When we start learning piano, we often dream of playing the most beautiful, elaborate pieces by the biggest names in classical music: Beethoven, Bach, Liszt, Rachmaninoff, and so on. However, most of these songs take years and years of practice to become playable.
There are, however, a few that are attainable earlier in our playing that help to unlock our musicality. Today, we're taking a look at one such instance with Frédéric Chopin's Waltz in A Minor B.150.
Chopin was born in 1810 in Poland, where he was quickly recognized as a child prodigy. He gave his first concert at just 8 and gained wider notoriety at 17 with the publication of Variations, Op. 2. It was not long after that that he moved to Paris, the cultural hub of art. His life was lived at the dawn of what we now call the Romantic era, which spanned approximately from 1820 to 1910. The period marked a shift in music towards individual expression.
"Composers brought their musical narratives to life in sound by making each work a unique expression of emotions, creating organic unity for each piece, breaking the rules of form established in the Classical Period, using more dissonance, and expanding instrumentation," Liberty Park Music explains.
Chopin's music is noted for its use of dissonance, chromaticism, and chord substitutions. While much of his music sits at an advanced level, Waltz in A Minor B.150 achieves a rich experience without twisting your fingers in a knot.
It's written in A minor, meaning the diatonic notes are all natural with no sharps or flats - just the white keys. Don't get too excited yet: there are plenty of accidentals as the song unfolds. The piece begins with four chords that move through the circle of fifths to resolve to a C chord, which is the relative major of A minor. (Jazz musicians may recognize this pattern, especially as the beginning of "Fly Me to the Moon.)
The melody begins sweetly with stepwise motion that guides listeners from phrase to phrase. It may be simple, but this is where real musicianship shines, as you must focus on phrasing, expression, and articulation to make the notes come to life.
"Think of phrases as sentences and connect the notes together in a phrase (legato)," Pianote explains. "Remember: Chopin was inspired by the human voice. Physically taking a breath at the beginning of a phrase and exhaling throughout will also help you make your piano 'sing.'"
Although the piece serves as an entry into Chopin, it's not without its difficulties. Measures 21 through 24 mark a climax in the piece, featuring a triplet followed by a quintuplet as the melody rises an octave. This rhythmic hurdle can be clarified by lining up the beat of the left-hand accompaniment with the right-hand's subdivisions. Play it slowly to get the feeling right before bringing it up to tempo.
This performance by Greg Niemczuk expresses the beauty of the piece while also showing the technical demands as his fingers glide across the keys.
Get the sheet music for Chopin's Waltz in A Minor and start building your repertoire: