Étude

What it means

The étude, French for “study,” is a practice piece that places a particular technical task at its center, such as fast runs, note repetitions, double stops, octaves, or arpeggios. The task is usually carried out consistently throughout the piece so that the technique can be practised in context.

Musical use

Études arose as teaching material for almost all instruments. For the piano, Carl Czerny and Johann Baptist Cramer, among others, wrote extensive collections. In the 19th century composers such as Frédéric Chopin and Franz Liszt raised the étude to an independent concert piece in which technical task and artistic expression combine. In the 20th century, composers such as Claude Debussy and György Ligeti also wrote études.

The étude should be distinguished from finger exercises or scales, which as practice material are not shaped as a complete piece, and from the concert étude, in which artistic ambition stands in the foreground. It differs from the capriccio through its clear technical aim.

Performance practice

Practise an étude slowly at first and in small sections, and name for yourself the technical task the piece sets. Increase the tempo only when tone and posture are right, and play the étude musically too, with phrasing and dynamics, not just as mechanics.