What level is Chopin?

So much of Chopin's music is extremely difficult, and even his easiest pieces are at an intermediate-early advanced level.

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In today’s episode of PianoTV, I want to discuss the easiest Chopin pieces, and the ones to avoid until you’re very skilled. So much of Chopin’s music is extremely difficult, and even his easiest pieces are at an intermediate-early advanced level. If you’ve been wanting to learn Chopin but don’t know where to start, this should be helpful to you. This is where I start my students off with Chopin as well, so I’ve test-driven these pieces in real life. I’ll be using the Royal Conservatory of Music (RCM) for when I refer to “grades” – ABRSM is similar, it just doesn’t go as high. If you’d like to see what Chopin pieces are the most difficult, follow the link. These are some of the hardest piano pieces of all time.

Chopin song categories

I think the easiest way to do this is break his compositions into genre categories, like so:

Preludes

Waltzes

Polonaises

Mazurkas

Nocturnes

Etudes

Ballades

Other

And talk about which are the easiest Chopin pieces in each of those categories, and which ones are best avoided until you’ve got mad skillz.

Easiest Chopin Pieces: Start from the beginning

If you’re not sure if you’re at a late-intermediate level (and therefore ready for Chopin), start with one of his easiest pieces (which we’ll talk about below), and see if it’s a huge struggle. If it is, give yourself some time before returning to it and try again. Most students need an absolute minimum of 3 years experience before attempting these.

Chopin’s Preludes

The preludes seem very approachable because they’re all pretty short – most of them are about a page in length. Some of them truly are approachable – others are a complete nightmare.

The easiest preludes are:

Prelude in C minor (op. 28 no. 20) – gr. 6 RCM

Prelude in E minor (op. 28 no. 4) – gr. 7 RCM

Prelude in B minor (op. 28 no. 6) – gr. 8 RCM

Beyond that, there are quite a few preludes that are approachable at a grade 9-10 level, but some go even beyond that (in my opinion), like the Eb major prelude, op. 28 no. 19.

look inside Chopin – Preludes

Composed by Frederic Chopin (1810-1849). Edited by Brian Ganz. Schirmer Performance Editions. Classical. Softcover Audio Online. 96 pages. Published by G. Schirmer (HL.296523).

Chopin’s Waltzes

One of the first Chopin pieces I teach my students is his Waltz in A minor, since it’s very well-known, it’s very approachable, and has some fancy show-off parts too. Beyond that, his waltzes really aren’t easy. Some of the best ones, like his op. 64 waltzes, are around a grade 9 level, but Chopin is so nuanced that it’s really only a good idea to try those once you’ve been acquainted with his style.

Chopin’s easiest waltzes:

Waltz in A minor, op. posth. B 150 – grade 6 RCM

Waltz in A flat major, op. 69 no. 1 “L’adieu” – grade 8 RCM

Waltz in B minor, op. 69, no. 2 – grade 8 RCM

Wait for later: Grande Valse Brilliante, op. 18. Since this tune is so catchy, people sometimes think it isn’t very challenging – it’s definitely one of his most difficult waltzes (ARCT level), so consider yourself warned.

look inside Waltzes

Piano Solo. Composed by Frederic Chopin (1810-1849). Edited by Ewald Zimmermann. Piano (Harpsichord), 2-hands. Henle Music Folios. Urtext edition-paper bound. Romantic Period. Collection (softcover). With Critical Commentary. 110 pages. G. Henle #HN131. Published by G. Henle (HL.51480131).

Chopin’s Polonaises

With the exception of a few Polonaises (which I’ll show you below), most of Chopin’s Polonaises are very advanced, beyond the waltzes. There are many that are at a grade 10 level and beyond. His easiest ones were all published posthumously (after he died), so that’s something to consider as well.

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Chopin’s easiest Polonaises:

Polonaise in B flat major, op. posth. B3 – Grade 7 RCM

Polonaise in G minor, op. posth. B1 – Grade 7 RCM

Polonaise in A flat major, op. posth. B5 – Grade 8 RCM

look inside Polonaises

Piano Solo. Composed by Frederic Chopin (1810-1849). Edited by Carl Mikuli and C Mikuli. Piano Collection. Romantic Period. Collection. With fingerings, thematic index and introductory text (does not include words to the songs). 107 pages. G. Schirmer #LB29. Published by G. Schirmer (HL.50252190).

Chopin’s Mazurkas

None of Chopin’s Mazurkas are particularly easy – you’d be better off starting with the easier preludes and waltzes first. But once you’ve got a few Chopin pieces under your belt, here are a few good ones to try: Mazurka in A minor, op 68 posth. no 2 – grade 8 RCM

Mazurka in A minor, op 7 no 2 – grade 8 RCM

Mazurka in G minor, op 67 posth. no 2 – grade 8 RCM Overall, his Mazurkas are mid-range pieces – early advanced to advanced, most between a grade 8-10 level.

look inside Chopin — Mazurkas (Complete)

Composed by Frederic Chopin (1810-1849). Edited by Willard A. Palmer. Masterworks; Piano Collection. Alfred Masterwork Edition. Masterwork; Romantic. Book. 184 pages. Published by Alfred Music (AP.2481C).

