Prelude Op. 28 No. 9 in E major

Frédéric Chopin · Level 5 (Advanced) · Romantic · Piano

A twelve-bar Largo prelude, solemn like a chorale: a melody in dotted rhythms over even triplets and a bass in octaves. One of the 24 Preludes Op. 28 (1839), one in each key: miniatures of great intensity. E major, 4/4, 12 bars (about one minute), 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.
• Keep the triplets even and place the sixteenth of the dotted rhythm after the last triplet, without merging them. Change the pedal with each harmony, listening carefully: the sound must never blur. Key signature with 4 sharps: name them aloud before playing and spot the places where accidentals cancel them. One hand sometimes plays two voices: hold the long notes for their full value and let the main line sing louder than the accompaniment.

More pieces by Frédéric Chopin

• Prelude Op. 28 No. 4 in E minor
• 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 · CC BY-SA 4.0