What is "etude"

a composition having musical value but primarily intended to exercise the pupil in technical difficulties, 1837, from French étude, literally "study" (12c., Old French estudie), from Latin studium (see study (n.)). Popularized in English by the etudes of Chopin (1810-1849).

n. (context music English) A short piece of music, designed to give a performer practice in a particular area or skill.

n. a short composition for a solo instrument; intended as an exercise or to demonstrate technical virtuosity

An étude (; , a French word meaning study) is an instrumental musical composition, usually short, of considerable difficulty, and designed to provide practice material for perfecting a particular musical skill. The tradition of writing études emerged in the early 19th century with the rapidly growing popularity of the piano. Of the vast number of études from that era some are still used as teaching material (particularly pieces by Carl Czerny and Muzio Clementi), and a few, by major composers such as Frédéric Chopin, Franz Liszt and Claude Debussy, achieved a place in today's concert repertory. Études written in the 20th century include those related to traditional ones ( György Ligeti) and those that require wholly unorthodox technique ( John Cage).

"Étude" is a single by musician Mike Oldfield, released in 1984 (see 1984 in music). It is from the album The Killing Fields, the soundtrack album for the film of the same name . It was reissued in 1990, when it was used in a commercial for Nurofen. The 1990 release also featured a track called "Gakkaen" by The Ono Gagaku Kai Society.

"Étude" is taken from the Francisco Tárrega piece " Recuerdos de la Alhambra".

The Konkrete Etüde (Concrète Étude) is the earliest work of electroacoustic tape music by Karlheinz Stockhausen, composed in 1952 and lasting just three-and-a-quarter minutes. The composer retrospectively gave it the number "⅕" in his catalogue of works.