Music Video Lesson: How to play the Ocean Etude Op. 25 No. 12 by Chopin

You're watching LivingPianos.com, Robert Estrin here with an important subject. All beats are not created equal. Did you know that? Typically in 4 -4 time, the strong beat is your first beat and the third beat is also a strong beat. But the weaker beats, the second and fourth beats, particularly the fourth beats are not as strong.

So you end up with a counting instead of 1, 2, 3, 4, 1, 2, 3, 4. It's more 1, 2, 3, 4, 1, 2, 3, 4. Or in a faster tempo, 1, 2, 3, 4, 1, 2, 3, 4, 1, 2, 3, 4, 1, 2, 3, 4.

And I'm going to demonstrate this with a Haydn Sonata in D Major and you can hear for yourself.

First I'm going to play it with all the beats absolutely equal and see what it sounds like.

It doesn't have a balance, it doesn't have a pulse, it just kind of plods along. Now listen if it's 1, 2, 3, 4, 1, 2, 3, 4.

And this idea goes for everything, not just things in 4 -4. 1, 2, 3, 1, 2, 3.

Chopin walls for example.

1, 2, 3, 1, 2, 3, 1. Otherwise you'd end up with something like this if they were all equal.

Instead of the nice nuance of 1, 2, 3, 1, 2, 3, 4, 1, 2, 3, 4.

1, 2, 3, 1, 2.

So you've got to figure out where the strong beats are. They typically are 1 and 3 in a 4 -4 time or the first beat in 3 -4 and depending upon the dance movement, in a waltz the third beat is also pretty strong, not as strong as the first beat. 1, 2, 3, 1, 2, 3, 1, 2.

And each piece of music has its strong and weak beats and you must identify which are the strong beats so you can give emphasis to those and propel the music forward so it doesn't bog down. All beats are not created equal.

I hope this is enlightening for you. Let us know in the comments here at livingpianos.com, your online piano resource. And if you haven't subscribed yet, this is an excellent time to get our newsletters which come out regularly with all kinds of fresh videos and articles that you'll love. Thanks for joining us. See you next time.

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