Learning to Listen: Refining skills with piano etudes

Professor Alexander Braginsky is passionate about piano etudes. "Etudes occupy a special place in my life," he says.

Braginsky teaches piano at the University of Minnesota and at Hamline University. In addition to teaching college students, he insists on keeping a handful of beginning piano students.

As those who speak or have studied French know, the word étude means "study." As such, piano études often focus on a certain skill or technique. For instance, this Chopin étude focuses on trills:

Braginsky founded the International e-Piano Competition and the e-Piano Junior Competition. Hear him discuss the importance of piano études on this week's episode of Learning to Listen from Classical MPR.

Program Playlist

Franz Liszt
Transcendental Etude #5 "Feux follets"
Vladimir Ashkenazy, piano
Philips 456715

Carl Czerny
Etudes from Op 740
Francesco Libetta, piano
VAI 1241

Muzio Clementi
Gradus ad Parnassum #21 in F minor

Moritz Moszkowski
Virtuosic Etudes
Vladimir Horowitz, piano
RCA 7755

Frederic Chopin
Etudes Op 10, Nos. 1-5
Vladimir Ashkenazy, piano
London/Decca 414127

Frederic Chopin
Etudes Op 25, Nos. 1 & 2
Vladimir Ashkenazy, piano
London/Decca 414127

Francois Morel
Etude de sonorite, no. 1
Valerie Tryon, piano
CBC 1065

Nikolai Kapustin
Eight Concert Etudes, Op 40 No 3
Marc Andre Hamelin
Hyperion 67433

Gyrogy Ligeti
Etudes Book 1, no. 5
Jeremy Denk, piano
Nonesuch 530562

Franz Liszt
Transcendental Etude no. 3 "Paysage"
Vladimir Ashkenazy, piano
Philips 456715​

Gallery

Fullscreen SlidePrevious Slide

1 of 1

Next Slide