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Elementary Study, Op. 176 No. 10

Jean-Baptiste Duvernoy (1802–1880) · sheet music

  • Time 4/4
  • Levels 4–8
  • Passages 8

Your turn · both hands

 

 

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Jean-Baptiste Duvernoy, French romantic (1802–1880). The reading release has 8 passages from this piece at levels 4–8; the reader above opens on the easiest, bars 1–8 for the right hand alone.

Practice the hard bars →

The hardest stretch is bars 13–24 at level 8.

Your practice path

Learn it the way teachers do: each hand on its own, then together, then the hard bars. Each step is a real graded passage of Elementary Study, Op. 176 No. 10.

  1. Right hand alone · bars 1–8 level 4
  2. Left hand alone · bars 1–4 level 4
  3. Hands together · bars 17–20 level 4
  4. The hardest bars · bars 13–24 level 8

How to play Elementary Study, Op. 176 No. 10

  1. Tempo:Pick a moderate speed at which the left-hand eighths run smoothly without hurrying; the right-hand quarters should feel like a slow walk on top.
  2. Right hand:Sing the tune before playing it, then connect each note to the next with a weight that rolls from finger to finger, avoiding any accent on the half notes.
  3. Left hand:The pattern moves between a low root, a higher fifth and the notes between them. Let your hand rock in a small arc and keep the wrist loose rather than lifting each finger separately.
  4. Hands together:Listen for the right-hand note sounding exactly with the first left-hand eighth of each beat, and keep the left hand a clear step softer.
  5. Dynamics:Use a gentle swell toward the highest right-hand note of each phrase and a small release at the end, as a singer would.
  6. Reading:Before the middle section, scan ahead for the G sharp and for the runs that climb above the treble staff, and prepare the new hand position early.
  7. Practice:Practice the left-hand pattern alone until it runs without looking, then add the tune one phrase at a time, never speeding up when hands join.

Common mistakes

  • Letting the left-hand figure grow louder than the tune. Fix: Play the pattern very softly on its own, then add the right hand at a clearly louder level.
  • Accenting the first note of every left-hand group. Fix: Practice the pattern with a light, even touch so that all four eighths in a beat group sound alike.
  • Breaking the right-hand line at each long note. Fix: Hold each half note for its full value and shape the connection into the next note with your ear.
  • Misreading the high notes at the top of the middle-section runs. Fix: Name the top note of each run before playing and count its ledger lines from the staff.

Structure: ternary (A-B-A)

A singing tune over a steady left-hand pattern frames a busier middle section of rising scale runs. The tune then returns almost unchanged to close in D major.

A · Tune over a rocking pattern (D major)
A right-hand melody of quarters and halves sits over a left hand that rocks between a low note and the notes above it, so the main task is keeping the tune on top.
B · Rising runs
The right hand races up in eighth-note scale runs under crescendo markings while the left hand plays quarter notes, and a G sharp appears before the return.
A · Tune returns (D major)
The opening melody and left-hand pattern come back, so the reading load drops and you can focus on balance.

About Elementary Study, Op. 176 No. 10

Jean-Baptiste Duvernoy taught piano at the Paris Conservatoire and published more than 300 works, including the study collections he is remembered for. His Op. 176, the École primaire, is a set of 25 easy, progressive studies.

This number is about contrast between the hands. The left hand rocks through a repeating pattern while the right hand sings in long notes, so the real work is balance rather than speed.

In the middle section the roles change: the right hand climbs in quick scale runs that reach above the treble staff while the left hand slows to quarter notes, and a G sharp briefly leans away from D major before the opening tune returns.

  • In the 1895 Schirmer edition this study is marked Andantino, a calmer tempo than the Allegro moderato of the study just before it.
  • Schirmer published an edition of Op. 176 in New York in 1895, which IMSLP has scanned.
  • Duvernoy's catalogue is said to run to more than 300 works.

Why the first passage is level 4

That passage is level 4 rather than 3 because its key signature has 2 sharps or flats.

Read the left hand once as a pattern and then only look for the notes that change. Keep your eye on the right-hand melody, which is where the music is moving.

Questions about Elementary Study, Op. 176 No. 10

How hard is Elementary Study, Op. 176 No. 10 to play?
Its passages grade from level 4 to level 8 on Real Sight Reader's ten-level reading scale, so the full piece is intermediate to advanced reading. The hardest stretch is bars 13–24 at level 8.
Is there an easy part of Elementary Study, Op. 176 No. 10 for beginners?
Its easiest passage is level 4, so it suits a reader past the beginner stage. Start with bars 1–8 for the right hand alone, the level-4 passage in the reader at the top of this page; it is level 4 because its key signature has 2 sharps or flats.
What key and time signature is Elementary Study, Op. 176 No. 10 in?
The engraving on this page is in 4/4 time.
Who composed Elementary Study, Op. 176 No. 10?
Jean-Baptiste Duvernoy, French romantic (1802–1880). Jean-Baptiste Duvernoy taught piano at the Paris Conservatoire and published more than 300 works, including the study collections he is remembered for.
Can I practice Elementary Study, Op. 176 No. 10 online for free?
Yes. The reader on this page plays any of the 8 graded passages from Elementary Study, Op. 176 No. 10 in your browser, with an on-screen keyboard or a MIDI keyboard, and marks every note as you play. No signup.
What is the École primaire?
It is Duvernoy's Op. 176, a set of 25 easy, progressive studies that covers fundamentals from right-hand legato to playing a melody in the left hand.
Is there an exam grade for Duvernoy Op. 176?
No exam-board grade turned up in the sources checked. Publishers pitch the set at confident beginners who can already read music.
What does this study teach?
It trains a steady left-hand accompaniment figure under a lyrical right-hand melody, an early version of the melody-and-accompaniment texture used throughout piano music.

Every passage, easiest first

The reading release grades 8 distinct passages of this piece. Open any of them in the reader:

Level 4
bars 1–4 left hand · bars 1–8 right hand · bars 5–6 left hand · bars 17–20 both hands
Level 5
bars 1–8 both hands · bars 5–8 both hands
Level 8
bars 13–24 both hands · bars 13–16 both hands

More pieces to sight-read

Score: public-domain engraving from the corpus (pdmx), graded by the piano-reading-v2-20261023-identity-audit reading release.

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