I have been practicing Chopin’s Nocturne 48-1 for two or three years now. Pretty inconsistently. I pick it up for a few months, can’t nail it, then get distracted with another piece. It is one of my favorite works my Chopin and is so rich with emotion.

I decided to pick it up again this summer, as well as Chopin’s Etude 10-12 (Revolutionary). That’s also a piece I had played before and I was able to shape it into good condition very quickly. It comes easly.

The nocturne is a different level of difficulty. There are basically three parts:

1. Opening: initial theme, slow
2. Middle: distant chords into building of tension
3. Ending: fast chords playing the theme again

Part 1 is like any easy nocturne by Chopin. Part 2 is only tricky because some chords stretch over 1.5 octaves so I have to “roll” a lot of the chords.

Part 3 is the real meat of the piece. It is basically the melody from the opening played with both chords, but only RH Finger 4 and 5 are playing the theme. So you have to really control the dynamics with the chords and let the melody sing. This is tricky because it is so hard to maintain two different dynamics on the same hand. I have gotten better through slow practice. Here’s how it sounds right now. Here’s how it should sound.

One big learning: practice does not make perfect. Perfect practice makes practice. I learned most of Part 3 wrong. I practiced it at too quick a tempo because I got excited. So I spent a good amount of time having to unlearn bad habits.

Going forward I want to be more deliberate with how I tackle difficult pieces. First, learn the notes, damn near perfectly. Do it at 50% tempo, then 75% then 100%. Then add dynamics. I get carried away in being artistic. You have to nail the mechanics before you get to express emotion into it (this is why I stick with easier pieces).