The easiest Chopin piece in every genre

The easiest Chopin piece is the Waltz in A minor, B. 150, the only piece in these genres with a published difficulty level of 3 on the scale of 1 to 9. Everything else starts at 4, and every genre has one piece that lets you in with the least left hand. The full table is in Every Chopin piece by difficulty.

Nocturne: C minor, B. 108

Six nocturnes share the lowest published level, 5, and the posthumous Nocturne in C minor, B. 108 is the easiest of them, level 3 of 8 on our scale. Its left hand is simple broken chords with few changes per bar, and its right hand is a plain melody with a few turns; none of the other five is that light in both hands. The runner-up is Op. 15 No. 3 in G minor, a single line marked languido over a quiet accompaniment with no wide stretches, with a slow chorale in the middle. The easiest nocturne we publish is Op. 32 No. 1 in B major, 65 bars of simple broken chords in a small span under an ornamented melody, then a bare recitative that ends the piece in B minor.

Waltz: A minor, B. 150

The Waltz in A minor, B. 150, published after Chopin’s death, is a 3, and the only waltz below 4. The left hand is the plain waltz pattern, a bass note then two chords, and it stays in that pattern. The right hand is a simple sad tune with a few ornaments, an eight-bar second theme with one brisk rising arpeggio, and a middle section in A major, all at Allegretto. The runner-up is Op. 69 No. 2 in B minor at 4. Our edition of the C♯ minor waltz, Op. 64 No. 2, a 6, is available.

Prelude: E minor, Op. 28 No. 4

Three preludes share the lowest level in Op. 28, 4: No. 4 in E minor, No. 7 in A major and No. 20 in C minor. No. 4 is the pick, and we rate it 3 of 8, because its left hand is a repeated chord that sinks by half steps, usually one note at a time, under a right hand that plays one melody note at a time for 25 bars marked Largo. No. 7, Andantino in the style of a mazurka, is 16 bars with chords in both hands, and No. 20 is 13 bars of slow quarter-note chords in the right hand over octaves in the left, so both ask for a fuller hand than No. 4.

Mazurka: A minor, Op. 68 No. 2

The Mazurka in A minor, Op. 68 No. 2 is a 4, and no mazurka is rated lower. It is marked Lento, so the left hand’s bass note and chords have time to land, the right hand is a single line with grace notes, the tune turns briefly to C major, and the middle section in A major moves a little faster. Six other mazurkas share the level (Op. 7 No. 5, Op. 24 No. 2, Op. 33 No. 3 and three without opus number); the two others we list, Op. 7 No. 1 and Op. 17 No. 4, are 5.

Étude: E major, Op. 10 No. 3

The four études at the lowest published level, 6, are Op. 10 No. 9, Op. 25 No. 1 and two of the Trois nouvelles études; of the three we list, Op. 10 No. 3 in E major is the pick at 7. In its outer sections the left hand is a slow two-voice accompaniment, and the demand is in the right hand, which holds the melody on top while playing its own accompaniment in the middle voice; the middle section, chromatic double notes in both hands, is the hard part. Op. 10 No. 5 is also a 7, but it is fast triplets on the black keys from first bar to last over a leaping left hand, so No. 3 comes first.

Polonaise: A major, Op. 40 No. 1

The Military Polonaise, Op. 40 No. 1 is a 5. Its left hand is chords and octaves in the polonaise rhythm, with a drum-roll figure in the D major trio, and its right hand is chords, almost the whole piece forte or louder, so the demand is a full sound and a steady rhythm rather than speed. The only polonaises rated 4 are two Chopin wrote as a child, in G minor and B♭ major. The Heroic, Op. 53, is an 8.

Impromptu: Fantaisie-Impromptu, Op. 66

All four impromptus are 7. The one to take first is the Fantaisie-Impromptu, Op. 66: its left hand plays one broken-chord shape, six notes to the half bar, through the whole fast section, and the demand is the right hand’s sixteenths, four against the left hand’s three. The middle section, bars 41–82, is a slow tune in D♭ major, and that tune comes back in the bass of the coda in C♯ major. We rate it 7 of 8.

Ballades and scherzos

Ballades Nos. 1, 2 and 3 are 8 and No. 4 is a 9. No. 1 in G minor is the one we list.

Scherzo No. 2 in B♭ minor, Op. 31, is a 7 and the other three are 8.

A nocturne, or twelve pieces

Which Chopin nocturne to learn first starts with Op. 32 No. 1 and names two runners-up. Chopin for intermediate and returning adults puts twelve pieces in the order to learn them.