Etude Op.10, No.2 - Chopin.pdf

Étude Op.10, No.2 - Chopin 

Étude Op.10, No.2  Frédéric François Chopin  This piece is nicknamed the ‘Chromatic’ ‘Chromatic’ étude for obvious reasons. Chopin wrote the piece as an exercise to develop independence independence in the weaker ngers of a pianist’s right hand. hand. The entire piece consists of fast chromatic scales played in perpetual motion (a constant stream of notes without break or change in rhythm). When played on guitar, this étude is equally useful for working on various aspects of technique. This being a chromatic study, study, it lends itself ideally to guitarists wanting to practice their 4 note-per-string alternate picking, as well as working on building strength in each of the fretting hand’s four ngers.

Arranging music that was originally composed on another instrument often brings technical challenges, particularly when dealing with an already technically demanding piece such as this. With this étude, the main main challenge was trying to to get around some very un-guitary position shifts. A solution to this problem was to incorporate a few large leaps up and down the fretboard. I can assure you that, no matter matter how daunting they may look on the page, in practice these leaps are quite manageable. Performance Notes

Bars 1 & 2 The rst seven beats of the piece consist of a simple ascending and descending chromatic scale. Pay attention to the ngering in the rst two beats of bar 2 – it indicates an important

position shift that enables you to maintain the 4 note-per-string pattern (a constant theme of this arrangement). Bars 3 - 7 Again, follow the prescribed ngering carefully in these few

bars. There are a number of position shifts indicated, which are important in maintaining the ow of the piece. Bar 8 For the rst time we break from the chromatic movement. This bar oers something of a nger-twister – ideal for working on the nger independence that Chopin intended from this étude. Bar 15 After a repeat of the opening few bars, we get our rst large

leap up the fretboard. The leap in question is from the the 13th to the 17th fret – shifting position by a massive seven frets in the space of a 16th note. On paper this may look daunting, daunting, but in practice it’s quite manageable – a little practice here will have you leaping all over the fretboard in no time. Bar 17

Here we have another break from the chromatic pattern of the piece. Beats 2, 3 and 4 of this bar consist of a descending sequence. Beats 2 and 3 have switched switched to a 3 note-per-string

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pattern while beat 4 avoids an unnecessary stretch by playing its highest note on the string above.

Étude Op.10, No.2 - Chopin 

Bar 18

Bar 35

Something worth mentioning here is the transition between beats 2 and 3. Notice how the 14th fret is played consecutively

With the previous bars being played with an up stroke on the beat, we’re faced with the problem of getting back to picking with a down stroke on the beat, in time for when the piece returns to its chromatic nature. Conveniently, the perfect opportunity for the transition occurs just before the piece reverts back to the chromatic scale. The change in picking is achieved in beat 3 of this bar, by means of economy picking (two same picking directions in a row).

on both the D and G strings. The indicated ngering shows this is achieved by rolling our 4th nger across the two strings. Bar 21

This bar features the only legato note of the entire piece – an opportunity to give your picking hand a rest for one 16th note! Bars 25 - 27

Here we have a nice sequence of descending chromatic scales. The two instances of string skipping shouldn’t cause too many problems, and they make for an eective break in an otherwise

continuous stream of chromatic notes. Bars 28 & 29 The rst beat of both these bars consists of a descending scale

Bars 45 - 49 The piece’s nal climatic chromatic run is played using a series of position shifts. Again, these look much more dicult

on paper! It shouldn’t take too much work to get this run sounding seamlessly uid, despite the apparently ambitious

hand leaps.

run. Sticking to the 4 note-per-string pattern, I decided not to opt for a stretchy 4-digit ngering, but instead utilised a position shift (see prescribed ngering).

Gear Used

Bars 32 - 34

If this piece had been written 150 years later by a pop songwriter we’d probably be calling this section the middle 8 or

• PRS Custom 24 Guitar – neck pickup coil-tapped • 70’s Marshall JMP amp head:

bridge. Three scalic sequences provide an eective contrast to

the chromatic scales of the rest of the piece. When it comes to string crossing while alternate picking, I personally prefer inside picking (see the previous two transcriptions for more info). So, to facilitate this preference, I played the rst note of the rst

sequential run with an up stroke – meaning every time a string was crossed, it was on the ‘inside’ of my picking motion. As I’ve mentioned before, this is just personal preference, so feel free to modify the picking style to whatever suits you.

GAIN

BASS

MIDDLE

TREBLE

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Étude Op.10, No.2  Frédéric François Chopin  Arranged by Paul Bielatowicz 

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Étude Op.10, No.2 - Chopin 

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Étude Op.10, No.2 - Chopin 

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Étude Op.10, No.2 - Chopin 

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Étude Op.10, No.2 - Chopin 

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Notation Legend

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