Prelude in E minor, Op. 28 No. 4

Frédéric Chopin (1,810–1,849)

Key: E minor
Style: Romantic
Level: Level 7
Roughly: RCM 7 · ABRSM 6 · Trinity 6–7 · Henle 4
Lesson: 7.5 Keep the pulse under rubato
Musicianship: 7.5 Triplets and five beats
Focus: prelude: one figure or texture sustained (varies)

What its lesson teaches

7.5 Keep the pulse under rubato

Study Chopin’s Prelude in E minor, Op. 28 No. 4: a long melody over left-hand chords that slip down by semitones. Keep the chords’ pulse steady and let the melody give and take time above them. At the keyboard: play a melody freely over a steady bass.

Ideas: Rubato
The phrase
Theory cards: Una corda and sostenuto
Rubato and the underlying pulse
Romantic style
Technique: E harmonic minor scale, hands separately, 2 octaves

Edition and licence

Score: Mutopia Project · public domain

Prelude: Op. 28, No. 4 ('Suffocation')

Typeset by Magnus Lewis-Smith.

Public Domain

Source: https://www.mutopiaproject.org/cgibin/piece-info.cgi?id=468

Licence: Public Domain (Mutopia Project licensing: https://www.mutopiaproject.org/legal.html)

Adapted by Musalea: converted to MusicXML and prepared for interactive practice.

The other lesson pieces of Level 7

Invention No. 3 in D major, BWV 774, Johann Sebastian Bach
Piano Sonata No. 20 in G major, Op. 49 No. 2: I. Allegro ma non troppo, Ludwig van Beethoven
Invention No. 7 in E minor, BWV 778, Johann Sebastian Bach
Für Elise (Bagatelle in A minor), WoO 59, Ludwig van Beethoven
Autumn Circle Etude, written for the Method
Piano Sonata No. 19 in G minor, Op. 49 No. 1: I. Andante, Ludwig van Beethoven
Invention No. 8 in F major, BWV 779, Johann Sebastian Bach
Invention No. 11 in G minor, BWV 782, Johann Sebastian Bach
La huérfana, Op. 1 No. 9, Enrique Granados
Lullaby (Berceuse), Op. 109 No. 7, Friedrich Burgmüller

Practise all 157 lessons at your piano

In Musalea each lesson runs step by step, and after every run the app tells you what to fix: the bar, the hand and how to practise it.

14 practice days · everything unlocked · no card