Prelude in E minor

About this piece

Chopin marked this prelude Largo: very slow. The right hand sings just a few notes, often only B and C, while the left-hand chords sink one half step at a time. Listen to how each new chord changes only one note. The music swells in the middle, then fades into silence before the last chords.

What it practices

• slowly changing left-hand chords
• a singing right hand
• chords that move by half steps
• pedal

Where the notes come from

Mutopia Project edition (Magnus Lewis-Smith, from the Peters edition, 1879; public domain), compared with this file note by note by our checking script. A turn and two grace notes in that edition are left out. The half-step motion is described in Wikipedia’s article on the prelude.

How to practice with it

1. Listen first. Press Play and follow the moving line with your eyes. The lit notes and keys show what sounds right now: blue is the right hand, orange the left.
2. Slow it down. Use − and + to set the tempo. 60% is a good place to start.
3. One hand at a time. Choose Right or Left, learn that hand, then put them together.
4. Wait for me. Turn it on and press Start. The lit keys show what to play, and the music waits until you play them, on the screen, on your computer keyboard or on a MIDI keyboard.
5. Loop the hard part. Turn on Loop, pick the bars, and play them a few times in a row.

Click a bar in the music to start from there. Space plays and pauses. The computer keys A S D F G H J K play C D E F G A B C (press ⌨ Computer keys under the music to see them on the piano).