Etude can be a tricky and confusing piece!

I’m going to share how I’ve worked through all of the confusion.

1. Listen like crazy.

My students are listening to Etude 10x in a row every day while they learn Allegretto and Andantino.

2. Develop low 2

I’m working on 4th fingers starting in Go Tell Aunt Rhody and debuting for the first time in Perpetual Motion. That means I have time to start low 2 work as early as May Song or Long Long Ago to be ready to debut for the first time in Etude.

I use ‘Tennis Match,’ Pizza pattern, finger dances, and a collection of low 2 songs [low 2 GTAR, cold crossed buns, Baby shark] to build up the 2.

My vision is for the student to still use prepared fingers in the ‘Red pattern’ (2 and 3 touch) while using a finger frame (1 and 3 set, 2 and 4 lifted) in the ‘Blue pattern’ (1 and 2 touch).

That frame will come up constantly in the G scale, Etude, and the Minuets.

3. Etude Map and Bridges by Rote

When we start learning chunks of Andantino I will preview Etude. My first step is to build them a map of the piece with index cards. I break the piece down in the following way.

A [1st bridge] A [2nd bridge] B [3rd bridge] C

I teach them the notes to the bridges and ask them to practice them in both the Bowling and Baseball practice style. They should be able to play any bridge I ask for first-time, first-try. 

During this period I do allow them to use the bow. This is actually the first piece where they can learn the notes and the bowing at the same time. I have them use the ¼ to ½ mark for all of the staccato notes.

4. A section

First I teach what I call the [Low 2, 4, 3, Low 2] stop sign. This is similar to the Perpetual Motion 2342 and the Allegretto 243 with high 2’s. This is the first time we are experiencing leap frog fingers with a low 2 and it will take some practice for the fingers to work, as well as for the hand to soften, relax and play in tune with the stretch from low 2 to 4.

Once the stop sign is learned they can treasure hunt (learn the notes) to the A section as long as they stop at the stop sign.

Then I explain that immediately after the stop sign they can play the first bridge. Play the exact same notes again for the A section, then after the stop sign they can play the second bridge.

5. B section

When that is easy we learn the B section. B section comes together really quickly because we have extensively studied the G scale.

I actually do not teach 4th fingers in scales in Book 1 in order to make this scale passage in Etude easier. So their experience of G scale exactly matches what they play here in the B section.

I teach the F# D F# A is a little baby bridge (like the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd bridges) that connects the two scales in the B section to each other. They usually think that concept is cute.

6. Put it all together

We wrap up with the C section which is extremely easy because it is a mash up of A and B section. 

With most students I ask them to lay out their cards and ‘walk’ through the piece. We spread the cards out on the floor and they stand in front of the card they are playing. When it is time to start a new section they step to a new card. This keeps us very organized and reduces risk of looping to a different section– which is very common in Etude.

Next step is I take away the card, but the still announce the section before they play it. For example, they say, “2st bridge” and then play 2st bridge. They say, “B section,” and then play B section.

A true sign of knowing the piece would be to scramble the card order or announcement order while they still play each section (in a random order) perfectly.

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Hope these ideas are helpful to you! I use a similar process in Waltz and Martini Gavotte where the maps can also quite confusing.