How hard is Elementary Study, Op. 176 No. 3 to play?

Its passages grade from level 1 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 1–24 at level 8.

Is there an easy part of Elementary Study, Op. 176 No. 3 for beginners?

Yes. Start with bars 9–10 for the right hand alone, the level-1 passage in the reader at the top of this page.

What key and time signature is Elementary Study, Op. 176 No. 3 in?

The engraving on this page is in 4/4 time.

Who composed Elementary Study, Op. 176 No. 3?

Jean-Baptiste Duvernoy, French romantic (1802–1880). Study III is the first in Duvernoy's Op.

Can I practice Elementary Study, Op. 176 No. 3 online for free?

Yes. The reader on this page plays any of the 19 graded passages from Elementary Study, Op. 176 No. 3 in your browser, with an on-screen keyboard or a MIDI keyboard, and marks every note as you play. No signup.

What kind of accompaniment is in this study?

A broken chord: the left hand plays the notes of a chord one after another, rising and falling in steady eighth notes.

How long does it take to learn Duvernoy Op. 176 No. 3?

The notes are quick to read, but an even left-hand figure usually needs about a week of short daily practice for a beginner.

Who edited the old editions of Op. 176?

IMSLP lists editions edited by Hans von Bülow (1887), Adolf Ruthardt (1903) and Luigi Finizio (1944), plus an 1895 Schirmer edition with no editor named.

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Elementary Study, Op. 176 No. 3

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

Time 4/4
Levels 1–8
Passages 19

Your turn · both hands

Preparing your passage…

Jean-Baptiste Duvernoy, French romantic (1802–1880). The reading release has 19 passages from this piece at levels 1–8; the reader above opens on the easiest, bars 9–10 for the right hand alone.

Practice the hard bars →

The hardest stretch is bars 1–24 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. 3.

Right hand alone · bars 9–10 level 1
Left hand alone · bars 1–2 level 2
Hands together · bars 1–4 level 4
The hardest bars · bars 1–24 level 8

How to play Elementary Study, Op. 176 No. 3

Tempo:Pick a speed where the left-hand eighth notes feel relaxed; if they are hurried, the half notes above lose their calm.
Left hand:Play each four-note group as one rocking shape with a loose wrist, so the lowest and highest notes are no louder than the middle ones.
Right hand:Listen to each half note right to its end before moving on, and let the quarter-and-eighth turn at the phrase ends stay light.
Hands together:Line up each right-hand note with the first note of a left-hand group; once those land together, the eighth notes in between fall into place.
Dynamics:Keep the left hand a little softer than the right throughout, and let the middle section grow slightly before fading back for the return.
Practice:Learn the left hand alone until you can play it without looking, then add the right hand one phrase at a time.

Common mistakes

Letting the left-hand figure drown out the tune. Fix: Play the left hand a notch softer and listen to the top line.
Cutting half notes short to get ready for the next note. Fix: Hold each note for its full value and move only on the beat.
Rushing the small turn at the end of the phrase. Fix: Count the eighth notes aloud and keep the pulse of the bars before it.

Structure: ternary (A–B–A)

A half-note tune in the right hand moves over an unbroken eighth-note figure in the left. The first section alternates chords on C and D, the middle section keeps a G in the bass under chords on G and C, and the first section returns to close the study.

A · Opening tune: The tune steps down in half and quarter notes over a rocking figure on C-E-G and D-F-G. The second phrase ends with a small turn in quarter and eighth notes before a rest.
B · Over a G bass: The left-hand figure moves to G-B-D and G-C-E while the right hand climbs step by step in half notes, then a fading phrase leads back.
A · Return: The opening returns softly, note for note, ending on a C chord.

About Elementary Study, Op. 176 No. 3

Study III is the first in Duvernoy's Op. 176 to give the left hand a continuous broken-chord figure: four eighth notes per half bar that rise through a chord and fall back. Above it the right hand moves mostly in half notes, so the piece is an early lesson in holding a slow melody over faster notes.

The study is short and symmetrical. An opening phrase over chords built on C and D is followed by a middle phrase that sits over a G in the bass, and then the opening returns softly to close the piece.

The whole set appeared in print by 1848, according to IMSLP, and later editors added their own fingerings and markings; the 1895 Schirmer edition, for example, prints fingerings for the left-hand pattern at its first appearance.

One IMSLP edition of Op. 176 was published in St. Louis by Kunkel Brothers in 1887, with Hans von Bülow named as editor.
IMSLP also hosts a Curci edition printed in Milan in 1944 and edited by Luigi Finizio, under the Italian title Scuola primaria.
A modern Schott edition of the set lists broken chords and cantabile playing among the techniques the 25 studies cover.

Why the first passage is level 1

That passage is level 1, the first rung: it moves by whole steps or less, in half-note values, in one hand.

Both hands stay near middle C, and the left hand repeats a few chord shapes, so the reading task is to see each group as a chord rather than four separate notes.

Questions about Elementary Study, Op. 176 No. 3

How hard is Elementary Study, Op. 176 No. 3 to play?: Its passages grade from level 1 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 1–24 at level 8.
Is there an easy part of Elementary Study, Op. 176 No. 3 for beginners?: Yes. Start with bars 9–10 for the right hand alone, the level-1 passage in the reader at the top of this page.
What key and time signature is Elementary Study, Op. 176 No. 3 in?: The engraving on this page is in 4/4 time.
Who composed Elementary Study, Op. 176 No. 3?: Jean-Baptiste Duvernoy, French romantic (1802–1880). Study III is the first in Duvernoy's Op.
Can I practice Elementary Study, Op. 176 No. 3 online for free?: Yes. The reader on this page plays any of the 19 graded passages from Elementary Study, Op. 176 No. 3 in your browser, with an on-screen keyboard or a MIDI keyboard, and marks every note as you play. No signup.
What kind of accompaniment is in this study?: A broken chord: the left hand plays the notes of a chord one after another, rising and falling in steady eighth notes.
How long does it take to learn Duvernoy Op. 176 No. 3?: The notes are quick to read, but an even left-hand figure usually needs about a week of short daily practice for a beginner.
Who edited the old editions of Op. 176?: IMSLP lists editions edited by Hans von Bülow (1887), Adolf Ruthardt (1903) and Luigi Finizio (1944), plus an 1895 Schirmer edition with no editor named.

Every passage, easiest first

The reading release grades 19 distinct passages of this piece. Open any of them in the reader:

Level 1: bars 9–10 right hand · bars 13–14 right hand · bars 18–19 right hand
Level 2: bars 1–2 left hand · bars 7–10 right hand · bars 9–12 right hand · bars 11–14 right hand
Level 3: bars 1–8 left hand · bars 1–4 right hand · bars 17–20 left hand · bars 21–24 left hand · bars 21–24 right hand
Level 4: bars 1–4 both hands · bars 9–12 both hands · bars 21–24 both hands
Level 5: bars 9–16 both hands · bars 13–16 both hands · bars 17–24 both hands
Level 8: bars 1–24 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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