Chopin’s Nocturnes

Chopin’s nocturnes are almost entirely out of reach until you’re at an early advanced level. They range in difficulty from grade 9 – ARCT (which is basically the highest level). There is one nocturne you can attempt if you’ve had success with some of the previous Chopin suggestions, though:

Nocturne in G minor, op 15 no 3 – grade 8 RCM

Beyond that, save the nocturnes for later.

look inside Nocturnes

Piano Solo. Composed by Frederic Chopin (1810-1849). Edited by Ewald Zimmermann. Piano (Harpsichord), 2-hands. Urtext Editions. Pages: 120. Romantic Period. Collection (softcover). With standard notation, fingerings, introductory text and thematic index (does not include words to the songs). 120 pages. G. Henle #HN185. Published by G. Henle (HL.51480185). That concludes our list of the easiest Chopin pieces (They’re all listed together at the end of this post as well). Now we turn to the categories that you don’t even want to look at funny unless you’re quite advanced.

Chopin’s Etudes

Nope, don’t even bother. With the exception of one etude at a grade 10 level (the one in F minor, no. 2), all of them are ARCT level. These are up there with some of the most difficult piano repertoire of all time. Save these pieces for dreams and later goals.

look inside Chopin — Etudes (Complete)

Composed by Frederic Chopin (1810-1849). Edited by Willard A. Palmer. Masterworks; Piano Collection. Alfred Masterwork Edition. Form: Etude. Masterwork; Romantic. Book. 144 pages. Published by Alfred Music (AP.2500C).

Chopin’s Ballades

The ballades are just as challenging as the etudes, at an ARCT level. They’re beautiful and amazing, but out of reach to all but the very advanced players.

look inside Ballades

Piano Solo. Composed by Frederic Chopin (1810-1849). Edited by C Mikuli. Piano Collection. Collection, Classical, Romantic. 60 pages. G. Schirmer #LB1552. Published by G. Schirmer (HL.50260030).

Chopin’s Other Pieces

Some very famous Chopin pieces include his Fantaisie-Impromptu and his Scherzos, all of which are extremely difficult (at an ARCT level).

look inside Impromptus

Piano Solo. Composed by Frederic Chopin (1810-1849). Edited by Ewald Zimmermann. Piano (Harpsichord), 2-hands. Henle Music Folios. Urtext edition-paper bound. Romantic Period. Collection (softcover). With introductory text, performance notes and fingerings. 52 pages. G. Henle #HN235. Published by G. Henle (HL.51480235).

The Five Easiest Chopin Pieces

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So now that we’ve looked at Chopin’s main categories, let’s look at the top 5 easiest of all of them.

We’ll go in order from easiest to hardest.

Prelude in C minor, op. 28 no. 20 – grade 6 RCM

Part of what makes this song easiest is that it’s only half a page long, and extremely slow. It might be more difficult if you have small hands, since there are constant big chords and octaves in both hands.

Waltz in A minor, op. posth. B150 – grade 6 RCM

The chord patterns in this waltz are very doable at an intermediate level. The hardest part about this tune is the wide melody leaps, and the frills and trills. It’s got lots of repetition which is helpful.

Prelude in E minor, op. 28, no. 4 – grade 7 RCM

If you’re comfortable with chords, this one isn’t too hard. I’ve always found this one pretty easy to sight read, especially with the right hand being so sparse. There’s a challenging section in the middle, but with this one the biggest challenge lies in conveying a mood and keeping the dynamics moving (so it doesn’t sound flat).

Polonaise in G minor, op. posth. B1 – grade 7 RCM

Both polonaises are very similar in difficulty – I find this one just slightly easier. There are some very fast arpeggios and lots of light movement which make this one challenging.

Polonaise in B flat major, op. posth. B3 – grade 7 RCM

This one is very similar to the Gm polonaise in difficulty, but this one has fast LH rocking octaves and more movement, which is why I consider it slightly harder.

Easiest chopin pieces (top 13)

Now I’ll give you a complete list of the easiest Chopin pieces we talked about (beyond the top 5). I’ll make this list available on the blog post if you want to reference it.

Prelude in C minor (op. 28 no. 20) – gr. 6 RCM

Waltz in A minor, op. posth. B 150 – grade 6 RCM

Prelude in E minor (op. 28 no. 4) – gr. 7 RCM

Polonaise in G minor, op. posth. B1 – Grade 7 RCM

Polonaise in B flat major, op. posth. B3 – Grade 7 RCM

Prelude in B minor (op. 28 no. 6) – gr. 8 RCM

Waltz in A flat major, op. 69 no. 1 “L’adieu” – grade 8 RCM

Waltz in B minor, op. 69, no. 2 – grade 8 RCM

Polonaise in A flat major, op. posth. B5 – Grade 8 RCM

Mazurka in A minor, op 68 posth. no 2 – grade 8 RCM

Mazurka in A minor, op 7 no 2 – grade 8 RCM

Mazurka in G minor, op 67 posth. no 2 – grade 8 RCM

Nocturne in G minor, op 15 no 3 – grade 8 RCM

Conclusion

And those, my friends, are the easiest Chopin pieces.

Don’t despair if you find even the easiest among them quite difficult – if you haven’t been playing piano for long, you might want to save these ones for later. There are a lot of nuances in these pieces that make them very difficult for beginners. But don’t be afraid to try them, either! Chopin is a blast to play.

xo,

Allysia

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pianotv.net - The Easiest Chopin Pieces (And the most difficult) - PianoTV.net

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