Fantaisie-Impromptu, Op. 66

ComposerF. Chopin
Notes3,050
Length4:31
Peak density18.3 notes per second
Average11.2 notes per second
Tempo176 bpm
Difficultytier 3 of 5, up to two notes per hand
In Klavieropaid
Piano roll of Fantaisie-Impromptu, Op. 66: all 3,050 notes plotted over 4:31, right hand in cyan and left hand in magenta.
The actual chart. Time runs left to right across 4:31, pitch bottom to top, right hand cyan and left hand magenta.

You need a MIDI keyboard and Chrome, Edge, Firefox or Opera on a desktop or laptop. Not Safari, not iPad, because Apple does not support Web MIDI. Full requirements.

Tier 3, which nobody believes until they see the chart

The Fantaisie-Impromptu has a reputation as a wall. It is 176 beats per minute, 3,050 notes in 4:31, and it peaks at 18.3 notes per second, denser than 11.7 for Clair de Lune and roughly double Für Elise's 9.2.

And it comes out tier 3 of 5, the same tier as Für Elise and Bach's Prelude in C.

The reason is what tier measures: how many notes each hand holds at once and how far it has to jump. Here the answer is at most two notes per hand, and the hands stay in position. Look at the piano roll and you can see it, two steady horizontal bands that barely move. The notes are relentless but your hands are not travelling.

Four against three

What makes it hard is the cross-rhythm. The right hand runs in semiquavers while the left runs in triplets, so four notes in one hand line up against three in the other, over and over. Neither hand is difficult alone. Holding both at once, at 176 bpm, is the whole piece.

Which is exactly what the hand-split mode is for. Play the right hand while Klaviero plays the left, until the semiquavers are automatic and you stop counting. Then swap. Then put them together, and the cross-rhythm is the only new thing left to learn instead of one of three.

Playing it here

Practice mode holds each note until you play it, which lets you take the cross-rhythm at any speed you like. Rhythm mode does not wait, and at 18.3 notes per second a dropped combo comes back fast.

If this one lands

Turkish March, Mozart2,819 notes · 3:10 · peak 16.8 n/s
Winter Wind, Chopin3,172 notes · 3:07 · peak 20.6 n/s
La Campanella, Liszt4,064 notes · 4:21 · peak 28.0 n/s
Play the Fantaisie-Impromptu All 315 pieces