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Elementary Study, Op. 176 No. 5

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

  • Time 4/4
  • Levels 2–9
  • Passages 15

Your turn · both hands

 

 

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Jean-Baptiste Duvernoy, French romantic (1802–1880). The reading release has 15 passages from this piece at levels 2–9; the reader above opens on the easiest, bars 1–8 for the right hand alone.

Practice the hard bars →

The hardest stretch is bars 7–22 at level 9.

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. 5.

  1. Right hand alone · bars 1–4 level 2
  2. Left hand alone · bars 9–10 level 2
  3. Hands together · bars 7–14 level 5
  4. The hardest bars · bars 7–22 level 9

How to play Elementary Study, Op. 176 No. 5

  1. Tempo:Start at a pace where the F sharp feels as natural as any other note; keep the eighth notes steady and do not hurry at the top of a scale.
  2. Right hand:Use the opening turns to settle the hand over G to D, then on the full scales tuck the thumb under quietly after the third finger.
  3. Left hand:When the left hand plays turns and scale fragments, use the same smooth legato as the right; when it holds chords, keep them down for the whole bar.
  4. Hands together:Isolate the parallel-scale passage and play it slowly; the two hands start on different notes, so check that each hand lands on its own F sharp.
  5. Reading:Check the key signature before you begin: every F is F sharp, even though none appears until the scales start.
  6. Practice:Play the G major scale one octave up and down, each hand alone, before each session so the F sharp is already under your fingers.

Common mistakes

  • Playing F natural out of habit from the earlier C major studies. Fix: Circle the first F sharp in pencil and say sharp aloud the first few times.
  • Letting the held left-hand chords die away early. Fix: Keep the keys down for the whole bar while the right hand turns.
  • Rushing the last rising scales. Fix: Practice them with a metronome and keep the top half as steady as the bottom.

Structure: scale study in four stages

The study opens with five-note turns in the right hand over held left-hand chords. The left hand then joins with turns of its own as the right hand runs its first full octave. Both hands run together in parallel for a short stretch, and the piece ends with right-hand scales climbing through two octaves to a forte close on G.

A · Five-note turns
The right hand circles within G to D in eighth notes while the left hand holds two-note chords; the phrase is played twice, so there is no F sharp yet.
B · Left hand joins
The left hand answers with the same kind of turn in eighth notes, and the right hand runs its first full G major octave, bringing in F sharp.
C · Parallel scales
Both hands run scale fragments together, a sixth apart, then the right hand rises and falls through an octave over half-note intervals in the left hand.
Coda · Climb to the top
Three rising scales, each starting higher, carry the right hand up to a high G with a crescendo to forte.

About Elementary Study, Op. 176 No. 5

The first four studies of Op. 176 are all in C major with no key signature. Study V is the first with a sharp in the key signature, and it is built so the new note arrives gradually: the opening turns stay within G, A, B, C and D, and F sharp only appears once the right hand runs a full octave.

The study also gives the left hand some of the running work. At first it holds two-note chords, then it plays the same kind of small turns as the right hand, and later it runs scale fragments in parallel with the right hand before settling back onto long notes under two-octave climbs.

Like the rest of the set, the study has been reissued by many editors. IMSLP's Peters edition, revised by Adolf Ruthardt, dates from 1903.

  • IMSLP's entry for the set gives a French title, École primaire, and an Italian one, Scuola primaria, from the 1944 Curci edition.
  • The Peters edition of Op. 176 on IMSLP carries the plate number 9455.
  • A modern Schott edition lists scales and melody in the left hand among the topics the 25 studies cover, and this study gives the left hand its first real scale work in the set.

Why the first passage is level 2

That passage is level 2 rather than 1 because notes come faster than one per beat, it leaps a major third, it moves in eighth notes.

One sharp in the key signature, scale lines in both hands and a few long held notes; the reading challenge is staying aware of the F sharp once it appears.

Questions about Elementary Study, Op. 176 No. 5

How hard is Elementary Study, Op. 176 No. 5 to play?
Its passages grade from level 2 to level 9 on Real Sight Reader's ten-level reading scale, so the full piece is intermediate to advanced reading. The hardest stretch is bars 7–22 at level 9.
Is there an easy part of Elementary Study, Op. 176 No. 5 for beginners?
Yes. Start with bars 1–8 for the right hand alone, the level-2 passage in the reader at the top of this page; it is level 2 because notes come faster than one per beat and it leaps a major third.
What key and time signature is Elementary Study, Op. 176 No. 5 in?
The engraving on this page is in 4/4 time.
Who composed Elementary Study, Op. 176 No. 5?
Jean-Baptiste Duvernoy, French romantic (1802–1880). The first four studies of Op.
Can I practice Elementary Study, Op. 176 No. 5 online for free?
Yes. The reader on this page plays any of the 15 graded passages from Elementary Study, Op. 176 No. 5 in your browser, with an on-screen keyboard or a MIDI keyboard, and marks every note as you play. No signup.
What is new in this study compared with the first four?
It is the first study in the set with a key signature, one sharp for G major, and the first to give the left hand scale figures of its own.
How long does it take to learn Duvernoy Op. 176 No. 5?
If you already know the G major scale, a few days; if not, allow an extra week for the scale itself.
What editions of Op. 176 can I read online?
IMSLP has free scans of the Bülow, Schirmer, Ruthardt and Finizio editions.

Every passage, easiest first

The reading release grades 15 distinct passages of this piece. Open any of them in the reader:

Level 2
bars 1–4 right hand · bars 1–8 right hand · bars 9–10 left hand
Level 3
bars 5–10 right hand
Level 5
bars 7–14 both hands · bars 9–12 both hands · bars 15–18 both hands · bars 17–20 both hands
Level 7
bars 1–4 both hands · bars 1–12 both hands · bars 1–8 both hands · bars 9–16 both hands · bars 13–16 both hands · bars 13–20 both hands
Level 9
bars 7–22 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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