plays the same broken-chord pattern from first bar to last, so once it is in the hand it stays, and the single-line melody thickens toward the end.

4. Nocturne in G minor, Op. 15 No. 3

Nocturne Op. 15 No. 3 is level 4. A single line marked languido sits over the quietest left hand of the nocturnes, with no wide stretches, until the middle section, a slow chorale where both hands play chords.

5. Waltz in C♯ minor, Op. 64 No. 2

Waltz Op. 64 No. 2 is level 5, 192 bars. The più mosso section runs in eighths over V⁷ and i, and it comes round three times, at bars 33–64, 97–128 and 161–192. The slow D♭ major middle at bars 65–96 is the rest, and it never comes back.

6. Nocturne in E♭ major, Op. 9 No. 2

Nocturne Op. 9 No. 2 is level 5, 34 bars. The left hand plays a bass note then two chords, with leaps of a tenth and more, kept quiet under the melody. The ornaments grow with each return of the theme, and the coda’s run sits on one chord, B♭⁷.

7. Nocturne in F minor, Op. 55 No. 1

Nocturne Op. 55 No. 1 is level 5, 101 bars. The outer sections put a bass and a chord under a march-like tune. In the più mosso middle, bars 48–72, the left hand moves faster while the right hand plays triplets against it, then triplet runs sit over the march bass from bar 77, and a fast run ends the piece.

8. Nocturne in B♭ minor, Op. 9 No. 1

Nocturne Op. 9 No. 1 is level 5, 85 bars. The right hand plays long decorative runs of 11 and 22 notes that have to land on a steady beat, while the left hand plays broken chords up to a tenth all the way through.

9. Nocturne in F♯ major, Op. 15 No. 2

Nocturne Op. 15 No. 2 is level 6, 62 bars. The most ornamented melody in the set sits over a calm left hand in the outer sections, and the middle, doppio movimento at bars 25–38, goes twice as fast with awkward cross-rhythms in the left hand.

10. Nocturne in C♯ minor, Op. 27 No. 1

Nocturne Op. 27 No. 1 is level 6, 101 bars. Wide left-hand arpeggios carry the outer sections under a single-note melody. From bar 29 the più mosso middle puts octaves and chords in the right hand and octaves in the left, climbing to a B♯°⁷ held fff at bar 81 and a cadenza back into the theme.

11. Nocturne in D♭ major, Op. 27 No. 2

Nocturne Op. 27 No. 2 is level 6, 77 bars in 6/8. The left hand plays wide arpeggios without a break, under a melody in thirds and sixths with cadenzas.

12. Fantaisie-Impromptu, Op. 66, the stretch goal

Fantaisie-Impromptu Op. 66 is level 7, 138 bars, Allegro agitato. Bars 35–40 run chromatically and then in octaves in both hands, and bars 83–118 repeat bars 5–40, so it all comes twice. Learn the slow D♭ major middle, bars 41–82, first: its tune comes back in the bass of the C♯ major coda.

Returning after years away

If you played as a teenager and stopped, the melody comes back fast. You can sing it, and the right hand remembers more of it than you expect. The left hand is what was never really learned. Most of us read it note by note, got it under the fingers by repetition, and never knew which chord we were on, so when it went, it went completely. That is why the two-pass method works for returners. Play the melody over one root-position chord per harmony first, from our edition, and you learn the progression you skipped the first time. Then put Chopin’s own pattern over chords the hands already know. You can restart from any bar because you know which chord you are on, and you hear the melody over its chords in the first session instead of after weeks on the left hand.

The whole list

If you mean to work through all twelve, Lifetime is every piece, now and later, for $199.