étude

American  

[ey-tood, ey-tyood, ey-tood, ey-tyood, ey-tyd] / ˈeɪ tud, ˈeɪ tyud, eɪˈtud, eɪˈtyud, eɪˈtüd /

noun

plural

études

1. a musical composition, usually instrumental, intended mainly for the practice of some point of technique.

2. study.

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étude British  

/ ˈeɪtjuːd, etyd /

noun

1. a short musical composition for a solo instrument, esp one designed as an exercise or exploiting technical virtuosity

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Etymology

Origin of étude

From French, dating back to 1830–40; study

Explanation

An etude is a short, tricky tune that a musician plays mainly for practice or to demonstrate skill. Many etudes are meant to be played on the piano. Well-known composers like Debussy and Chopin wrote piano etudes that continue to be used for teaching beginning musicians. There are also etudes composed for other instruments, like guitar, violin, and cello. In French, the word étude means "study," from the Latin studium, which also means "study," though it first meant "eagerness," from studere, "to be diligent."

Example Sentences

They even dared to parody South Korean girl group Blackpink for using a small part of a motif from Paganini's La Campanella étude in their song Shut Down.

From BBC • Aug. 8, 2023

So when Luck launched into a low-tech étude, raucously inflating a balloon while gasping into a microphone, audience members couldn’t help but laugh.

From New York Times • Nov. 3, 2022

This particular track features a break based on a Chopin étude, which is always a live crowd-pleaser.

From New York Times • Feb. 17, 2021

Even the third étude, rippling like sun-dappled brook, was undermined by an overly frenetic bass.

From Washington Post • Apr. 14, 2019

No wonder that I liked best those of the études which he played for me, and I wish to mention specially the first one, in A flat major, a poem rather than an étude.

From Chopin and Other Musical Essays by Finck, Henry Theophilus