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Elementary Study, Op. 176 No. 4

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

  • Time 4/4
  • Levels 3–8
  • Passages 18

Your turn · both hands

 

 

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Jean-Baptiste Duvernoy, French romantic (1802–1880). The reading release has 18 passages from this piece at levels 3–8; the reader above opens on the easiest, bars 9–16 for the right hand alone.

Practice the hard bars →

The hardest stretch is bars 1–12 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. 4.

  1. Right hand alone · bars 9–12 level 3
  2. Left hand alone · bars 25–28 level 3
  3. Hands together · bars 3–10 level 5
  4. The hardest bars · bars 1–12 level 8

How to play Elementary Study, Op. 176 No. 4

  1. Tempo:Set a pace where the widest reach in the right-hand pattern is comfortable, because that figure repeats all through the opening and the slowest spot decides the speed.
  2. Right hand:Treat each four-note group as one chord shape: place the hand over the chord before you play so the leap becomes a reach rather than a jump.
  3. Left hand:In the opening, the half-note bass is the real bass line, so give each note a full tone and hold it for two beats; in the middle section, keep the broken-chord pattern light.
  4. Hands together:Practice the coda slowly, since it is the only place where both hands play eighth notes at the same time.
  5. Dynamics:Use the crescendo in the coda as the one big build of the piece and keep the rest at a moderate, even level.
  6. Practice:Play each chord of the opening as a solid block first, then break it into the pattern, so the hand learns the shape before the movement.

Common mistakes

  • Letting the broken-chord figure cover the slower line in the other hand. Fix: Play the figure softer and let the half notes sing above or below it.
  • Releasing half notes early to prepare the next reach. Fix: Count two full beats for each half note before you lift.
  • Losing the F sharp to F natural step before the return. Fix: Play that short passage on its own a few times and say the note names aloud.

Structure: ternary with coda (A–B–A–coda)

The right hand's broken-chord figure moves over a half-note bass line through a chain of chords. A middle section gives the broken chords to the left hand under a half-note tune and ends with a short chromatic step down. The opening returns, and a coda with eighth notes in both hands grows to a fortissimo close.

A · Right-hand broken chords
Each half bar outlines a chord with a low-high-middle-high pattern in the right hand, over a left-hand bass line in half notes that moves C, G, A minor, E minor, F, C and on to the cadence.
B · Roles reversed
The left hand plays the broken-chord pattern over a G in the bass while the right hand sings a slow tune in half notes; a short G, F sharp, F natural step leads back.
A · Return
The opening section comes back softly.
Coda · Both hands moving
Marked p sostenuto, both hands play eighth notes over a C in the bass, with a long crescendo to forte and a fortissimo final chord high in the right hand.

About Elementary Study, Op. 176 No. 4

In Study IV Duvernoy moves from scales to chord shapes. The right hand opens with a leaping eighth-note pattern that outlines one chord after another, while the left hand plays a slow bass line in half notes.

In the middle section the roles swap: the left hand takes over a low-high-middle-high broken-chord pattern and the right hand plays a plain half-note tune. After the opening returns, a closing passage puts both hands in eighth notes over a held C and builds to a loud final chord.

The set was published as a graded course. IMSLP lists 25 studies under the title École primaire, with historical editions running from Bülow's St. Louis edition of 1887 to Finizio's Milan edition of 1944.

  • The opening chords run C, G, A minor, E minor, F, C, the same first six steps as the famous progression of Pachelbel's Canon (I, V, vi, iii, IV, I).
  • A modern Schott edition of Op. 176 lists Alberti bass among the techniques the studies cover, and the left hand's middle-section pattern here is exactly that low-high-middle-high shape.
  • IMSLP shows Op. 176 issued over the years by publishers in St. Louis, New York, Leipzig and Milan.

Why the first passage is level 3

That passage is level 3 rather than 2 because it carries accidentals outside the key, a hand covers more than one position, it leaps a fifth, the line roams across the staff, it leaves the five-finger position.

Spot the chord in each half bar first; once you see the shape, the eighth notes read as a few repeated patterns rather than many separate pitches.

Questions about Elementary Study, Op. 176 No. 4

How hard is Elementary Study, Op. 176 No. 4 to play?
Its passages grade from level 3 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 1–12 at level 8.
Is there an easy part of Elementary Study, Op. 176 No. 4 for beginners?
Yes. Start with bars 9–16 for the right hand alone, the level-3 passage in the reader at the top of this page; it is level 3 because it carries accidentals outside the key and a hand covers more than one position.
What key and time signature is Elementary Study, Op. 176 No. 4 in?
The engraving on this page is in 4/4 time.
Who composed Elementary Study, Op. 176 No. 4?
Jean-Baptiste Duvernoy, French romantic (1802–1880). In Study IV Duvernoy moves from scales to chord shapes.
Can I practice Elementary Study, Op. 176 No. 4 online for free?
Yes. The reader on this page plays any of the 18 graded passages from Elementary Study, Op. 176 No. 4 in your browser, with an on-screen keyboard or a MIDI keyboard, and marks every note as you play. No signup.
Why does the broken-chord figure move between the hands?
So that each hand has to play both the repeated chord pattern and the slower line, which trains the hands equally.
Is this the Pachelbel's Canon progression?
Its first six chords follow the same order as the Canon's progression, I, V, vi, iii, IV, I; after that Duvernoy uses D minor where the Canon has IV, then G and a cadence on C.
How long does it take to learn Duvernoy Op. 176 No. 4?
About a week of daily practice for most beginners, with most of the time going to the coda where both hands move together.

Every passage, easiest first

The reading release grades 18 distinct passages of this piece. Open any of them in the reader:

Level 3
bars 9–12 right hand · bars 9–16 right hand · bars 13–16 right hand · bars 25–28 left hand
Level 5
bars 3–10 both hands · bars 5–8 both hands · bars 9–12 both hands · bars 9–16 both hands · bars 11–14 both hands · bars 13–16 both hands · bars 21–24 both hands · bars 25–28 both hands
Level 7
bars 3–18 both hands · bars 17–20 both hands · bars 17–24 both hands
Level 8
bars 1–12 both hands · bars 1–4 both hands · bars 1–8 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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