50
ETUDES
by
DONALD WAXMAN
The most important and musically interesting contribution to the piano literature of student etudes since the days of Czerny and Heller. The Waxman 50 Etudes are not only invaluable for building technique, they are fascinating and colorful pieces written in the appealing contemporary idiom of his earlier Pageant books.

...Irwin Freundlich, former Juilliard faculty member and chairman of the piano department
The unique set of 50 Etudes was written for the students of the music school that Donald Waxman and his wife co-directed for many years in Nyack, New York. Rather than relying on such 19th century etude writers as Czerny and Concone to advance the technical skills of the school’s piano students, he began a project to compose etudes for each of the many individual techniques that in sum define a student’s technical proficiency. These included all the traditional “mechanisms,” as the French call them, of scales, arpeggios, chords, legato double notes, octaves, wrist staccato, finger staccato, chromatic passages, trills, grace notes, etc., as well as more recent non-traditional techniques as glissandos, tone clusters and interior piano techniques. The Fifty Etudes are written in a contemporary tonal idiom that greatly expands the narrow harmonic range of the 19th century etude writers as well as illustrates such rhythmic devices as uneven time signatures, change meters and cross rhythms. The Waxman etudes are not only technique builders; many of them are, as well, colorful and descriptive pieces that are ideal as recital repertoire. Thus, each etude has two titles: a technical title and a descriptive one. The listings of all 50 etudes is shown below on the back covers of each of the four books: Intermediate, Upper Intermediate, Lower Advanced and Advanced. Note that the titles with asterisks are etudes that can be purchased separately.
BOOK I: INTERMEDIATE
1. Interlocking Scales
…Motto: Greetings to Bertini
2. *Repeated Notes
…Procession #1 - “with Trumpets”
3. Legato Double Notes
…Fable
4. *Phrased Double Notes
…The Juggler
5. Contrary Motion Figures
…Relay of Two Themes
6. Parallel Motion Figures
…Burlesque
7. Black and White Key Broken 3rds
…Dustdevils
8. 3 Finger Accompaniment Figure
…Sad Spin
9. Chromatic Passages
…Rascal
10. Broken Triads
…Zephyrs
11. Rapid 5 Finger Groups
…Procession #2. – “ of Phantoms”
12. Repeated Note Accompaniment Figures
…Idyll
13. The Pattern 1321
...Procession #3-“with Fife and Drum"
14. Alternating Triads
...Fanfare
BOOK 2 UPPER INTERMEDIATE
15.** Sixths in Wrist Staccato
…Motto: Greetings to Loeschhorn
16. Fifth Finger Alternation
…Caprice
17. Base Skips
…Carnival
18. Melodic Balance
…Nostalgia
19.** Alternaring Double Notes
…Confetti
20. The Pattern 1432
…Free Fall
21. **Chord Releases
...Celestial Ceremonies
22 Consecutive Thirds
...Effervescence
23. The Pattern 5421
…School Song
24. The Patterrn 1324
…Airy Arabesques
25. Black Key Patterns
…Serenade of the Gamelin Orchestra
26. Duet Etude of Bass Perpetual Motion Figure
…Parade of the Lilliputs
27. Chords and broken Chords
…Alleluia
BOOK 3 : LOWER ADVANCED
28. Scales and Chords
…Motto IV: Greetings to Czerny
29. The Pattern 3215
…Rivulets
30. The Pattern 1212
…Merry Andrew
31. Thumb Holds
…Eclogue
32. Waltz Bass
…Waltz Arabesques
33.* *Finger Staccato
…Rainfall
34. Rotations
…The Catherine Wheel
35. Grace Notes
…My Airdale Worries His Fleas
36. Scale Passages
…Orbits
37 Glissandos
…Galactic variations 38. Velocity of Three Note Figures
…Swallows
39. Perpetual Motion figure With Extensions
…Revelry



BOOK 4 : Advanced
40.**Octaves
…Motto: Greetings to Concone
41. Etude in Leaps
…The Tumbler
42. Left Hand Scale Passages
…Lambent Trajectories
43. Broken Triads in Rapid Passage
…Descent of Swifts
44. Chromatics and Clusters
…On the Windowpane at Night
45. Passage of the Thumb
…Billows
46. The Pattern 1425
…Scintillation
47. Duet Etude of Trills and Tremolos
…Birds of Paradise
48. Arpeggios
…Celebration Day
49. Alternating Broken Chords
. …”Rough winds that meanest loud.”
50. **Alternating Chords
…The Train





**The following etudes are available separately:
No. 2: Etude of Repeated Notes
No. 4: Etude of Phrased Double Notes
No. 15: Etude of Sixths in Wrist Staccato
No. 19: Etude of Alternating Double Notes
No. 22: Etude of Consecutive Thirds
No. 33: Etude of Finger Staccato
No. 40. Etude of Octave Scales
No. 50: Etude of Alternating Chords
To order any of the Fifty Etudes books or individual titles, click on the books or individual titles at the bottom of this page. This will link you directly to the ECS online ordering form.