Prelude Op. 28 No. 4 in E minor

Frédéric Chopin · Level 4 (Intermediate) · Romantic · Piano

A plaintive melody over chords sliding by semitones; this prelude was played at Chopin’s funeral. One of the 24 Preludes Op. 28 (1839), one in each key: miniatures of great intensity. E minor, 2/2, 26 bars (about 2 minutes), complete score.

▶ Play this piece with the interactive score

How to practise it

• Listen first: the site plays it while the score scrolls.
• Wait mode: the score waits for you at every note, at your own pace.
• Tempo challenge: play in time, with a score and a map of the bars you got right.
• Change the pedal with each harmony, listening carefully: the sound must never blur. The piece starts with a pickup: count the incomplete bar before coming in. Triplets and other tuplets must be perfectly even: count them aloud with the metronome. For chords, shape the hand in the air before landing, all notes together.

More pieces by Frédéric Chopin

• Prelude Op. 28 No. 9 in E major
• Prelude Op. 28 No. 6 in B minor
• Prelude Op. 28 No. 20 in C minor
• Mazurka in G-sharp minor Op. 33 No. 1
• Prelude Op. 28 No. 10 in C-sharp minor
• Prelude Op. 28 No. 11 in B major
• Prelude Op. 28 No. 14 in E-flat minor
• Prelude Op. 28 No. 2 in A minor

Source : Mutopia Project · Public Domain