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Elementary Study, Op. 176 No. 9

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

  • Time 4/4
  • Levels 5–9
  • Passages 4

Your turn · both hands

 

 

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Jean-Baptiste Duvernoy, French romantic (1802–1880). The reading release has 4 passages from this piece at levels 5–9; the reader above opens on the easiest, bars 1–4 for both hands together.

Practice the hard bars →

The hardest stretch is bars 1–8 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. 9.

  1. Hands together · bars 1–4 level 5
  2. The hardest bars · bars 1–8 level 9

How to play Elementary Study, Op. 176 No. 9

  1. Tempo:Start at a speed where both hands keep exact eighth notes, then nudge the metronome up only when the lines stay perfectly aligned.
  2. Right hand:Play the scale as one flowing curve, passing the thumb under after the third finger with the wrist level and quiet.
  3. Left hand:The left hand starts lower in the scale than the right, so learn its own fingering before combining. Its thumb crossings fall at different moments from the right hand's.
  4. Hands together:Because the two scales are offset, listen for the sound of one scale being passed between hands; if one hand drifts, the line sounds bumpy.
  5. Dynamics:Follow the written crescendo by starting soft enough to have somewhere to go, and arrive at the top of the line without a sudden jump in volume.
  6. Fingering:Use standard D major scale fingering in each hand, and write in any change that the chord passages later force.
  7. Practice:Play each hand's line alone four times in a row without stopping, then play hands together on just the rising half before trying the falling half.

Common mistakes

  • Playing both hands with the same strength so the crescendo disappears. Fix: Start at a clear piano and aim for the loudest note at the top of the phrase.
  • Forgetting the F sharp or C sharp in the scale. Fix: Say 'F sharp, C sharp' before each take and play with the key signature in mind.
  • Rushing through the thumb crossings. Fix: Keep the thumb passing under early and quietly, so the notes on either side sound equal.
  • Treating the later chord passages as separate from the scales. Fix: Practice the chord positions as slow scale tones first, then add the full chords.

Structure: ternary (A-B-A)

Running eighth-note scale lines in both hands frame a contrasting middle section. The opening idea returns at the end, and the study closes on forte chords.

A · Parallel scale lines (D major)
Both hands play stepwise eighths a tenth apart, rising and falling, while a crescendo asks the line to grow.
B · Treble-clef left hand
The left hand climbs into the treble clef under a falling right-hand line, then a forte passage sets right-hand runs against short bass notes.
A · Return and close (D major)
Running eighths return in both hands and the study ends on firm forte chords.

About Elementary Study, Op. 176 No. 9

Duvernoy was a French pianist and composer who taught at the Paris Conservatoire, and his teaching studies are still used today. Op. 176, the École primaire, offers 25 easy, progressive studies for early learners.

In this number both hands run scale lines at once. The right hand begins on the third of the scale and the left on the tonic, so the two lines move together but never in unison.

The page's version is in D major and includes a printed crescendo. Later phrases add chords and a few notes above and below the staff.

  • In the middle of this study the left hand moves up into the treble clef, so for a few phrases both hands read from the same clef.
  • Luigi Finizio prepared a Curci edition of Op. 176 in Milan in 1944, one of several later editions listed by IMSLP.
  • Duvernoy also wrote a School of Mechanism, Op. 120, another set of finger studies.

Why the first passage is level 5

That passage is level 5 rather than 4 because a hand covers more than one position.

Treat each scale run as one unit: read its first note, its direction, and where it stops. Only slow down for the places where a chord or an accidental breaks the pattern.

Questions about Elementary Study, Op. 176 No. 9

How hard is Elementary Study, Op. 176 No. 9 to play?
Its passages grade from level 5 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 1–8 at level 9.
Is there an easy part of Elementary Study, Op. 176 No. 9 for beginners?
Its easiest passage is level 5, so it suits a reader past the beginner stage. Start with bars 1–4 for both hands together, the level-5 passage in the reader at the top of this page; it is level 5 because a hand covers more than one position.
What key and time signature is Elementary Study, Op. 176 No. 9 in?
The engraving on this page is in 4/4 time.
Who composed Elementary Study, Op. 176 No. 9?
Jean-Baptiste Duvernoy, French romantic (1802–1880). Duvernoy was a French pianist and composer who taught at the Paris Conservatoire, and his teaching studies are still used today.
Can I practice Elementary Study, Op. 176 No. 9 online for free?
Yes. The reader on this page plays any of the 4 graded passages from Elementary Study, Op. 176 No. 9 in your browser, with an on-screen keyboard or a MIDI keyboard, and marks every note as you play. No signup.
What does cresc. mean in the score?
It is short for crescendo, an instruction to get gradually louder.
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.
Should I learn the scale before the study?
Yes. The study assumes you can play a D major scale in each hand, and a few days of scale practice will make the study read much faster.

Every passage, easiest first

The reading release grades 4 distinct passages of this piece. Open any of them in the reader:

Level 5
bars 1–4 both hands · bars 17–20 both hands
Level 9
bars 1–8 both hands · bars 5–8 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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