Frederic Chopin

Chopin wrote almost exclusively for the piano, and the catalogue is correspondingly deep: nocturnes, waltzes, mazurkas, polonaises, études, ballades, scherzos and two concerti. Nothing here is truly easy, but the range within it is wide.

The realistic starting points are the simpler waltzes and mazurkas, and the Op. 9 No. 2 nocturne. The Études, despite the name, are concert works of extreme difficulty rather than teaching material. The ballades and scherzos are late-stage repertoire.

Editions are a genuine problem with Chopin specifically. He published in France, Germany and England simultaneously and the three differ, and pupils' annotated copies add further readings — there is no single authoritative text. Modern urtext editions choose between the sources and document the choice; older editions simply picked, silently. If a passage you are learning does not match a recording, the edition is often the reason.